Shark! The word alone induces Terror, but what is it like to stare into the jaws of a shark?
Following a year of record numbers of shark attacks, Brendan McAloon’s Sharks Never Sleep takes us around the world to meet shark-attack survivors, shark lovers and shark hunters, who tell us of the primal fear of being eaten alive by a wild animal, the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one and extraordinary stories of encounters with sharks. In Ballina on the east coast of Australia, Daren Rogers recounts how he tried to save Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara, who was mauled to death by a great white shark. At Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, professional surfer Mick Fanning narrowly escapes the jaws of a great white during the final of one of the world's biggest professional surfing competitions. At Jaws on the Hawaiian island of Maui, shark-attack survivor Bethany Hamilton heads into monstrous waves to surf, even after having lost her arm to a tiger shark as a 13-year-old junior surfing champion.
Explore our complex relationship of fear and fascination with sharks – meeting scientists, conservationists and a host of eccentric characters – in these gripping tales of first-hand encounters.
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About the author: Brendan McAloon is a reformed journalist and television producer. He established Rip Curl’s Search TV series, co-produced Mick Fanning’s award-winning biopic surf film Mick, Myself & Eugene, and was a television producer for professional surfing’s World Championship Tour. He followed his 2009 surf/travel memoir Deep Water: Travel stories & the search for the perfect wave by editing the journals of the original surf explorer Peter Troy (To the Four Corners of the World) in 2011. He lives on Victoria’s west coast with his wife and two children.
