Dive into shark disappearance mystery
Book overview - ORCA: The Day the Great White Sharks Disappeared by Richard Peirce.
ORCA: The Day the Great White Sharks Disappeared, Richard Peirce, Penguin Random House, ISBN: 9781775846420
Great White sharks, attracted by an offshore seal colony, have brought success to the adjacent fishing village of Gansbaai, along the southern African coast. A flourishing shark cage-diving industry has sprung up that has created jobs and brings in money for the community. Tourists come from near and far to experience the thrill of a real-life brush with the legendary Jaws.
In the fictional story and film, Jaws, the presence of a Great White Shark threatened a town where in real life, in Orca, it is the absence of the sharks that has the same effect.
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One day, the sharks disappear. Slowly at first, but with gathering momentum, the word spreads: cage diving off Gansbaai can no longer promise the thrill of an encounter. The crowds thin and the once bustling community waits as their livelihoods tail off.
Entrepreneurs and scientists alike are baffled. But it’s not long before shark carcasses start washing up on the beaches. These, together with some coincidental sightings of another apex predator in the vicinity, are the first leads to the possible causes and culprits.
Against the clamour and thrill of the cage-diving season in full swing, Richard Peirce visits the unfolding drama and explores what’s behind these strange events.
Richard Peirce is best known as a shark conservationist and is the former chairman of the Shark Conservation Society and the Shark Trust. He has authored several books on conservation topics.
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