SECRET WORLD OF
SHARKS
ISBN 0595094996
Will
a
shark save your life? Some scientists believe sharks manufacture a
chemical cure for human cancer? Burgess
discusses this in SECRET WORLD OF
THE
SHARKS.
Man has coexisted with sharks
for the last two thousand years but only recently have scientists
learned some of the secrets that make this marine animal unique. Here
are the myths that man invented about this predator, along with factual
accounts of shark attacks that made them so feared. Author and diver
Robert F. Burgess tells of his personal experiences with sharks. Then
he interviews some of the world's leading scientific shark authorities
and we begin to learn about some of the shark's almost magical
capabilities. Quite possibly this once feared predator of the seas may
one day be mankind's most beneficial medical benefactor. Here is their
story from myth to possible medical miracles, along with a super shark
identification key. 164 pages. Paperback: 6 x 9-inches. ©
1970/2000 Published by iUniverse.com.
$11.95
TO ORDER PLEASE DIAL 1-800-288-4677 Ext. 5025 FROM 8 A.M. TO 5 P.M. EST.
1. Shark Myths, Men and
Gods
2. Shark Attack!
3. Sharks Out of the Past
4. Anatomy of a Shark
5. The Man-eaters
6. Fighting the Menace
7. Shark Fishing
8. The Shark Specialists
9. Schoolmistress of Sharks
10. Porpoises vs. Sharks
11. Science and Sharks
12. Barbarian or Benefactor?
APPENDIX I How to Identify a Shark
APPENDIX II U. S. Navy "Shark Danger" Ratings
APPENDIX III Maximum Sizes of Common Species of Sharks
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
FROM
THE
BOOK:
"The
odd assortment of items found in one tigers stomach included among
other things: three overcoats, a raincoat and a driver's license, plus
a pair of old pants, a pair of shoes, a cow's hoof, the horns of a
deer, twelve undigested lobsters and a chicken coop with a few feathers
and bones left inside! Another was found to have consumed a keg of
nails, a roll of tar paper and a carpenter's square. Everything except
the carpenter.
"Why
sharks gulp down indigestible things is something we can only wonder
about, for no one has ever found a reason. Some believe that sharks
that follow ships swallow anything that is dropped or thrown overboard,
believing it to be edible. However at least one scientist has another
theory that may prove to be closer to the real reason. At the Mote
Marine Laboratory, Captain H. David Baldridge, a Naval biochemist,
devised a simple but effective method for weighing sharks underwater.
In the course of this research he found that a 1,015-pound tiger shark
weighed no more that seven pounds underwater. This remarkable buoyancy
was due to the tiger's enormous oil-rich liver. Baldridge's studies
indicate that it might be possible that a shark could become so buoyant
from an excess of liver oil that it would have to expend considerably
more effort to dive and maneuver. If this were the case, asks
Baldridge, why then would it not be feasible for the shark to cope with
the situation as would any good sailor and take on ballast? The added
weight of the indigestible junk in a shark's stomach would immediately
decrease its buoyancy and give it more maneuverability in the same way
that submarines and blimps require slightly negative buoyancy for
better control."
A
REVIEW:
"Where
we
once believed shark myths, we now learn of the shark's almost magical
abilities."
—Spyglass
Publications
© 2000, 2001
Robert F.
Burgess. All rights reserved.
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