Up close, terrifying and magnificent
In 1982, while diving off Rhode Island, photographer Brian Skerry met his first shark. “I moved closer,” he writes of that initial encounter, “my primal fears suppressed by my desire for intimacy with this magnificent animal.” Closeness and intimacy might not be everyone’s first instinct when coming face-to-face with a nearmythic predator in the open sea, but then again, humanity’s fascination with sharks endures.
The Discovery Channel’s perennially popular “Shark Week” returns Sunday for its 29th year, and Skerry’s new book, “Shark,” from National Geographic, is the perfect companion — full of stunning underwater photography, fascinating facts and shark-reverant prose.
“I have watched a massive white shark the size of a Porsche deftly navigate a kelp forest and then, with a swish of its giant tail, burst towards the water’s surface, muscularly chasing prey,” he writes.
To Skerry’s eye, the great white is a Porsche, not a monster truck, and in these 250 photographs, collected over 30 years and 10,000 hours in the ocean, his perspective shines through. The shark is a “seductive blend of grace and power,” steely and iridescent, and the book feels about as close as you can get to one without donning a wet suit.
Skerry advocates for conservation efforts, noting that 100 million sharks are killed each year. Greater respect for sharks may stem from greater understanding.
There are more than 400 species of sharks. Skerry gets up close and personal with a few.