A group of traders huddles around a pile of dried shark fins on a gleaming white floor in Hong Kong. A Papua New Guinean elder shoves off in his hand-carved canoe, ready to summon a shark with ancient magic. A scientist finds a rare shark in Indonesia and forges a deal with villagers so it and other species can survive.
In this eye-opening adventure that spans the globe, Juliet Eilperin investigates the fascinating ways different individuals and cultures relate to the ocean's top predator. Along the way, she reminds us why, after millions of years, sharks remain among nature's most awe-inspiring creatures.
From the Bahamas and South Africa to Shanghai, sharks are still the object of an obsession: film stars go big game fishing in Miami and shark's fin soup is a coveted status symbol in China. Yet people and sharks can also exist alongside each other: surfers tolerate their presence and eco-tourists swim with them. Yet this extraordinary human fascination with sharks may eventually lead to their extinction.
