Shark man: My obsession with the Great White Shark, by Theo Ferreira

Shark man: My obsession with the Great White Shark, by Theo Ferreira. Sunbird Publishers, Cape Town, South Africa 2007. ISBN 9781919938646 / ISBN 978-1-919938-64-6

The life of Theo Ferreira has been a fascinating mix of high drama, low comedy, gut-wrenching excitement and equally gripping fear, battles with authorities and narrow escapes from death. Stringing it all together has been his self-confessed obsession with the Great White Shark.

The vast plains of Africa are rightly famous for the Big Five that still roam them in spite of the depredations of poachers: the regal lion, the elusive leopard, the earth-shaking elephant, the hair-trigger-tempered buffalo and the unstoppable rhino. Awesome in appearance and ferocity when aroused, they have inspired an immense treasure-trove of fact, myth and legend in the minds of humans who heed the call of the wild and see them in their natural state. But the most fearsome of all the animals of Africa does not dwell on land. It lives in the depths off its coast and it is called Carcbarodon carcharias - or, as we intruders into its dim blue jungle usually call it, the 'great white shark', or just 'white shark'. The white shark holds the copyright on human fear because all the odds are on its side. Man is a land animal, like the Big Five, and when he tangles with them he can employ all his natural strength and cunning in the milieu in which he is the most familiar. But in the white shark's world he is an intruder, feebly equipped to fight for his life, never mind to win, and so all the odds are against him. Carcbarodon carcharias is nature's most formidable and efficient predator, a finely tuned precision-killing machine. Your evolutionist will explain the perfection of the white shark in straightforward Darwinian terms, but some people who know it as well as I do find it hard to attribute such perfection in every detail and ability to mere chance. Even a die-hard cynic might find himself conceding that a creature as perfect as this must have had a supreme designer and creator. That is a large statement to make in this disbelieving world, but let me share with you the amazing adventure that I have been privileged to experience - and tell you the story that has not yet ended, even if the main character is no longer myself but the next generation. It is not my intention to interpret how the white shark thinks and why it behaves the way it does. Instead I will share with you what I have experienced and observed over the years, and let you decide for yourself whether or not I am overstating the case. I am no bunny-hugging conservationist who feels diminished when he accidentally steps on an insect. I became an admirer of great white sharks the hard way: for years I was an inveterate and very successful hunter of great whites. Then I turned full circle and became their protector. I don't regret that first phase, because I know now that it was part of a long educational process that turned me into a more complete and informed individual. I feel very privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to learn from and interact with these complex and mighty creatures on their terms. It has made me realise that these apex predators form a vital link in our ecosystem and that they should be recognised as an asset to life on earth, rather than as an enemy of humankind. This doesn't mean that I have gone starry-eyed, however. I love sharks and I love being out on the ocean with them, but I am not going to tell you that they are cute. 'Cute' is not a word that you use in the same breath as 'shark'. The big predators among the species - the white, the tiger, the Zambezi and several others - are very dangerous indeed. [...]

This is an extract from the book: Shark man. My obsession with the Great White Shark, by Theo Ferreira.

Title: Shark man. My obsession with the Great White Shark
Author: Theo Ferreira
Publisher: Sunbird Publishers
Cape Town, South Africa 2007
ISBN 9781919938646 / ISBN 978-1-919938-64-6
Softcover, 13 x 20 cm, 224 pages, several colour photos