New Zealand's Great White Sharks

by Alison Ballance

Great white sharks are one of the world's most impressive and familiar predators - but until recently we knew surprisingly little about them. This book changes all that, opening a window into the amazing world of New Zealand's great whites. Join Kiwi shark scientists Malcolm Francis and Clinton Duffy as they track great white sharks from the cool waters of southern New Zealand to the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef and the tropical Pacific. Discover how electronic tags have revolutionised the study of great whites, revealing that these mighty ocean predators are international travellers that dive to depths of more than a kilometre as they journey to and from shark hotspots at Stewart Island and the Chatham Islands. Visit Australia's shark nurseries, meet the Stewart Island shark gang and join the teenage great white sharks, Nicholas Cage and Pip, on their travels. Award-winning natural history writer and broadcaster Alison Ballance has been following the New Zealand great white shark project for the last decade. She takes readers out on a research boat to experience first-hand the thrill of encountering and tagging a great white shark, follows the excitement - and frustration - of tracking their movements around the southwest Pacific, and uses science to paint a portrait of great white sharks as you've never understood them before. Find out what pieces of the great white shark puzzle have been solved, and what questions remain unanswered, in a science adventure book for young adults and anyone with an interest in sharks and the sea.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

Reviews

[Bookrapt (Est. 1983)]

Alison Ballance, New Zealand scientist and science reporter for Radio New Zealand, is the ideal person to write this book about the latest research on New Zealand's Great White Sharks. The book is based on the New Zealand great white shark project, which began in 2005 and was inspired by ground-breaking work by Australian and United States scientists, who had started electronically tagging the species in 1999. With topics such as: How Old is that Shark?, On the Menu, Built for the Kill, How Sharks Navigate, Shark Sex and Baby Sharks, this book is packed full of interesting information, ideal for school projects. Accompanying the wealth of information are many, many photos and diagrams and the book is completed with a very detailed index and a glossary.

Although the intended audience is intermediate and young adults, the quality and local nature of the information means this book would not be out of place in the adult nonfiction. However this book will also appeal to younger children who love looking at pictures of sharks.

Reviewed by Penny Guy (Bookrapt)