2008-01-24 I have problems with this one.

On the one hand, this is a very good book with much information for the reader. On the other, it's as though the book has been hijacked by Ron and Valerie Taylor. OK, so I never did like their gung-ho, macho style of attacking the Shark head-on for reasons of personal publicity, but let me make 2 points; Firstly, the book is billed as having an "Introduction by Ron & Valerie Taylor." Surely that means "they" didn't actually write it. Secondly, at the beginning we have a complete list of 8 contributors in addition to the Taylors'. OK, so they wrote part of it. There is a photograph of all but one of these contributors and, of course, the Taylors' just "had" to pose looking through the jaws of a Great White Shark which they are holding up for personal effect.

Elsewhere we find photographs of Valerie Taylor wearing a chain mail suit covered in Shark food trying to get a Shark to bite her arm - I always thought it a great pity she didn't try that stunt using a tin hat instead. But I have to ask; Is this a serious book or what? Judging by the qualifications of the contributors (some of which are very impressive - and none of which are held by the Taylors'!), I think it is. It would, however, have been much better with just the input from those other 8 people. Why? Because they are people I can take seriously. Put another way, with all reference to the Taylors' removed, this would easily have been a 5 Star publication.

Today, all species of Shark are becoming increasingly endangered - some critically so. I wonder how much Ron and Valerie Taylor have contributed to the overall decline of this creature in general and the Great White in particular. Perhaps they haven't - but I suspect they have and, if so, that is not something for which they can be proud.

The days of the great white safari to shoot wildlife in Africa and the Tiger in Bengal are long-gone. How long do we have to wait until the antics of those who persecute great creatures from the deep also come to an end?

NM