Emperors of the Deep

Sharks - The Ocean's Most Mysterious, Most Misunderstood, and Most Important Guardians

By: William McKeever

Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon

Length: 10 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

In this remarkable, groundbreaking audiobook, a documentarian and conservationist, determined to dispel misplaced fear and correct common misconceptions, explores in-depth the secret lives of sharks - magnificent creatures who play an integral part in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans and ultimately the planet.

From the Jaws blockbusters to Shark Week, we are conditioned to see sharks as terrifying, cold-blooded underwater predators. But as Safeguard the Seas founder William McKeever reveals, sharks are evolutionary marvels essential to maintaining a balanced ecosystem. We can learn much from sharks, he argues, and our knowledge about them continues to grow. The first to reveal in full the hidden lives of sharks, Emperors of the Deep examines four species - mako, tiger, hammerhead, and great white - as never before and includes fascinating details such as:

• Sharks are 50 million years older than trees;
• Sharks have survived five extinction-level events, including the one that killed off the dinosaurs;
• Sharks have electroreception, a sixth sense that lets them pick up on electric fields generated by living things;
• Sharks can dive 4,000 feet below the surface;
• Sharks account for only six human fatalities per year, while humans kill 100 million sharks per year.

McKeever goes back through time to probe the shark’s prehistoric secrets and how it has become the world’s most feared and most misunderstood predator and takes us on a pulse-pounding tour around the world and deep under the water’s surface, from the frigid waters of the Arctic Circle to the coral reefs of the tropical Central Pacific, to see sharks up close in their natural habitat. He also interviews ecologists, conservationists, and world-renowned shark experts, including the founders of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, the head of the Massachusetts Shark Research Program, and the self-professed “last great shark hunter”.

At once a deep dive into the misunderstood world of sharks and an urgent call to protect them, Emperors of the Deep celebrates this wild species that holds the key to unlocking the mysteries of the ocean - if we can prevent their extinction from climate change and human hunters.

©2019 William McKeever (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers

I wanted to like this book, but...

I strongly wanted to like this book. I'm on a quest to learn about sharks and this book did provide some factual information. However, it was a difficult book to listen to for a number of reasons:
1) The narration style was like a sleepy bedtime story.
2) There were a number of mispronunciations of somewhat scientific terms.
3) While there was factual information about a few shark species and fishing practices, far too much time was spent describing the author's personal, somewhat questionable experiences. For instance, he describes the importance of predators in the ecosystem, then tells how he prevented a baby sea turtle from untimely natural demise.
4) The author made a case for the importance of ocean ecology, but then continued to lecture down to his audience and belabor the point, while not providing any additional information.
5) Parts of the book were repetitive, again, repetitive.
6) Overuse and incorrect use of the term "apex predator".
7) While obviously researched, the author did not have a sufficient knowledge on all the topics he presented to describe them accurately. On a number of issues, his presentation was somewhat skewed - not completely wrong, but not right, either.

My conclusion was that the author capitalized on an opportunity to travel and fulfill some of his bucket list while being able to write it all off. The book would be greatly improved by a scientific review/edit and overall, a much better editing job. The Audio version would also be improved by a having a different reader with a bit more of an engaging speaking style.

Great book, misleading title

excellent book highly recommend
however this book is 60% ocean conservation
not 100% shark
very well written and from real experience
And without fact checking every detail I would say very accurate.
I highly recommend this book

I Should Have Read the Reviews

The reviewer with the numbered bullet points is spot on. This is less a shark book and more of a conservation book. I am hardly against conservation books, I've read a few, but when I purchase a book about sharks I would like to read about...well, sharks.

In my head this book would started with the prehistoric sharks and their evolution and then ventured into the different species and their unique attributes. This could have been fleshed out with anecdotes and asides on other interesting ocean creatures.

In reality, well over half the book is about how 'society' is destroying the ocean. The author literally blames society. This term is so broad as to mean nothing. This sentiment, which could have been summed up in a chapter or less, is repeated over and over ad nauseam.

Not good. Return.

Great Information

Although I'm not a scientist, I could still point out a few statements that are incorrect. The majority of this read has up to date facts on sharks and I even learned some new and interesting ones as well. Listening to story's of personal shark encounters will never get old in my mind. If you are looking to know more about sharks, this is a great book for you!

This book's amazing

This book really gives you an insight on what's going on in the wolrd as it pertains to declining and culling of sharks and other species around the world. It really helps to soften your heart and to join the fight against illegal fishing and the fight to preserve the marine ecosystem and the shark population as a whole. It has definitely opened my mind and my heart to the masters of the ocean. I look forward to the next great listen!

Provides insight the misconception of sharks

Interesting read. Helps the reader understand why sharks are important and why they are misunderstood

Depressing but Important

Very informative book discussing not only sharks but the humans involved in studying them and hunting them. At times it describes graphic killings of sharks or the poor conditions of slaves on fishing boats to a level which people may find disturbing. Interesting information from the research side and about new technologies for studying ocean life and preventing illegal hunting/fishing. Audio book had good narrative and audio quality.

necessary read

well written, well narrated, educational, and eye-opening. I highly recommend reading this book and sharing it with your friends.

Informational

Sharks are amazing creatures that have always intrigued me so to hear such reverence from the author was great!

Very informative!

If you are interested in shark conservation and learning more about the importance of these beautiful animals to our oceanic ecosystems, then you will thoroughly enjoy this writing. The Author was clearly very passionate about his work with sharks and I enjoyed every minute.

Check out Whitetip.online/conservation