The True Nature of Sharks

The True Nature of Sharks is a full scale exploration of wild shark behaviour, drawn from fifteen years of watching the actions of hundreds of sharks. It reveals a new dimension of their lives that can only come from keeping track of them as individuals.

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This timely book will make the mysterious world of sharks come alive for you.

You will learn how their complex behaviour reveals that sharks are thinking, rather than acting on instinct alone. For they are not the dangerously stupid automatons that popular media will have us believe. Neither are they monsters, nor the cold and senseless creatures described by fisheries science.

They are ordinary animals, thinking about the events in their lives and responding intelligently.

By their actions, sharks reveal that they are self-aware, learn from each other, form companionships, make swift decisions depending on the circumstances, and can plan to influence an event in the future.

They enjoy socializing, communicate through posturing and gestures, and are capable of influencing each other. They can become highly emotional, yet are peaceful among themselves. Unlike many other animals, including humans, they do not fight!

If you love discovering new, intelligent wildlife behavior, you will love this illustrated book, which presents a wealth of unexpected insights and tantalizing implications as it integrates field observations with facts from other branches of science.

What others are saying:

Occasionally a special book appears that makes you sit up and reconsider your understanding of the world, or at least a part of it. The True Nature of Sharks is such a book.

It echoes the way that Diane Fossey and Jane Goodall forced us to completely reassess how we perceived the great apes, our closest relatives. While sharks may be only a very distant relative, Porcher’s book is no less revolutionary, in that it forces us to reassess how we perceive and understand sharks. Her work is instrumental in firmly shifting our understanding of sharks away from the obsolete trope of sharks as killing machines. Instead she portrays them as intelligent, predictable individual animals capable of so much more than generally assumed.

Glenn Ashton, South Africa

'Not only does this beautifully illustrated book challenge virtually every assumption we have about shark behaviour, it also opens our eyes to our own, conditioned biases when it comes to these most maligned Ocean beings. It is completely appropriate to compare Ila France Porcher’s dedicated study of sharks to Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking work with chimpanzees.'

Glenn Edney,

author of The Ocean is Alive, New Zealand

"Up close and personal with these enigmatic creatures, Ila France Porcher dispels the myth that sharks are overtly dangerous. Beautifully written, this personal underwater journey provides a fascinating insight into shark behaviour and highlights their intelligence and complexity of behaviour which is a far cry from their sullied reputation. A must read for animal lovers, shark biologists and conservationists."

Dr Lynne U. Sneddon

Director of Bioveterinary Science,
University of Liverpool, England

"We, in the world of "sharkology", are indeed fortunate that Ila moved to Moorea and began observing sharks. Her careful and painstaking observations, followed by writing them down, are a tribute to her care."

The late shark ethologist Professor Arthur A. Myrberg
University of Miami, USA

"Curiosity, courage, compassion, cognition, community - mirrored in the observer and the observed. Ila France Porcher's study of shark behavior is a fascinating look inside a world so different from our preconceived notions that it challenges us at every turn. Engaging and eloquent text combine with the artist's eye to paint a living portrait of an ancient species - a species that is vital to preserving our ecosystem. But beyond the engrossing story, The True Nature of Sharks is a timely and very necessary reminder that accurate and detailed observation, unencumbered by secondary concerns and commercial interests, is at the heart of all good science."

Dr. Bob (R.A.) Abell,

Science educator, author, film maker, Canada

The expression "swimming with the sharks" brings with it the aura of fearlessness - a bravery to be admired. But it has always been only metaphorical. Who would believe a person who told us that she literally swims with sharks! That she bravely goes into a realm where no one has reported going before.

And yet, a small, human female does just that in a totally convincing way. Kudos to Ila France Porcher for this game-changing tome that captivates us through a unique blend of research report and story, backed by both solid scientific principles and first class logic. This is a story of bravery, compassion, and wisdom interacting to bring new understanding and support to a maligned species.

Evelyn Abell, Canada

This elegantly written, exquisitely illustrated volume offers a revealing account of sharks as individuals, revealing just how much we have demeaned and underestimated their true natures.

Jonathan Balcombe, author of What a Fish Knows, Canada

Ila France Porcher is arguably the most knowledgeable and committed shark researcher outside the confines of today's international academia. No academic shark researcher has ever studied sharks long-term underwater as Ila did.

She spent many years solitarily observing sharks in their habitat to document the natural behavior of these highly complex and intelligent animals, and by publishing her findings she has made a firmly established name for herself in the field of cognitive ethology of sharks.

As a result, her unique contribution to understanding "the true nature" of sharks, not only as a self-taught academic but also as a very committed and at times quite combative shark conservationist, has been immeasurably valuable.

But more than that, Ila's outstanding talent as a writer makes her book a literary jewel - an achievement that is quite exceptional in the rather prosaic world of science.

But this is not all that sets Ila apart from the scientific community: She is driven by a very personal and genuinely passionate love and deep intuitive understanding for all animals. Reading Ila's books and blogs one can feel that her approach to sharks goes way beyond mere curiosity for a specific species. In her sincere humility, 'fellow animals' means to Ila exactly that: Our common mother is nature, and as any mother, nature has no preferred children.

On a personal note: Ila's findings did not surprise me at all, as I have also interacted very closely with sharks photographing them, especially tiger sharks which I found to be extremely gentle and highly sensitive animals - entirely contrary to their wrong image as one of the most "dangerous" sharks. In fact, no shark is dangerous and "attacks" humans; accidents happen, though rarely, Thus, I am very happy to unconditionally endorse Ila's debunking the age-old myth that sharks are senseless and insatiable killers.

Wolfgang Leander,

pioneer shark diver and photographer,

Bolivia