Orca - Peirce Richard

Gansbaai, a fishing village south of Cape Town on the southern coast of Africa, had earned the name Shark Town. Thanks to nearby Seal Island - a breeding ground for the Cape seal - Great White sharks were attracted to the coastal waters in pursuit of their favoured prey. Local entrepreneurs, themselves drawn to the majestic apex predators, had set up and developed a lucrative cage-diving industry, with visitors from around the world flocking in to witness, close up, the guaranteed display of mighty Great White sharks. Business was booming, and the town was alive with services and spin-offs that benefited the entire local population. Then, one day, the sharks disappeared. The stream of tourists thinned, then stopped. Boats remained at their moorings, and the bonanza threatened to dry up. What could be the cause of the shark exodus? In this account of the real-life drama, Richard Peirce explores the events of those fraught months, unravels the possible reasons - and comes to some startling conclusions.