Author(s): Brendan McAloon

Animals

Sharks Never Sleep explores dramatic accounts of first-hand encounters with the most feared creature in the ocean. At Shelly Beach near Ballina, Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahari is attacked and killed by a great white shark, turning the country's favourite playground into a kingdom of fear. At Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, world champion surfer Mick Fanning fights off a great white shark during the final of one of the world?s biggest professional surfing competitions, broadcast live into living rooms around the planet and turning Fanning into a global celebrity overnight. At Trois Bassins on Reunion Island, 22-year-old French born British citizen Talon Bishop is killed by a tiger shark while swimming in waist-deep water with her boyfriend on Valentine's Day, sparking the small island's "la crise requin" (the shark crisis). At Surf Beach in Santa Barbara, California, 39-year-old father of two, Francisco "Paquito" Solorio Jr, is killed by a great white shark two years and one day after 19-year-old student Lucas Ransom was killed at the very same location, connecting two families in devastating loss. At Jaws on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the Everest of big-wave surfing, shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton is towed into monstrous, death-defying waves -- having lost her arm to a tiger shark as a 13-year-old junior surfing champion, Bethany has returned to compete at the highest level, written an autobiography, appeared on numerous US television shows (from Oprah and Ellen to The Amazing Race), been the subject of a feature film and, most recently, gave birth to a son. Hear of primal fear of being eaten alive by a wild animal, the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one, and the extraordinary survival and inspiring journey back into the ocean by shark attack victims. Meet a cast of crazy characters and explore our complex relationship with sharks in this gripping collection of true tales by award-winning journalist and filmmaker Brendan McAloon.