Once Bitten

A cultural legend, the great white shark’s reputation as a man-eater is directly linked with the blockbuster story "Jaws." That's something its author Peter Benchley heavily regretted, and spent most of the decades after the book's success trying to overcome. Wendy Benchley, Peter’s wife, called in to give us the rundown on the greatest threats sharks are facing today, and from the National Marine Service in La Jolla, Heidi Dewar explains how the shallow waters of the southern California are a nursery for our protected population. Cover Art Title: "The King" by Nicholas DeNezzo. A woodburned image with acrylic paint highlights on a hand-carved wood shark fin. At nearly 2 feet tall, the fin itself was carved to be the size and shape of that on a full-grown adult white shark. Inspired by a George T. Probst photo (@iphotographsharks on Instagram). DeNezzo is a local artist and marine conservation graduate student at UC San Diego. This piece is part of a larger series focusing on human-shark encounters and efforts to prevent shark bites.