Swimming with Sharks

So by now you've heard that Shark Week starts this Sunday (quick, cue the Jaws theme). I must have been about nine or ten years old when I first saw the movie and I can remember begging my mom to take me to Zach's Bay at Jones Beach that summer. Hey, in my mind I assumed that the tranquil waters of the bay were much safer than swimming in the ocean with man-eating sharks.

Fast forward 15 years... as a new transplant I quickly found out that treading water by the pier wasn't one of my more brilliant moves. My soon-to-be husband, safely hanging out on the pier, was yelling down to me (frolicking, carefree Kim), to get out of the water because he had spotted some sharks swimming around near where I was. I must have set an Olympic record for running through ocean waves to the shoreline!

Well, all's well that ends well. Still retaining all of my limbs and natural curiosity about sharks, I've become a big fan of Shark Week. If you would like to learn more about this oft misunderstood creature, check out some of the following books available at your Socastee Library:

Titles currently on display and ready to find a good home for 28 days include:
The Shark Almanac by Thomas B. Allen
Shark Trouble by Peter Benchley
Sharks of South Carolina by Charles H. Farmer III
Twelve Days of Terror: a Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks by Richard G. Fernicola
The Encyclopedia of Sharks by Steve and Jane Parker
Sharks of the World by Rodney Steel

You can also check out a DVD copy of the original Jaws movie
along with the CD soundtrack or join us as

FREE tickets are still available for our "Sharks, Tails, and Teeth" Family Fun Night program featuring a guest speaker from Ripley's Aquarium for this Thursday, August 5th at 6 p.m.! Guaranteed to be an hour of fun for families with school aged children. Call us at 215-4700 for more information.

Impress your friends and family with your new found biting knowledge of sharks!

-Kim