“Shark Drunk”, a book by Morten Stroksnes

This is a story about two men and their illogical pursuit of the Greenland shark in the coastal waters of Nordland, Northern Norway but it also much more than that. It takes the reader on a tour of relevant and wonderfully irrelevant anecdotes and facts all tied into the main arc of the chase.

The reader will be led a merry dance from subject to subject with wonderful ease and I found myself being confronted with uncomfortable truths about how we treat our oceans, the unknown extent of our cold water reefs (most of the public focus right now is on the warm water versions with their photogenic blue waters and colourful fish).

Then we effortlessly flit to the subject of creationism and the fascinating history of how we have defined the age of our earth over the centuries (and another book on Amazon order… “Earths deep history: How it was discovered and why it matters” by Martin Rudwick).

Also, who knew…the name “Scandinavia” comes from the work of the Roman author Pliny the Elder and means torn up or damaged and dangerous coast. Delightful.

Not since “Thinking Fast and Slow” has one book given me so many other spin off reads to pursue.

I was lucky to have this book with me on an expedition in these same waters to spend a week in the water with Orcas and Humpbacks as they pursued the herring into the Fjords around Tromvik and it captures the essence of Norwegian life by and on the sea.

Thought provoking, with a sliver of biographical anecdotes all interspersed with delightful trivia.