Hardly any other animal is as fascinating and at the same time as feared as the shark. In Blind Dates, Gerhard Wegner and Christine Gstöttner take readers on an exciting journey into the world of sharks - and dispel myths and Hollywood clichés in the process. With over 35,000 documented shark encounters and well-founded analyses, they show that sharks are wrongly considered dangerous. In fact, many so-called ‘shark attacks’ are due to human misbehaviour, for example when the animals are deliberately fed or their sensitive senses are disturbed by loud noises or electrical fields. The book provides valuable tips for safe and respectful behaviour in the water - supplemented by 46 interactive films and animations that can be accessed via an internet link and QR code.

Author Gerhard Wegner is the founder and president of Sharkproject International, an organisation that works worldwide to protect sharks and their habitats. This includes educational programmes, awareness-raising work and political lobbying for stricter fishing regulations and more marine protected areas. Thanks to their work, numerous important successes have already been achieved, such as a ban on fishing for mako sharks in the North Atlantic and greater protection for them in the South Atlantic or the inclusion of more than 60 shark species, including requiem and hammerhead sharks, in Appendix II of the CITES Convention.

The two organisations GSAF (Global Shark Attack File) and ISAF (International Shark Attack File) evaluate shark accidents worldwide. However, the criteria used to obtain the data are unclear, as the differing figures in the two organisations' statistics show. What counts as an ‘attack’, for example, ranges from minor grazes on a surfboard to serious injuries.

What many individuals do not know: 47 species of shark also live in the Mediterranean, including the great white shark and basking shark. However, according to the WWF report Sharks in Crisis, more than half of these species are endangered. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 37% of all shark and ray species worldwide are already under threat. The main causes are overfishing, habitat loss and climate change. Yet sharks are indispensable for the ecological balance of the oceans. Their decline jeopardises entire ecosystems - with fatal consequences for us humans, too.