On March 31, after 198 days in the aquarium, the great white shark was outfitted with a transmitter and released into the Pacific. The transmitter was programmed to pop off after 30 days, and on May 5 researchers retrieved it 25 miles off Point Arguello, south of Monterey. It indicated that the shark had traveled more than 100 miles offshore and gone as deep as 800 feet.

Scientists still have a lot to learn about sharks, especially great whites; scarce in the best of times, they are nowadays considered vulnerable. Scientists do know that sharks are critical to ocean health. Remove any significant animal from the marine food chain and you risk disrupting the balance of nature; remove the top predator, and the order of life in the oceans could be altered in catastrophic and unimaginable ways. For now, though, it’s nice to think about the magnificent creature that thrilled the crowds at the Monterey Bay Aquarium patrolling the oceans again.

For Wendy

By Peter Benchley:

TIME AND A TICKET

JAWS

THE DEEP

THE ISLAND

THE GIRL OF THE SEA OF CORTEZ

Q CLEARANCE

RUMMIES

BEAST

WHITE SHARK

SHARK TROUBLE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Peter Benchley belonged to one of America’s most celebrated literary families: his grandfather was the humorist Robert Benchley and his father the novelist Nathaniel Benchley. His interest in the sea began at the age of nine during summers on Nantucket and led to his research into sharks and the writing of Jaws. He went on to write other bestsellers, including The Deep, Q Clearance, Beast, and Shark Trouble. Benchley died in 2006.