Sharks Don’t Sink

From a marine biologist and co-founder of Minorities in Shark Sciences, a powerful debut memoir: the uplifting story of a young Black scientist’s challenging journey to flourish outside the traditional confines of academia, inspired by her innate connection to nature’s most misunderstood animal—the shark.

Sharks have been on this planet for over 400 million years, which means there is a lot they can teach us about survival and adaptability. For example: unlike other fish, sharks are denser than water, so how do they stay afloat? They keep moving, in the only direction they can, which is forward. When Jasmin Graham, an award-winning young shark scientist, started to feel that the traditional path to becoming a marine biologist was pulling her under, she remembered the important lesson she learned from sharks: keep moving forward.

If navigating the choppy waters of traditional academic study–a field where it was harder to find other young women of color than the elusive elasmobranchii (sharks, rays, skates, and sawfish) Jasmin loved—was no longer worth it, then that meant creating an ocean of her own. Jasmin joined with three other Black women to form Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), an organization dedicated to providing support and opportunities for other young women of color pursuing the fascinating and environmentally essential work of marine studies. She became an independent researcher: a rogue shark scientist, learning how to keep those endangered but precious sharks swimming free—just like her.

Sharks Don’t Sink is a riveting, moving, and ultimately triumphant memoir at the intersection of science and social justice: a guidebook to how we can all learn to respect and protect some of nature’s most misunderstood and vulnerable creatures—and grant the same grace to ourselves.