The great predator, a friend of ecological balance: as shark populations decrease and their habitats become more threatened, mankind plays a critical role in the survival of these ancient marine creatures.

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The great predator, a friend of ecological balance: as shark populations decrease and their habitats become more threatened, mankind plays a critical role in the survival of these ancient marine creatures.

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In a place where silence reigns, in the ocean depths surrounding Costa Rica's remote Isla del Coco, a group of voracious predators exercises control over the food chain. They are hundreds of whitetip sharks and hammerheads, surrounded by schools of "cleaner fish" and eagle rays, as well as immense tiger sharks, feasting on the multitude of big fish available in this well-stocked underwater fish market.

Known as a living laboratory for the study of fish migration, Isla del Coco--also called Isla de los Tiburones (Island of the Sharks)--is part of a system known as the Eastern Tropical Pacific marine conservation corridor that joins the islands of the region

A half dozen or more giant and intimidating tiger sharks--no longer abundant in the world's oceans--swim in circles around my kayak, as if to confirm the p...

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