Charley and the giant fish

摘要

When Captain Charles Thompson killed a 13-metre whale shark off the Florida Keys in the summer of 1912, it was the biggest fish that had ever been caught. It was such a monster that Thompson thought everyone should have a chance to see it, so he stretched the giant's skin over a shark-shaped frame, mounted it on a railroad car and took it on a tour of the US. The shark amazed a generation and earned its owner a fortune - and for one man it triggered a lifelong obsession. Museum curator Eugene Gudger spent the rest of his days cataloguing every sighting and every detail of the rare and mysterious species as he went in pursuit of a whale shark of his own.