Ret Talbot is an award-winning independent journalist and writer who covers ocean issues and animals at the intersection of science and sustainability. 

Talbot lives on the coast of Maine with his wife, scientific illustrator Karen Talbot. His most recent collaboration is with shark biologist Greg Skomal covering the return of the white shark to the western North Atlantic in the book Chasing Shadows.

The book thrillingly begins with the fatal shark attacks in Cape Cod in 2018 and Bailey Island, Maine in 2020 (the first fatal shark attack on record in the US state of Maine). At its heart, it is a conservation success story about restoring an apex predator to an ecosystem through the eyes of the scientist who quite unexpectedly found himself in the middle of it all. 

With over two decades of experience covering stories from some of the more remote corners of the globe, from the icy summits of the Andes to the reefs of Papua New Guinea, Talbot’s  assignments have taken him off the beaten track and put his readers face-to-face with stories of adventure, new ideas and innovative approaches to commonplace and not-so-commonplace ideas and issues.

Ret Talbot  will be discussing  his new book with shark biologist Greg Skomal  “Chasing Shadows: My life tracking the great White Shark” at a free author talk on Friday, Dec. 15, 2 p.m. at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library, 4 Oak Street, Boothbay Harbor. (207) 633-3112.

“Vividly written and as terrifyingly suspenseful  as a dorsal fin slicing across the surface. The conservation story that we all desperately need.” - Richard J. King, Author of “Ahab’s Rolling Sea.”

“At last: the story of tracking the ocean’s most charismatic and controversial predator, compellingly told by the man who has learned more about the Atlantic great white shark than any other person alive. You must not miss this fantastic book! I could not put it down.” - Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of “The Soul of an Octopus.”