Shark Sense

Shark Sense was one of the many "Sense" manuals produced by the Aviation Training Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Navy for Navy Aviators. This manual was published in 1944. The "Sense" manuals were published by the Aviation Training Division in order to supply the armed forces with readable training manuals. The manuals were designed to feature common sense topics for Naval aviators.

Content
The manual mostly contains advice for naval aviators who may find themselves in close company with a shark if downed in tropical waters. One of the main topics covered within the manual are the facts about shark attacks. The manual describes to the reader the likelihood of being attacked by a shark. There are also notes on how sharks are mostly mysteries to the scientific community and anything they may have read is likely to be mere speculation. The beginning of the manual even addresses whether or not sharks are able to smell in a way familiar to human beings. The manual says that the scientists are still not sure on that point. The manual also contains instructional guides for the reader to follow if he ever finds himself crashing into tropical waters.

Illustrations
No artists or authors are explicitly credited within the manual, though the illustrator Robert C. Osborn is known to have illustrated many of the U.S. Navy “Sense” training manuals. Shark Sense, along with the other training manuals, were created in a comic book form in order to be entertaining while informative to troops at their stations. The cover of the manual features a navy aviator scrambling within a body of water with a small fish nibbling on his toe. In the aviator’s mind he is being attacked by a giant shark, which is pictured in a thought bubble over his head as he scrambles in the water. The aviator is having trouble keeping his head above water because he is not keeping calm, which is one of the lessons within the manual. Most of the illustrations were more humorous within this particular manual, but there are also illustrations of a more instructional nature. The instructional panels informed the Navy aviators of body language when downed in tropical waters.