The Vineyard can claim some ownership to a book that came out earlier this year: The Shark Handbook, the essential guide for understanding the sharks of the world, by Greg Skomal. Fortunately, the connection has more to do with the author than the subject, though at times the Vineyard does have its sharks.

An authority on sharks around the world, Mr. Skomal lives in Oak Bluffs. He works as a fisheries biologist for the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

The Shark Handbook is his first book about sharks; he has written extensively on other marine topics, including his popular Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies.

For many years Mr. Skomal also has written summaries on the annual Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby. The fall derby is a monthlong contest where anglers compete for catching four species of fish: striped bass, bluefish, bonito and false albacore. At the conclusion of the tournament, Mr. Skomal takes the detailed data on the fish weighed in, evaluates it and writes a piece about the fishing effort.

With all of his data and research, Mr. Skomal is a good resource on recreational fishing. For example, he has worked extensively in coastal pond fish population surveys trying to profile the different species of fish living in Island ponds. He works out of the former Massachusetts State Lobster Hatchery, where the saltwater pumps haven’t run for years, but the state maintains the building as a research center.

At first glance Mr. Skomal’s latest book looks like a glossy sort of Peterson’s Guide to Sharks, because it resembles a field guide. But unlike the well-known Peterson’s series, Mr. Skomal has written this guide in the voice of a scientist, along the way sharing the magic and mystery of his own enthusiasm for the topic.

In putting the book together, Mr. Skomal said the publisher’s intent was to come out with some kind of shark guide: “We went back and forth on the concept of the book. Obviously, my coming from a scientific background, my goal was not only to have it be an attractive book to readers, not only have great photographs but also to bridge the gap between science and the lay person.”

“There are great guides out there,” Mr. Skomal said. “I wanted to get away from guides. I wanted to give the reader an idea of how we study them, shark diversity, their unique body structure, how they are used in fisheries and how we need to conserve them.”

Sharks are widely misunderstood, believed to be aggressive and harmful to humans. In his guide Mr. Skomal attempts to open up another view of these magnificent creatures.

“I am trying to tell people that what you see on TV is not representative of what we know and what we understand about these unique animals. It is much more important, much broader. I want people to understand various aspects of sharks, their attributes. They are not killing machines that swim around making baby sharks and eating people, but they are unique, have a unique life history,” he said in a recent interview about the book.

He continued: “With codfish we have a rich cultural and social history. Cod is one of the primary proteins. It is a fish that ruled the world. We’ve got all these rich traditions, good history, some of it bad history. But what do you think of when you think of sharks?

“The only history you think about is that they bite people and that is kind of sad. We can’t rewrite history. We can’t. It is already past. So we have to take from this point and go forward. This is about educating people about sharks.”

Mr. Skomal’s book includes plenty of pictures by Nick Caloyianis, a world class underwater photographer. The book begins with the basics, including chapters on the characteristics of the shark and its history on the planet going back 450 million years. There is much to learn. For example, sharks don’t have bones like most fish. Their internal skeleton is composed of cartilage, pliable and lightweight. Mr. Skomal describes the fish as though it were an efficiently designed creature made to swim continuously and effortlessly from the moment it is born.

Sharks must swim to breathe.

Mr. Skomal writes about the animal’s life history and reproduction. He also describes tagging the animals and writes about conservation efforts. Ten pages in the book are devoted to shark attacks. And there is a map of the Atlantic depicting where sharks have gone after they’ve been tagged off the U.S. coast.

The second half of the book is devoted to identifying the types of sharks, including ground sharks, dogfish and others. The book lists 408 sharks in 34 families.

Mr. Skomal, who has lived on the Vineyard for 21 years, and is married with a 16-month-old son, has traveled the world for his work. Last spring he was in Europe studying basking sharks. He was also in the Caribbean studying lemon and blacktip sharks.

“I have said to a lot of people that I love to go to places. I am a traveler. The Vineyard represents a wonderful place to come home to too,” he said.

Two weeks ago he was in Montreal with a group of other shark scientists, members of the American Elasmobranch Society. Is he an expert? With a smile, he answered: “Nobody wants to be called an expert. The nail in your coffin is when some hokey television station calls you a shark expert. It is the kiss of death. None of us believe we are experts.”

Mr. Skomal is a scientist but at times he speaks like a conservationist. “I am worried about the future of the oceans. I am worried that humankind, as a species, has it in us to do what we need to do,” he said, concluding:

“Sharks are one of a group of indicators. We just don’t know how sharks as a piece integrate with the rest of the puzzle. We are trying to play catchup ball to repair environmental damage. And we seem to always be a step behind.

“We know that sharks are an integral component in the ocean ecosystem. We know that some species of sharks are in trouble. We have to find solutions. Do we have enough information to provide the solutions — probably not — but we are getting better at it.”