Chapter 20
Tiger shark
Now that Abaco and Anejo were swimming beside the boat, Cici tossed a few fish, which the dolphins easily caught.
"You know, no one ever explained to me why the dolphins go back home with you and don't stay out in the ocean?" Gray asked as he watched Cici throwing fish to each dolphin as they surfaced beside the boat.
"That was amazing! But I still don't understand why they don't leave.
" As he said this, Abaco and Anejo came back to the boat, and Cici gave them each a handful of fish so big the dolphins let the fish dribble out the sides of the mouths, taking their time picking them up.
It seemed like a lot of fish for doing one spin, though it was spectacular.
"Think of it this way," Cici continued as Marta slowly drove the boat further out into the ocean. "If every time you walked into your living room I handed you $1,000, where would you spend your time?" Both women smiled, knowing what Gray would say.
"Obviously, I'd keep walking into my living room waiting for you to give me $1,000. Geez, I'd be rich and never leave!" Gray said, waiting to see where this was going.
"Exactly!" Marta said, picking up the thread.
"So, if you think about it, every time the dolphins come out to the ocean, we're giving them that $1,000 by feeding them all their fish out here.
But still they choose to come home with us.
" As Marta smiled at Gray, he realized there was something more important at the Lagoon, and the women saw he was understanding.
"Home is the Lagoon; there's safety there, their friends are there, we're there, and yes they still get fed there but it's mostly their home.
And I'm sure that while you're here, these two pests will break out at some point.
We think they must hear wild female dolphins, and so they come out to the ocean for a frolic and return in the morning.
They have the audacity to wave at us from the jetty, asking to be let back into their pens when we can all clearly see the giant hole in the net that they made.
They will turn their heads to the side, pretending they don't see it and refuse to come in unless we let them in the gate; it's actually hilarious.
" Cici threw the boys another few fish each and closed their coolers.
"It takes a lot of trust to train them to come out to the ocean, and we practice a lot, especially the emergency recall.
But the saying is true—there's no place like home.
" At this, Cici leaned over the side of the boat and gave each boy a lip-smacking kiss on their heads and they clicked happily at her, wiggling and nodding their heads back and forth, obviously very pleased at the attention.
"Okay, Gray, hold on tight to the railing because we're going to pick up some speed!
" Marta warned him before kicking it up a notch.
Gray, realizing his sea legs weren't there yet, decided sitting down and holding onto the railing was the safest option.
He'd only been out on a boat a few times before.
Cici glanced back and laughed. "You're gonna get wet, but you won't fall down!
" She stood effortlessly, not holding onto anything.
When Marta pushed the throttle, the boat's nose jumped out of the water, sending Gray sprawling back, while both women stood perfectly balanced, watching him with amused expressions.
As the boat gained more speed, it levelled out, and Gray sat back up. The water was still splashing, but much less so than when Marta had first pushed the boat faster. And then he noticed the dolphins — they were surfing!
"That's amazing! How are they doing that?" Gray asked, totally enthralled.
"This is why we feel the need—the need for speed!" Cici laughed as her ponytail whipped around in the wind. "These boys love to surf, and when we go fast, they can cruise along in the boat's wake."
And indeed, that was what they were doing, cruising, then jumping up for a breath and settling back into the wave. Wait, was he seeing this right?
"Cici, they're not swimming? It looks like their flukes aren't moving at all until they jump up," Gray observed, unsure if he was seeing things correctly.
"Oh, they're totally letting the wave push them forward.
Come to the front of the boat, and you can see better.
" Cici motioned him forward. Gray, still unsteady, opted to crawl instead of walk, not caring how ridiculous he looked.
There was no way he was standing up. Cici and Marta tried to stifle their giggles, but his crab walk to the front was too much.
"We need to get you some sea legs. This," Marta motioned to his crawl, "is very unbecoming of a researcher!"
"Yeah, right now I pretty much don't care. My heart is jumping out of my chest! How fast are we going? It feels like we're trying to break the sound barrier!" Gray was exasperated from the effort of crawling across the sandpaper-like deck.
"Let's focus on the dolphins, and then we'll get you trained!
" Cici motioned to the dolphins with a signal that looked like she was throwing a bowling ball.
Abaco saw the signal, ducked below the water, and with Anejo at his side, they hit a burst of speed, turning up at the bow of the boat.
Gray leaned over the front and saw firsthand that the dolphins weren't moving their flukes, what most people incorrectly called their tails,--they were letting the pressure from the boat's wake push them forward.
They both turned onto their sides and looked up at him, waiting to see what he would do.
Gray stared back, equally curious. Now that he was this close to them, he noticed some of the slight differences between them.
One had what looked like a scar at the base of his pectoral fin, a white patch that he'd ask about later.
And the other dolphin had fine lines that looked like stripes of dark and light grey along his side After a moment, both dolphins did a quick kick to get ahead of the boat, took a breath from their blowhole on top of their head, and then returned to cruising.
The awe Gray had felt earlier was now replaced by pure elation.
How was he even here, sitting in this boat, watching these two dolphins perform what seemed like magic?
He must be dreaming because none of this felt real.
But then he had a question, something he had just realized he saw but hadn't registered until now.
"Wait, Cici, you made that motion with your arm, but only one dolphin saw it, yet both dolphins did the exact same thing. How is that possible?"
"Are you really a researcher? Because I think you should know this," Cici teased, her tone amused.
"I should? Well, I don't. I've only been around one dolphin at a time and mostly working on physiology stuff.
All this," he motioned to the wide-open ocean and the two dolphins quietly cruising at the bow of the boat, "is totally new to me.
I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot being here.
I've already learned so much, and it's day one! "
"Well, shoot! I'm sorry I sounded like an ass.
I didn't realize you'd only worked with one dolphin at a time.
It's pretty simple; they can communicate with each other.
So, if I signal one of them to do something, they tell the other what the crazy human wants, and off they go.
There's research showing that they can communicate with each other; the research papers are back at the lab.
I'll show you when we get back. It was an amazing project from years ago.
I like to say they're smarter than most humans I know!
" Cici said with a grin, and Marta nodded in agreement.
"Definitely smarter! Some days I watch them and think how lucky I am to be a part of their world. Now, how about we get you some sea legs because I can't keep a straight face watching you curled up on the deck. Let's get you standing up!" Marta slowed the boat and motioned for Gray to stand.
"Oh, I don't know about this. What if I fall in the water?" Gray asked hesitantly.
"You'd better not tell me while we're out here in the ocean that you can't swim!" Marta said in a more serious tone than Gray had heard from her before.
"I can swim! I'm totally proficient, but standing up on a moving boat that's also jostled by waves and speed changes, yikes! Maybe another day we can learn this?" Gray admitted, feeling seasick.
"Gray, you're looking green. You okay?" Cici asked absentmindedly, tossing fish to the dolphins, who lazily grabbed them.
"I am feeling a bit off now that we're not moving. Maybe we could start moving again?" As Gray said this, there was a big splash, and suddenly both Abaco and Anejo shot off away from the boat.
"What's happening?" Gray asked, alarmed at the dolphins' sudden retreat.
Both Marta and Cici began scanning the clear water below, and suddenly Cici spotted what had scared them. "Look!" Cici shouted. Marta rushed over to the side of the boat where Cici was, causing it to rock, making Gray even more queasy.
"Gray, you gotta see this. It's a tiger shark!" Cici motioned for him to join them.
"I'm fine here! And also a shark? Aren't you scared it will attack the dolphins?" Gray was now thoroughly confused.
Both women looked at him in wonder. "No, really, are you sure you're a researcher? That shark is not interested in the dolphins. They don't enjoy being around sharks, so they've gone home. But it's so majestic!" Both women sighed, clearly enamoured with the shark.
"It's not unheard of to see them here inside the reef, but it doesn't happen often. Do we have the camera with us?" Marta asked Cici as she opened up the captain's seat, looking for it.
"Here it is!" Marta pulled out an underwater camera rig with giant lights attached. "It's ready to go too. Cici, do you want to go in, or should I?"
"WAIT! You're going to go in with a shark?" Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why weren't they scared?
"Gray, you've got a lot to learn. Sharks are integral to the ocean, and there are hundreds of species. Typically, they only have bad interactions with humans who are doing something stupid," Cici said as she took off her tank top and shorts, preparing to get into the water.
"I do not know about sharks, so I'll trust you, but is this wise?" Gray asked, still worried but realizing his concern wasn't necessary.
"I'm good. Pass me the camera, please." Cici had already slipped effortlessly into the water and was holding onto the side of the boat.
Marta handed her the camera and then went back to the gears, setting the boat on a slow course to follow the shark.
Gray watched in amazement as the shark continued on its way, oblivious to the boat.
"This is good. I can get some nice shots from here," Cici said as she adjusted the camera to focus on the shark below.
Gray crawled back to the side of the boat where Cici was and noticed she had looped a rope around her waist to prevent herself from drifting away while snapping photos.
Clearly, this wasn't her first time doing this.
"Gray, if you'd like to see the shark better, you can put on a dive mask. The shark won't see you and come over," Marta suggested with a smile, handing him a dive mask. Gray, curious, dipped the mask in the water to clear it and prevent fogging.
"I would like to see it better. Where should I go?" Gray asked as he prepared to put on the mask.
"Over here, lean over the back where the dive deck is, and put your face in the water.
You'll get a good view. I'm going to move the boat a bit more to follow it," Marta said as she walked back to the controls and crept the boat forward.
As Gray put his face in the water, it was like entering another world.
The colours seemed brighter, and there was a pattern of stripes on the shark's skin.
He knew the skin felt like sandpaper from spending summer camp at the aquarium as a kid, hanging out at the touch pool all day.
Even from this distance, he could see a few remoras attached to it.
These small suckerfish help keep the shark's skin free from parasites and eat any scraps left behind.
"I can't believe this! It's so freaking cool!
!" Gray exclaimed as he raised his head, his dark hair flopping onto his forehead in wet strands.
His eyes sparked with excitement. Why had he ever been afraid?
The tiger shark wasn't terrifying; it was gigantic, powerful, and did not care a bit about them or the dolphins that had raced back home.
As Gray moved back toward the centre of the boat, Cici appeared on the dive deck.
She hoisted the camera up first, then pulled herself out of the water in one fluid motion.
"I think I got some incredible shots! What a beauty!
" she said as she shook her hair out. "Pretty sure it's the same lovely lady we spotted a few months ago.
Those notches on her fins are hard to miss.
Marta, can you note our position and the time?
I'll check these against the old photos later.
If it's her, we'll need to let the shark researchers know she's back in the area. "
"On it," Marta said quickly, jotting down the coordinates and time in her notebook.shook
As she worked, the radio crackled to life.
"Seagull 1, Seagull 1, this is Lagoon. Come in."
Marta grabbed the receiver and pressed the button. "Lagoon, this is Seagull 1. What can we do for you? Over."
"Seagull 1, are you perhaps missing two dolphins? About eight feet long, 600 pounds each, and devilishly handsome? Over."
Marta snorted and covered the mic, even though the button had to be pressed for the radio to transmit. "Well, shit. We forgot to tell them the boys were on their way back home." She and Cici burst into laughter, their easy camaraderie filling the boat.
Gray, standing nearby and dripping seawater from his head, laughed in disbelief. How were they so relaxed?
Marta pressed the button again. "Lagoon, this is Seagull 1. Yes, we seem to be missing two very good-looking boys, but we still have researcher Gray with us. So, we're counting today as a win. We're heading home now. Over."
Both women dissolved into laughter again, and even Gray couldn't help but smile. These people were completely unfazed by everything, and it was rubbing off on him. He was going to like it here—a lot.