Swimming With Sharks

by Melissa Cristina Márquez

  “Hello, Villalobos family!” said Dr. Chandrika, giving us all a huge individual hug. “I am so excited you wanted to learn more about the marine conservation work I’m doing in Sri Lanka.”

  Alice and Mark followed behind us, cameras softly whirring as they focused on different things—my parents’ faces, the corridors of the building as we walked from room to room, the hand movements they were all making. Feye and I stood back quietly as the talk between the adults got increasingly filled with big, technical words neither of us could understand.

  “Recently, Sri Lanka teamed up with Senegal to further protect some shark species,” said Dr. Chandrika. “We have a few juvenile leopard sharks I’d love to show Adrianna, actually.”

  Wait a minute! That shark name sounded familiar! Reaching into my other back pocket, I pulled out my field notebook and flipped to where I had written down a few shark names. Sure enough, there was the leopard shark!

  Leopard Shark (Stegostoma tigrinum)

  Also known as the zebra shark.

  Known to undergo dramatic change of color from a “zebra” pattern in the juvenile to a “leopard” pattern in the adult stage.

  Feeds on small fish, snails, sea urchins, crabs, etc.

  Confused with Triakis semifasciata (see below).

  Wait … two of them? I read down.

  Leopard Shark (Triakis semifasciata)

  Has dark, saddle-shaped splotches on its upper body.

  One of the most common sharks found along the coast of California.

  Is seen in schools.

  Eats small fish, crabs, shrimp, octopuses, fat worms, even rays!

  “Excuse me,” I said, holding up my notebook as everyone looked at me. Even the cameras swung around to face me. “But why are there two animals called leopard sharks if they are two different animals?”

  “She’s smart.” Dr. Chandrika smiled. “Can I see your notebook and what you have written?” I handed her my messy writing and she made approving noises as she looked over my notes. She looked up at me and motioned for me to follow her, which I did, cameras trailing behind us. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Mr. Savage whispering something to Mark as he fiddled with his camera.

  “So ‘leopard shark’ is a common name, or what people outside science call these animals. Many animals, like these two, have multiple common names. Sometimes they share the same common name,” she said as we turned down the hall into a giant, dark room.

  She flipped the switch, and the place came to life, showing that one wall was made of glass. Suddenly, we were transported to an underwater coral forest. Algae and branching coral swayed in the currents, with brightly colored fish schooling above the creamy, sandy bottom. I spotted a stingray swimming lazily around.

  Then I saw them. The leopard sharks! Or zebra sharks? They kind of looked half zebra and half leopard.

  “Oh!” I said, surprised by seeing the animals … and that I didn’t know animals could go by so many names.

  “The name you have written next to their common name? That starts with an S? That’s what we call the scientific name. Each animal has their own unique scientific name. No two are alike. So that is what we use when referring to these animals.” Dr. Chandrika pointed to the leopard sharks. “These are the leopard sharks scientifically known as Stegostoma tigrinum. Make sense?” she asked. I nodded and thanked her for explaining that.

  My parents and Feye, who had followed us into the massive room, all let out audible gasps at seeing the giant aquarium. Feye quickly took his phone out for a picture, snapping multiple shots of the resting sharks. As the adults went back to talking among themselves, Feye came closer to me.

  “Think we could swim with them? The tank looks big enough,” he said.

  “Oh, you can actually give it a try if you want,” Dr. Chandrika said. “We’ve got some spare goggles, snorkels, and fins.”

  I looked up at my parents. “Oh, can we? Please?!” I was ready to do anything to make sure I ended up in that tank. Fortunately, Mr. Savage was on my side.

  “I think it’s a great idea! We can film the kids swimming with the sharks. We’ll see the fearless Villalobos kids face these dangerous animals!” Mr. Savage cried.

  “Do you guys even have swimsuits with you?” Dad asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “Uh, yeah. I learned my lesson.” I yanked at my shirt to show my black swimsuit underneath. Not that I knew today we would be swimming with leopard sharks in a tank … but a girl should always be prepared!

  I looked into the tank, watching as one of the sharks rose from the sandy bottom and began to swim toward us, floating through the water with ease. That powerful tail swished from side to side effortlessly. Sharks are incredible creatures. They’ve been around longer than trees and evolved for millions of years. This was just one of their thousands of final forms.

  “Earth to A!” I heard Feye say as I brought myself back to the present.

  I gave them a shy smile. “Sorry, I was just thinking about how much I love sharks.”

  Dr. Chandrika returned my smile. “Then it’s a good thing we just decided to let you go in with them!”

  I let out a whoop and, before anyone could stop me, took my clothes off to reveal my swimsuit beneath.

  “Someone sure is excited.” Feye laughed. Everyone laughed with him as I dashed to the box of snorkels and masks nearby.

  While we got ready to go in, the adults talked about what shots to take for the cameras, and pretty soon it was time to dive on in!

  “Remember, slow and steady strokes and don’t make any sudden movements that could scare them off. No touching them, okay?” Dr. Chandrika instructed as she came to the top of the aquarium with us. We waved to our parents below and blew them a kiss before jumping into the warm water.

  And in we went! As the bubbles cleared from our initial jump in, I suddenly was surrounded by colorful fish and towering coral. The sharks, having heard us enter, swam underneath one of the structures to hide.

  “It’s okay! We aren’t here to hurt you!” I said through my snorkel.

  Feye pointed up, signaling for us to surface. When we popped up above the surface, he shook his head at me. “Don’t scream at them; you’re gonna scare them!” he said.

  Oops. I forgot that part. Dial down the excitement, A.

  We went back down, me trying to free dive like Zev. I was sort of getting the hang of it, even making my way down to the bottom of the tank near the sharks! They stayed under the coral but didn’t seem as terrified as before.

  I completely lost track of time, too focused on my brother and trying to perfect my free diving, and I was startled when Mr. Savage tapped on the glass and pointed to his watch. Time was up.

  “Thank you, sharks!” I said into the water, waving at them as we popped back up.

  “Have fun?” Dr. Chandrika asked.

  I nodded. “Oh heck yeah, I did!”

  After my swim with the leopard sharks, Dr. Chandrika, my family, and I spent a few days meeting up regularly to “iron out the details” about the Shark Appreciation Festival. It’s a lot of work to bring something like this to life in such a super-short amount of time, but we had all done it! Finally, today was the day. I couldn’t wait to start sharing my love of sharks with a whole new audience.

  “Well, what do you guys think?” Mr. Savage said as we came closer to the beach where we were holding the festival. Brightly colored lanterns hung from the lush green trees and a banner in multiple languages was posted near the entrance to the fish market entrance. In English, it said WILD SURVIVAL! SHARK APPRECIATION FESTIVAL. Tables had been set up with different activities: Some had shark coloring pages, at others you could make your own shark bookmark, and one even had trivia where if you got questions right, you could win squishy shark toys. The beach was full of locals, laughing, chatting, and looking through everything.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. People had actually showed up!

  When we got to the market building, I peeked inside, where
a stage had been set up, along with my photo gallery. Mr. Savage and the network had paid all the fishers to allow us to use the market space for talks by the local shark scientists.

  “Happy?” Mom whispered into my ear, hugging me tightly. I nodded, tears in my eyes as I took in everything. I could see the photos that I had taken of the sharks found in the markets hung up next to those that Mark and Alice had taken of the same kinds of sharks, but alive and vivid in the ocean. Below each photo, I spied the captions I had written out about the beauty of the species and why they were so important … and then the translation written by Mr. Manil below. Tiger sharks, whale sharks, hammerheads … they were heartbreakingly beautiful. Yes, yes, I was happy. I was realmente emocionada.

  “Holy cannoli,” Feye whispered, looking around at the festival’s setup and taking his phone out of the waterproof case he had it in to snap a picture. He knew I only got this super excited about sharks, tacos, and puppies.

  “Time to get this party started!” Mr. Savage said as he walked away from us and toward the stage. From behind the stage, I could see the “The Ocean and I” photo gallery! This was the gallery Dr. Chandrika had helped set up, where she and Alice had gone around taking photos and doing interviews with the local fishermen. I was so excited to read all their stories.

  “I’m a fifth-generation fisherman. We are thankful the ocean provides us jobs and food.”

  “My father taught me how to fish. We can’t imagine doing anything else. Our respect for the ocean runs deep.”

  “The ocean gives us everything we need. We need to protect her!”

  Taking the microphone out of its stand, Mr. Savage held it up to his mouth and tapped it once, twice. “Testing, testing, can everyone hear me?” After seeing nods from around the venue, he continued. “Welcome, everybody, to the Wild Survival! Shark Appreciation Festival hosted by the Villalobos family, who is here right now!” Mr. Savage said. He motioned for us to come up and join him onstage, and I thought we must have looked cute in our matching khaki zoo outfits. “This is Julio and Evelyn and their kids, Feye and Adrianna. You may have seen Adrianna and Feye around here already.”

  We waved as Mr. Savage introduced us. From the stage, I could see all my friends had made it. I was so happy Zev, Dilip, Punya, and Manisha had all come.

  “We have a day jam-packed with jawsome fun, so make sure to check out our tables of activities, the photo gallery, and the talks that will happen throughout the day,” Mr. Savage added. “I hope you brought your swimsuits and some snorkels, too, because we are having a community-wide snorkel trip out to the beach to see if we can spot some sharks! No snorkel? No problem! We have lots of extra masks for those who forgot or don’t have them! So go, enjoy! The snorkel will begin in a few hours.”

  Mr. Savage put the microphone back on its stand and a translator took his place, reiterating what he had said and inviting the first speaker of the day to come up to the stage.

  “So, what do we do now?” Mom asked.

  “You go have fun! Kids, here are your ‘Villalobos Vision’ GoPros, and Mark and Alice will follow all four of you randomly as you have fun! Mingle!” Mr. Savage said, handing Feye and me the cameras. “But first I need to talk about the epic monster snorkel shot.”

  “Monster snorkel shot?” Feye asked.

  “You know, the ‘Civilians swim with terrifying beasts of the sea.’ Having you guys among these killer sharks is going to be a killer shot!” Mr. Savage said.

  “Rick, the entire point of this was to appreciate sharks, not vilify them. They get that enough,” Dad said.

  “Well, so long as none of the sharks bite people, they won’t get vilified.” Mr. Savage shrugged. He then looked at me. “Try not to get bitten by one, okay?” He winked and left to go talk to Mark and Alice.

  After going to each table as a family, I sat down and watched one of the expert speakers the network had brought in. As I listened to him, I was struck by how passionate he was about the topic of shark finning. He showed slides about what the practice was, talked about how many dried shark fins had recently been tested around the world for toxins like mercury, and how many had a super-high level, on average six to ten times higher than what a safe level would be.

  At the end of his talk, everyone clapped and waited for the announcer to introduce the next speaker—Dr. Chandrika! She scanned the crowd as she introduced herself as the CEO of Waves of Action, the Sri Lankan organization based on marine science education and advocacy that was helping host the festival.

  I’m not sure how I didn’t spot him before, but a cough made me look down my row to see Mr. Savage only a few feet away from me. “Mr. Savage!” I whispered, motioning for him to come closer to me. Dr. Chandrika continued to explain how her talk was going to be about how our seafood choices impact sharks in ways we wouldn’t think.

  “Yes, Adrianna?” Mr. Savage asked.

  “Are we recording Dr. Chandrika?” I motioned, pointing up at Dr. Chandrika, hoping she got a ton of airtime on this show.

  “Of course. Her organization donated a lot of the time and resources, and she was instrumental in making sure we had this fintastic lineup of interesting speakers,” Mr. Savage explained.

  After that, Mr. Savage and I stayed quiet and listened to the talk, which was fascinating and had me downloading every sustainable seafood app on my phone … just in case I needed one and it wasn’t available in some part of the world we traveled to. In the middle of it, Mr. Savage left my side to instruct Mark to get some different angles of Dr. Chandrika, taking pictures of her with his own phone while she discussed her work with ocean plastic pollution and Sri Lankan blue whales. As her presentation came to an end, Feye suggested we head outside to get a snack.

  I waved goodbye to Dr. Chandrika and went outside to sample some of the different foods being dished out. Then Feye and I joined Zev, Manisha, Dilip, and Punya in listening to a live band and dancing. It wasn’t long before we all were sweaty thanks to the humidity and sun.

  “Adrianna! Feye!” we heard our mother call. She waved at us to come over to where she was, near the water. She, Alice, and Mark were all suited up for the community snorkel, which would be the closing event of our festival. It’s go time!

  “It’s time for the snorkel. Are you coming with us?” I asked my friends. Manisha and Dilip looked at Punya, who shook her head. “I don’t know how to swim. Nobody in my family does,” she said.

  I saw Zev look around for something. He dashed off before quickly returning with a life jacket and something that looked like an old flotation pool noodle that had seen better days. “You and I can just dip our feet in for now,” he said. “We’ll go together while Adrianna and Feye go work.”

  Punya smiled and nodded. Feye and I ran across the hot sand to meet our parents. Mr. Savage now had a megaphone in his hand. Not that he needed one because he was so loud!

  “Alright, everyone! We’re about to go into the water!” he shouted, the megaphone giving off some feedback and letting out a loud wailing noise that made everyone cover their ears with their hands.

  “Okay, let’s try this again. We’re about to go into the water. For those who don’t have snorkels, feel free to borrow some we have up here, but please share so everyone who wants a turn can have one!” Mr. Savage said. “But first, here are some safety rules to keep in mind while swimming near sharks.” He passed the microphone to my dad, who thanked Mr. Savage and then welcomed everyone once again.

  “As you can see, we have lifeguards here! They will not only be making sure we swim safely but they are also on the lookout for any dangerous situations. If any of them blow a whistle, please get out of the water in a calm manner,” Dad directed. “Next, please stick with the group. Stay on this side of the shark net and don’t poke your fingers out.”

  We had a mesh net set up for there to be an area where no sharks would be able to get through so we could enjoy the sharks while staying safe.

  Dad let the local translator relay his message, and
then he continued. “If you see a large school of fish, please do not swim by it, as that can become a valuable feeding opportunity for the sharks! Keep your distance from any bleeding animals, and if you see a shark feeding, please give it some space.

  “Please do not try to touch, kiss, or ride any sharks. These are wild animals and they will defend themselves—usually by biting! Give them plenty of space so they do not feel threatened and lash out. And finally, if you are feeling uneasy, do not push yourself! Get out of the water and enjoy the view because, if you are forcing yourself to do this, you won’t enjoy it anyway.”

  As Dad spoke to the crowd and Mr. Savage swapped instructions with the lifeguards, my eyes wandered among the unfamiliar faces in the crowd that was huddled near us in anticipation of going into the water. Would this many people scare off the sharks? I let my thoughts wander off until I spotted one … two … three familiar faces!

  “Mamá, mira,” I said, tugging on her arm. She followed my gaze and smiled, gripping my dad’s hand and squeezing it, nodding in the direction of the trio that had showed up.

  Mr. and Mrs. Gamage were off to one side of the crowd, between them a frail-looking man who needed assistance standing up. He couldn’t have been much older than Mr. Gamage, and as I looked down at his leg, I could see why he was having trouble standing on the uneven sand. Against his dark skin were bright pink scars, gnarled around his leg from his foot to at least his knee. His face was slightly grimaced, as if he was in pain, but he had a set determination in his eyes.

  With Mr. Savage done talking, and the rest of the crowd starting to either dive into the water or sift through the pile of life jackets and snorkels available on the beach, I tugged on my mom’s arm again. As a family, we all went up to greet the Gamages.

  “It is so nice to see you, Mr. and Mrs. Gamage. You must be Mr. Gamage’s brother we have heard so much about,” my mom said, extending her hand to shake their hands. The man nodded, and the Gamages introduced us. Mr. Manil came up from behind us and said hello as well, shaking Mr. Gamage’s hand and bowing to his wife and his brother.