Shark Frenzy!

by J. E. Fison

  ‘Well if you're so clever,’ Lachlan says, ‘maybe you can find out what's killing the sharks.’

  He spreads the words out in front of Mimi like he's laying a trap. This will be a test of her bravery.

  ‘Sure. We can take my Zodiac out and have a look,’ Mimi says without hesitating.

  Mimi lives on a yacht. She's been over waves as big as mountains. She's been through storms and howling winds. What is a little trip out to Flat Rock for an experienced sailor like Mimi?

  A very stupid idea – some would say.

  A plan is needed for any mission and our plan is simple. We tell our parents we're heading off for a fishing expedition in Hazard River. Make a quick and sneaky trip to Flat Rock. Find out what's killing the sharks and be back in time for lunch.

  It's called stretching the truth. Parents do it all the time.

  I'll give you an example. It was my first visit to a sushi train. I asked about the pink stuff inside one of the sushi rolls. My mother told me it was special chicken. Weeks later I found out I had eaten prawns. Prawns. I hate prawns, with their buggy eyes, their scratchy legs.

  Gross.

  I nearly vomited on the spot.

  Mum wasn't lying. She was just ‘stretching the truth’.

  And so are we. How could anything go wrong? We have everything that we need.

  The things we have:

  1. We have a dinghy

  2. We have a driver – Mimi

  3. We have a map

  The four of us sit around a table in Mimi's parents’ yacht, looking at the map. Mimi calls it a chart. But then, she has a different name for everything. The cabin on their boat Zingarra looks like a cozy little room in someone's house. But there you go. It isn't a room, it's a cabin. Mimi sleeps in a bunk and not a bed. Her parents cook dinner in the galley, a kind of mini kitchen. There are bulkheads instead of walls. Ropes are called lines. Ropes on the sails are called sheets and even the sails all have different names.

  ‘There it is. Flat Rock,’ Lachlan says, pointing to a small spot on the map, or should I say chart. Just in case you are wondering, a map is something you use to find places on the land. Sailors use charts to find their way around the ocean. Just ask Professor Bigbrains.

  Mimi peers at the writing on the chart. ‘It's part of a marine park.’

  ‘Awesome. A marine park!’ Ben says. ‘I want to see the dolphin show. Will there be a water-ski show? Can I go on the volcano ride?’

  ‘It's not a theme park. It's a marine park,’ Mimi explains.

  There's a difference? I'm also hoping to find a giant aquarium and some cool rides at the marine park. But as Mimi explains, a marine park is just a place to protect sea animals. It's a sort of fish's retreat, where they won't be bothered by fishermen.

  ‘A marine park is crucial to the survival of some species of animals,’ Mimi says. She's sounding more and more like Mrs Wordswobble every day.

  Flat Rock doesn't sound so good, now I know there aren't any roller coasters on the island. But it does give me an idea. This could be my big chance to make a fortune. I could build a few rides on Flat Rock myself. I'd go for the ones that are guaranteed to make you scream and certain to make you vomit. Thrill-seekers from all over the country would come to visit Jack Wilde's Flat Rock and I would become extremely rich.

  We scramble off the yacht and into Mimi's Zodiac.

  All of us are on a mission.

  I have a theme park to check out. Ben wants to find pirates. But he'll settle for the sucker of a giant squid (he can take that to school for sure). Mimi is hoping to impress us with her seafaring skills. Lachlan is desperate to find a giant crab. The crab pot was empty when we returned from Ribbon Beach. But Lachlan still believes they're out there somewhere.

  Together we must find out what is killing the sharks.

  The answer is closer than we think and a whole lot more dangerous.

  It's a slow trip to the mouth of the river. I have plenty of time to think. To ponder important stuff, like the flavours of ice-cream I'll be selling at Jack Wilde's Flat Rock. Sure every theme park sells vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. But what about a few unusual ones like pizza ice-cream or sausage-roll sorbet. How about a combination of chocolate and fish and chips ice-cream or strawberry and roast pork? They could be very popular.

  ‘What do you think about butterscotch and hamburger ice-cream?’ I ask Ben.

  He doesn't answer. His eyes are focused straight ahead. He's looking at the bar.

  The word ‘bar’ is misleading. It makes it sound like a friendly place. Somewhere your father might order you a lemonade and a packet of chips. But believe me it's not. The bar is the rough water between the river and the sea, where two bodies of water collide and fight it out. Sometimes it looks quite calm, but sometimes it's full of angry waves, just waiting for unsuspecting boats. The bar can swamp a boat in a minute or throw a dinghy in the air like a piece of driftwood.

  Only experts should cross the bar. It should not be attempted by a group of children in a small boat. But that's only something my father tells me much later, when it's too late.

  At the top of my list of things to worry about on this trip are sharks and giant squid. The bar isn't on my list at all. Now the bar lies between us and Flat Rock. The risks must be calculated.

  ‘I'm not sure we should cross the bar on our own,’ I say. ‘It looks too dangerous and Ben's getting scared.’

  ‘I'm not scared!’ Ben protests. ‘My sword will protect us all.’

  I don't think Ben's sword will even work if we get hit by a wave. Let alone protect us.

  ‘Maybe we should just head back,’ Mimi says. ‘I've been swamped by a wave before. It's not much fun.’

  I've never seen Mimi chicken out of anything. But she's starting to look nervous. Crossing the bar can be dangerous. She knows it.

  The mood on the boat gives Lachlan his chance to show his courage (or stupidity – I'm not sure which).

  ‘I'll handle this, Mimi,’ he says. He's been nagging her to drive the boat all morning. Now is his chance. ‘I've been across this bar a million times.’

  I know he's just showing off. There is no way he's crossed the bar a million times. And I doubt he's ever been driving the boat. But his voice is calm and strong. He acts like a caring brother. I know he's talking out of his bottom, but I'm not sure Mimi can tell.

  ‘Come on, Mimi,’ Lachlan says. ‘We can't turn back now.’

  Mimi takes a look behind her, another look at the bar, a long look at Lachlan. Then moves aside. The Master of Disaster takes hold of the throttle.

  ‘Tighten your life jackets and hang on everyone,’ he says.

  I see a crazy look in his eyes. He turns the throttle to full speed. We crash through a wave. Spray flies into our faces. It drenches our clothes. Lachlan wipes the water from his eyes and laughs. He picks his way through the waves, speeding up to get over one. Slowing down a little before the next.

  We crash into wave after wave. We get wetter and wetter. The surf tosses the dinghy in the air. We bounce from side to side. At any moment a wave could fill up the dinghy and send us to the bottom of the sea. But Lachlan keeps pushing on.

  We're almost into the calm water when a wave looms in front of us.

  It's massive.

  It's dangerous.

  And it's just about to break on top of us.

  We speed into the oncoming wall of water. The front of the boat shoots high in the air. Upwards, higher and higher we fly. Even the back of the dinghy is out of the water now. The boat is soaring, nose first into the sky. The wave breaks below us, crashing and foaming. Our airborne dinghy is just about to do a back flip.

  Bouncing banana muffins! This is the end.

  ‘Everyone hang on tight!’ Mimi calls.

  It's probably her most unnecessary piece of advice ever.

  I'm already holding onto the side of the boat like my life depends on it (which it quite possibly does). Ben swings his sword at the wave. Lachlan opens hi
s mouth wide. A huge and very silly grin almost splits his face in two.

  ‘Wahooo!’ Lachlan shouts.

  We crash-land on the water. The back of the dinghy hits first. Then the front flops down with a great thud. Ben flies into the air, still holding his sword. A few moments later, his bottom bounces down. Ben shoots towards the sky again. I reach for his arm as he goes past. I miss. Ben grabs for the side of the boat. But he can't hold on. It's too slippery. And it's not that easy with a sword in one hand. His free hand finds a rope, dangling in the water. Then he disappears into the foam.

  ‘Stop!’ I shout at Lachlan.

  But the waves, the engine, the excitement mask my cries.

  I look behind for my brother. I fear the worst. If he doesn't drown, he'll be eaten by a shark. I'll be an only child. Who will I blame when money goes missing from Dad's desk? Who will I blame when a crystal vase gets broken? Who will I blame when the neighbour's cat gets a really bad haircut? You think I'm going to take the heat for everything? I'm not! I'll have you know I'm very good at hairdressing cats.

  ‘Ben!’ I scream at the sea.

  Then I see a head, shoulders, a body and legs. Ben rises out of the water, like some mythical creature – King Neptune's long lost son. He holds a rope in one hand. His sword is in the other. He raises it to the sky. He's a one-handed, barefoot water skier. With attitude.

  I reckon he could get a job at Sea World with talent like that.

  ‘Yaaahhh!’ he screams.

  Lachlan feels the drag on the dinghy. He turns to find the cause. He spots Ben and cuts the engine. Ben falls into the waves. The water-ski show ends. We haul my brother into the dinghy.

  ‘You looked pretty good back there,’ Lachlan says. ‘Try holding the rope between your teeth next time. It's much more impressive.’

  Ben scowls at Lachlan. He shakes his sword.

  ‘I'm charging you double price, next time I do a show,’ he says.

  I can see why Ben's angry. But double price is a bit steep. There'd be no show without Lachlan. He's the driver. And more importantly he's got us through the bar. We're out of danger.

  But not for long.

  Flat Rock turns out to be, well, a flatish rock with a pile of giant boulders in the middle. Something like an oversized plate of meatballs. There's no sign of pirates. There are no giant squid suckers or giant crabs. There's no space for a theme park and there's certainly nothing around here that could harm a shark. The most ferocious creature is a one-legged seagull. It has a sharp beak and a bad attitude towards red. I'm just glad it's Lachlan wearing a red T-shirt, getting dive-bombed by the bird. Not me.

  As for our mission – it's been a total waste of time.

  ‘Oh look, this is interesting,’ Mimi says. She inspects a notice board. ‘This whole area is a marine park to protect grey nurse sharks. The grey nurse is an endangered species.’

  Professor Bigbrains reads every single word on the board. She describes the grey nurse shark's life cycle, its diet, its habitat and many other special features that I really didn't need to know. We've risked our lives crossing the bar to read a sign. In my view, fewer sharks means better beaches.

  ‘That's good they're endangered, isn't it?’ I say. ‘I'd like to be able to swim at the beach without wondering which limb is going to be ripped off.’

  ‘That's very bad!’ Mimi says. She scrunches up her mouth like she's just eaten a lemon. ‘They're all part of the web of life. Every animal from the biggest and meanest down to the tiniest and cutest has a part to play. If you kill animals at one end, the whole web is messed up and everything suffers.’

  So it's complete. Mimi has turned into a mini teacher.

  ‘Grey nurse sharks aren't man-eaters you know,’ she continues. ‘They'd probably swim up and give you a kiss if they saw you in the water. But I'm not sure I'd try it, just in case you get one that's not the lovey-dovey type.’

  Ben loses interest in the lecture. He pokes around the rocks looking for dead things. But even Ben is having trouble finding anything useful on Flat Rock – until he investigates a crevice between two giant boulders.

  ‘It's a cave!’ he shouts. ‘I bet pirates have been here! They've probably hidden treasure in the cave.’

  Lachlan and Mimi follow Ben. I want to go as well. I think this time he could be right about the treasure. There's got to be some way to make money out of this island. But I can't join the hunt for pirates’ treasure. I have to stay and watch the dinghy. We've almost lost one boat (and one brother) so far this holiday. I'm not going to lose another. I'm not swimming home if the dinghy drifts out to sea. I'm staying right here.

  I sit and I sit and I realise that there's one problem with watching a dinghy that's not floating out to sea. It's extremely boring. I decide to give the dinghy some of the trust it deserves. I pull it over the rocks and tuck it behind a boulder. I am just about to join the hunt for treasure, when I spot something.

  A fishing boat is drifting past. I crouch down behind the boulder. I watch and I ask myself one question. What is a fishing boat doing in a marine park? I thought fishermen were banned. Fish are supposed to be safe here – even grey nurse sharks. Don't the fishermen know they're an endangered species? Haven't they read the sign? I could tell them all about it. Well I could if I'd listened more carefully to Professor Bigbrain's lesson.

  The fishing boat is just a few metres away now. On the side I see the name … Killer.

  Bouncing banana muffins! It's the boat from Stingray Creek.

  There can only be one fishing boat in the world with that name. I can see five or six men on board. They don't look like they'd be very interested in a lesson on the environment. They look about as caring as a bunch of hungry crocodiles.

  ‘I got a big one here!’ calls one of the fishermen as something takes his bait.

  His rod bends into an arc. There's a loud whiz as the line unravels. The fisherman fights to get his catch in. The line runs out. He leans back and reels it in again. Whatever is at the end of the line, it must be pretty big. Maybe a giant squid is down there. A great sucker could come out of the sea and snatch the fisherman into a watery grave.

  ‘I think you've got him now, mate,’ shouts one of the fishermen.

  ‘Come on, bring him in!’ calls another.

  The shouting and the battle go on until the man starts to win. His mates gather around as a huge fish is brought to the surface. It's massive. It's grey. It's got big fins.

  It's a shark!

  Three men help to drag the huge fish onto the deck of the boat. There are teeth gnashing and men swearing everywhere. This might be a grey nurse shark, but it doesn't look like it's going to kiss anyone. It looks like it's going to bite someone's arm off.

  ‘It's a beauty,’ a man with spiky whiskers and a scarf says. ‘Look at the size of those fins. We'll get a good price for this lot.’

  The man pulls a knife out of his belt.

  A pirate! Ben was right.

  The pirate holds his knife high. I'm not sure if he's going to kill the shark or cut his mate's head off. But it's the shark he goes for. He hacks its fins off and throws them in a big esky on the deck.

  It's almost enough to make me vomit.

  The shark thrashes around in the boat. It looks naked without its fins, but its teeth are still in good shape. The pirates dance and weave to keep out of its way.

  Three men give the shark a heave and push it back into the water. It lands with a massive splash and sinks out of sight.

  It's all over in just a few minutes. I try to make myself a bit smaller, a little flatter as the boat drifts closer to the shore. I want to call my friends, but I'm too scared to say a word. The boat's engine roars. Killer heads out to sea. The island is quiet again. Quiet that is, apart from the sound of my heart pounding in my chest and my breakfast churning in my gut.

  I run to the cave where I last saw my friends. They're crouching inside, digging with sticks. On the wall above them, I can just make out the words, ‘Santa woz er
e’.

  ‘What are you doing?’ I ask, confused.

  ‘We're looking for buried treasure,’ Ben answers. ‘Look, Santa was here. It says so on the wall.’

  ‘Santa's not a pirate. He's a guy in a red suit. Big white beard. Comes with presents at Christmas.’ They've gone completely mad. ‘We don't have time for this. We have to get away. Killer … pirates … at Flat Rock!’

  The words haven't come out the way I planned, but they have the right impact. Lachlan, Mimi and Ben leap to their feet. They follow me to the entrance of the cave. Killer is disappearing into the distance.

  ‘Look, there's Killer!’ I say.

  Sadly, a boat disappearing into the distance isn't as exciting as pirates waving knives around and cutting up sharks right in front of your face. In fact it's not very exciting at all. It's just an ordinary looking boat on an ordinary looking sea.

  ‘Where are the pirates?’ Lachlan asks. ‘All I can see is a speed boat.’

  ‘What exactly did you see?’ asks Mimi.

  ‘I saw pirates on that boat called Killer. They caught a massive shark, cut off its fins and then threw the shark back into the water,’ I answer. This time the story sounds a bit clearer.

  ‘Shark-fin soup!’ Mimi says. ‘They're taking shark fins for shark-fin soup. It's very popular in Asia.’

  I thought peas and ham were just about the most disgusting things you could put into soup. But no, shark fins would definitely be worse. I hope the idea doesn't catch on at our house.

  ‘Sharks can't live without fins,’ she says. ‘That poor shark will just sink to the bottom and die a sad and lonely death.’

  I want to shout ‘a dead shark is a good shark!’ But a vision of the Web of Life hangs in front of me. Its cobwebs are hanging down over my eyes. Tiny fish, bigger fish, sharks, whales, dolphins and giant squid are all on there. They're all connected in some way by Mimi's Web of Life. And the waters around Flat Rock are meant to be their special safe place. Somewhere fishermen can't find them. I begin to understand the real meaning of the marine park.

  ‘It all makes sense now,’ Mimi says. ‘The dead shark on the beach with no fins and the one you found in Hazard River – they were also killed by the pirates. They're catching sharks, taking their fins and leaving them to die.’