Free Shark Lover by Gracie Marie Page B

in
Marc’s direction. Marc took his hand and shook it with firmness in a
professional manner. “By the way, I am Chris. I don’t think we have met before.
I’m the founder of Shark Savors. There’s nothing to be scared about. Cathy
tells me you’re getting your graduate degree in marine biology?”
                “That’s
good to know,” He sighed in relief. “Yes, I am currently in grad school
pursuing marine biology. I have a passion for marine life.”
                “Well,
welcome to the team. We are glad to have you!” He stiffened his back and turned
towards the group. “Okay Shark Savors, listen up! Today we are going to clean
the shore of Marshall Beach. That means we pick up all the trash, no matter
what it is. We are looking out for fishing nets, aluminum cans, plastic and
other unidentified sharp objects in particular that will hurt sharks. This is
our number one priority to get the trash out of the water to protect the
sharks. Today we have a special guest. This is Marc everyone.” He pointed at
Marc as he flinched in embarrassment.
                “Hello,
Marc!” The group yelled out.
                “Marc
is a graduate student in marine biology. He will be joining Cathy in the tank
today. We will try to tag our favorite shark, Mandy. Now some of you who are
new may not know who Mandy is. She is a female shark who mysteriously
disappears every spring. We have no idea where she goes and we are curious to
know about her whereabouts. Mandy has followed us since day one of our group
formation. When we first started our group, our main goal was to tag sharks and
figure out their patterns so that we could understand their movements better.
By understanding their movements, we will be able to help them in a more
efficient way.”
                The
group proceeded to the end of the long wooden dock and boarded the boat
one-by-one. Marc looked around at the group, shocked that this many people were
interested in sharks. He counted them one-by-one as the jumped into the boat.
He swore that there was over twenty-five people. He wondered why he had to be
the one going in the tank. He didn’t feel like being shark bait. He didn’t even
know if he had his equipment on right. He looked around at the rest of the
group, wondering how they could all act so carefree when they were about to
risk their lives swimming with the ocean’s most dangerous creature.
                “Everything
okay, Marc?” Chris asked him with concern in his green eyes. He was a strong
man, who looked as if he had worked his muscles to no end every day. Glancing
at his muscles, Marc gulped in fear. These were the kind of men who swam with
sharks. Ones that were strong enough to swim in the Olympics. He didn’t see
himself as being physically fit or emotionally fit enough to handle swimming
with something that could potentially kill him in one bite.
                “Yeah,
everything is fine.” He lied to Chris as well as himself. “I’m just not sure if
I have my equipment on properly. I don’t want to go down in the tank and end up
suffocating.”
                “Oh,
no problem. Let me give you a quick equipment check. It’s completely normal to
be nervous. I know I was on my first dive. When I finally got in the water, I
couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was so close to a shark, I could touch
it. All my fears went away after that moment. Once I adapted to the underwater
world I became a part of it.” He fastened Marc’s mask tighter to his head. “I
know that you will feel the same way.” He moved the regulator closer to Marc’s
hips. “Alright you should be set now. Where’s your partner in crime?”
                “Huh?”
Marc asked dazed still distraught from all the shark talk.
                “Cathy.
Where does that girl go? One minute she’s here, the next she’s gone.” Chris ran
his fingers through his