A Newfound Respect

“Honey, are you sure?” James asks his wife with a look on his face somewhere between concern and excitement. “If you’re scared we can skip this part and just hang out on the boat,” he reassures as the excursion employee helps with her equipment.

“You better stop asking me before I change my mind. Now let’s hurry up and get this thing secured so we can get this over with,” she snaps back with a look of anxiousness. “Why I ever agreed to go parasailing is beyond me… there are probably millions of sharks in that water,” she mutters.

“Oh, come on. These things are super safe! People do it all the time,” James replies with a grin.

“Okay, you’re all set to go,” says the young man who was helping them with their harnesses. “Just sit on the deck and the parachute will lift you up. Have fun!” The young couple sit on the deck holding hands and slowly get lifted by the parachute trailing behind and above them. After a few seconds they hear a cracking sound, followed by another. They nervously look around as their harnesses start to swing them side to side. A few more snaps and they are flung into the water. The crash into the water dazes James for a second but he quickly gets his bearings and looks around frantically, searching for his wife. He notices Anais several feet away looking from side to side with a look of terror on her face. Swimming towards her as fast as he can, he finally realizes what has her so petrified. There are several large dark shapes moving around slowly several yards away. James grabs Anais’s hand, her head quickly turning to see her husband at her side. He pulls his wife as they start to swim up to the surface. Anais looks back and witnesses the large dark shapes swimming around turn into at least six sharks as some light breaks through the water. The sharks are swimming nearby as if unbothered by their presence, but clearly coming closer. They reach the surface and gasp for air as they frantically look around for the boat. They notice the boat ahead and one of the excursion employees looking into the water as the other swims around looking for them.

“We have to get to that boat fast!” James exclaims.

“I knew this was a bad idea! I knew it!” Anais cries out, slamming her hand into the water. It was at this moment that they remember to keep an eye out for the sharks below to avoid a surprise attack. James quickly goes back under water and notices a large shark making a beeline for his wife. It looks like the ferocious Bull Shark but in this panicked state it could really be a Great White, Mako, or anything else and he would not be able to tell the difference. All he knows is that he has to do something before this giant animal changes their lives forever. He dashes out and swims out in between Anais and the shark, making eye contact with the apex predator. He starts waving his arms, despite them feeling heavy and sluggish in the water. The shark quickly stops, turns, and holds the eye contact James initiated. James feels a strange connection to this animal at this point – almost as if he understands that James was protecting his partner and empathizes with him. Suddenly, the shark swims around in a figure eight and heads back deeper into the water. All the sharks that had gathered at this point follow what seems to be their leader.

“That was the moment when I had a newfound respect for sharks,” James tells his son, Angel, as he looks at the letter in his hand addressed to the local conservation organization. “This is why we donate and try to help conservation efforts. The moment it realized we were not food it turned back and took the other sharks with it.” Angel looks at his mom, who nods in approval with a smile on her face.

“They are beautiful creatures who just try to survive like the rest of us. We invade their space and get upset when there are clashes but people kill millions of sharks a year. We must do our part to help save them like that one shark saved our lives.”

“Daddy saved your life too!” Angel remarks.

“Yes,” she smiles. “Yes, he did.”