Baby Shark

“Baby shark, do do do, do do do do.” Rachel sang to her five-year-old daughter Katrina, who giggled and sang along with her, doing the actions for each line. When she got to the end, she yelled, “swim faster!” And chased her giggling daughter around the house. When she finally caught up with Katrina, she grabbed hold of her, tickling her until they were both on the floor laughing.

“I love sharks Mummy.”

“I know you do honey. We’ve watched Shark Tale a few times.” Rachel added silently in her head, a few times too many. She didn’t know when it had started, but her daughter was obsessed with all sea creatures and would spend hours watching nature documentaries, choosing them over cartoons (except for Shark tale, which was currently Katrina’s favourite and the bane of Rachel’s life).

“Baby shark, do do do, do do do do.” Rachel sang to her ten-year-old daughter Katrina, who smiled slightly and half-heartedly did the actions with her mum, then rolled her eyes as soon as she thought her mum wasn’t looking. “Swim faster.” Rachel went to chase her daughter, who took a few steps away from her before she stopped.

“Oh, you got me. Okay mum, thanks. I’m going next door to play with Sarah. See you later.”

“Right, well don’t be late for dinner.” Rachel sounded crestfallen, as she loved their tradition of singing baby shark and doing the actions and wasn’t ready for her daughter to grow out of it. “Maybe we can watch Shark Tale later?”

Katrina waved her hand as she dashed out the door. “Yeah, whatever you want, mum. If you enjoy kids shows, I’ll watch it with you.”

“Baby shark, do do do, do do do do.” Rachel sang to her sixteen-year-old daughter Katrina, who stood and looked back at her in silence.

“Really? Mum, how old do you think I am? Why are you still singing kids songs at me? I’m busy. Did you want something?”

Rachel deflated, as it used to be their thing, and she missed it so much. She had never thought that her amazing, happy daughter would turn into a sullen teenager, who looked at her mother with scorn and rolled her eyes at the slightest thing. In fact, Rachel was pretty surprised that Katrina’s eyes weren’t permanently stuck in the back of her head from all the rolling they did.

“I only wanted to say hi.”

“Well, that didn’t sound like hi. That sounded like a lame kids song.” Katrina lifted her eyebrow, waiting for her mum to say something else.

“It used to be our song.” Rachel’s voice was forlorn, as she barely recognised the young adult standing in front of her.

“Used to be. Please stop singing it to me every time you see me. Quite frankly, it’s getting embarrassing.”

“I… I.”

“I’m going out. I’ll be back in time for bed.” Katrina turned her back and walked out the door, waving over her shoulder as she went.

“Swim faster,” Rachel muttered quietly and watched sadly as her daughter walked out the front door, slamming it behind her.

“Baby shark, do do do, do do do do.” Rachel sang under her breath, watching with pride as Katrina walked across the stage and was handed her degree by the Dean of the University. She grinned widely when Katrina paused before she walked off the stage and looked around the audience until she met her mum’s eyes, then made a small snapping motion with her hand.

Rachel giggled, the teenage years had been tough, but she couldn’t be more proud of the young lady standing in front of her today. She whispered quietly, “Swim faster.” As her daughter dashed off the stage with a smile and wave.

“Baby shark, do do do, do do do do.” Katrina sang quietly to herself as she stood at the side of the boat, looking out towards the horizon, bracing herself against the rolling of the boat as it moved with the swell.

“Doctor Thompson.” The graduate student wrung his hands nervously as he always found his boss intimidating.

“Yes Terry? I’ve told you before, call me Kat.” Katrina smiled at him, with embarrassment on her face, as she was hoping he’d not heard her rendition of baby shark.

“We’re about five minutes out from the dive site. Do you want a hand getting into your gear, Doctor Thompson?” Terry shrugged apologetically and picked nervously at his fingernails. However much he tried, he couldn’t bring himself to address his marine biology professor by her first name.

“Thanks Terry, I’m good. Have you got all the dive tanks ready?”

“Yes ma’am.” Terry’s face took on a look of horror as the words came out of his mouth. She was only thirty, and he’d just called her ma’am? He was definitely an idiot. “I’ll go and check all of them again.” He dashed off to the other end of the boat, berating himself as he went.

Katrina followed him slowly to the back of the boat, watching for a minute as her team all got dressed eagerly in their diving gear. She waited until they were all ready before she addressed them.

“Is everyone ready for this dive?” She paused and glanced around at them, watching them all nodding. “This is going to be the most challenging dive you’ve done to date, but also the most rewarding. We are so privileged to have been granted permission to dive with these majestic creatures. Today, you will get up close and personal with some of the most dangerous predators on this planet in their domain. But, they are also some of the most fascinating and beautiful creatures you’ll ever see.” She saw a fin breaking the water as she looked over the side of the boat. “And as you can see, right on cue, our subjects have arrived.” Katrina had always been fascinated by sharks, for as long as she could remember, she’d told her mum she was going to study them. Her mum had answered this by singing ‘baby shark’ to her, it had become their thing, their in-joke.

“Our aim today is to photograph and catalogue the tagged sharks. I do not want anyone to try and be a hero if the tagged ones don’t come to us. We have a big metal cage for a reason. I expect every single one of you to stay inside it at all times. Do I make myself clear?”

The group of students nodded at her.

“In that case. Let’s go!” She grinned as one by one, they jumped into the cage. She walked to the edge of the deck, waiting until the entrance to the cage was clear, then jumped into the water. Humming to herself, ‘swim faster’ as she did.