“There she is!”
“Angela!”
“Ms. Crawford!”
Angie smiled graciously. A corner of the building was blockedfrom the wind and they moved their way over. Josh Brown followed them closely, and soon the rest crowded around, remarkably respectful. They must have sensed they were about to get something good.
“Thank you all for coming. I have a few things I want to share with the world, and I need your help in doing it. First, though, I want to thank you all for your well-wishes and outpouring of love. It’s given me strength. And so you know, I can walk. My legs are fine, I’m still just a bit weak. A little over a week ago, I lost part of my left arm to a shark. I had been swimming off a boat near a pod of dolphins, which I now know is not only illegal but dangerous. I’m lucky I survived, but I’m also deeply troubled by what is about to take place tomorrow down along the coast.”
She paused, slowly sweeping her gaze across all the cameras. Everyone was hanging on her next word.
“The mayor and some members of a shark task force, though strongly advised against it by shark researchers, are launching a shark hunt that will likely decimate the local shark population and upset the balance of the ocean. They say it’s to make the ocean safer for the international swim and because spring break is coming up, but according to experts like Dr. Minnow Gray here with me, there is no evidence to support what they’re doing. In fact, she believes the shark who bit me is long gone. There have always been sharks here. We know that each time we enter the water. All they are doing is trying to survive. I hold no ill will toward the shark and I will go back in the ocean as soon as I can.”
She lifted what was left of her arm and let the sleeve dangle down for effect. Camera shutters snapped all around. Angie’s delivery was smooth and impassioned, and Minnow wished she had just a fraction of her composure. The featherlight rain falling around her only added to the woman’s otherworldly aura.
“Basing decisions on fear never leads to good things. Did you know the military used to fly helicopters over Kailua Bay on O‘ahu with a sniper and a high-powered rifle? Any sharks they saw, they’dshoot. No questions asked. I’d like to believe we have evolved since then, and it’s our duty to take a stand. I urge you to call the Big Island mayor’s office and tell him so. Are the events of the past few weeks tragic? Yes. But allowing the culling of countless sharks would also be tragic. Did you know that more people die each year from elephants, bees, dogs, and falling coconuts?”
Another long pause was filled with murmurs from the group, and then a surprise caught Minnow wholly off guard.
“In support of Dr. Gray and all that she’s doing to learn about these important apex predators, I’m donating a hundred thousand dollars to her nonprofit Sea Trustso we can deepen our understanding of these beautiful creatures. I believe that knowledge is our secret weapon and the more we know about sharks, the more we can lessen our chances of getting hurt in the water.”
It took a moment to register.A hundred thousand dollars. To Sea Trust.
Suddenly all eyes were on Minnow, and the questions came all at once.
“What will you do with the money?”
“What about the roughwater swim?”
“What if they call off the hunt and someone else dies?”
Minnow rested a hand on Angie’s shoulder. “You have no idea what this means to me. Defending sharks can feel lonely, so I appreciate the support more than you know,” she said quietly.
“I did my research,” Angie whispered back.
Josh Brown held the mic up in front of her. “One question, Dr. Gray. Will you be entering the roughwater swim next week?”
The crowd fell silent. Minnow had no plans to enter the race. Why would she? But there was no other answer than, “Yes, and I’m looking forward to it.”
That pretty much sealed it. She wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.
Journal Entry
From the journal of Minnow Gray
Farallon Islands, September 29, 1996
My shark Luna came and went with the tides or the cycles of the moon or on some mysterious shark schedule. She would be there one day and sometimes hang around for a week, and other times and I wouldn’t see her for months. But she always returned. I told myself it was because she and I had this special relationship. Some kids have imaginary friends, and in some ways I guess Luna was an imaginary friend because although she was very real, our friendship was one sided—I loved her and she was curious about me (at best).
The social lives of white sharks are murky. For the most part, they are solitary animals, but the ones we’ve observed and gotten to know can have some pretty distinct personalities. Some are pushy and direct, others more shy and cautious. Some seem angry, others almost playful. We also know that they often appear at the Farallones or Guadalupe with the same sharks several years in a row, as though they might travel together. And when they lift their head out of the water to look at you, you get the feeling that some kind of connection is being made. Like they are observing you in the same way you are observing them. It gives me goose bumps every time.
Chapter 29
The Friend
Hoaloha: friend; literally, “beloved companion”
After the hospital, Nalu drove Minnow to the medical examiner’s office in Kona, but the secretary refused to let them in to talk to him. There was a box of malasadas on her desk and she offered them up, as though that might somehow make up for her lack of cooperation.
