Lucy and the Great White Sharks tackles sea life misconceptions with empathy and adventure

Lucy, along with the rest of the Salty Sea Dogs, returns for a new adventure in author Monique Fallows and illustrator David “Ed” Edwards’s second book in the Salty Sea Dogs series. Lucy and the Great White Sharks follows the three intrepid dogs as they learn about the sea’s super predator. Here is an excerpt.

***

Drop the anchor

I cry until there are no tears left.

The ocean in front of us is calm. It’s like nothing’s happened.

I hear Chris say to Monique, “Let’s drop the anchor now so that we can collect some shark identification information.”

“Yes,” replies Monique, “and I really hope Rasta comes up to the boat.”

“Momma, does that mean a shark is going to come up close to White Pointer?”

“I guess so, Lucy,” she replies.

“Awesome! I’m so excited,” pants Brownie.

I’m a little scared and lie down on the deck of the boat, my face between my paws, trying to pretend that this is not happening.

Chris goes up to the bow of White Pointer and drops the anchor.

The boat settles and we begin the long wait for a shark to appear.

We wait …

… and we wait …

… and then we wait some more …

Brownie is getting really impatient. “The sharks were just here hunting seals. Where on earth can they be now?” she asks no one in particular as she paces up and down the deck of White Pointer.

Monique can tell Brownie is agitated.

“Calm down, Brownie,” Monique says to her, gently stroking her soft ears. “Great whites are very rare animals, and we were very lucky to have seen even one. Sometimes spotting a shark can take hours.”

Just then, we see a small ripple start to play on the surface of the water. Something is moving below.

Sandi cocks her ears forward and Brownie stops pacing.

We all watch in anticipation.

And then it happens.

First, the start of a pointy snout breaks the surface, followed by a huge mouth and a big dark eye.

Next, the smooth back of the shark rises up, and its large, upright dorsal fin shows itself. It looks like a sleek but lopsided triangle.

This animal is impossibly large, but it’s not just the length that makes it so big. It is also extremely wide and round. At the very end of its body a giant tail pokes up out of the water.

Chris shouts out in excitement, “Shark! Shark!”

And then, “I think it’s Cuz! Woohoo! My favourite shark!”

I dash for the cabin again. I begin to wobble. But this time, it’s not because I’m excited. The great white shark has arrived. It is right next to the boat and I’m terrified.

What if it tries to eat me too?

“Come out and see the shark, Lucy,” say Sandi and Brownie together. “No way are you catching me out there!” I answer.

“Looks pretty friendly to me,” Sandi says. “It’s just swimming slowly and calmly around the boat.”

“Actually,” says Brownie, “it’s totally amazing to see.”

I remember Chris telling us about the body language of sharks. Before I dare to come out of the cabin, maybe I should do a few tests?

“Is its mouth gaping?” I ask Brownie.

“No!” she answers.

“Is it turning on its side, Momma?” I ask Sandi.

“No!” she answers.

“And is it dropping its pectoral fins?”

“No!” they both say firmly.

“It might be friendly then,” I say.

I cautiously make my way to the side of the boat and poke my head over for a careful look. I do a double take.

This is not what I was expecting. This shark, the one Chris calls Cuz, looks very relaxed as it swims slowly around the boat. It stops right in front of me and gently sticks its head out of the water. Its giant body hangs below and it looks curiously at me.

“Are those Salty Sea Dogs I see on board?” it asks. “I’ve never come across dogs out here before!”

I start to come around, but it’s difficult to hide my surprise. Firstly, this shark is not threatening me in any way – and, to be honest, it looks awesome.

“I want to say hello,” I stammer out. “But are you going to want to eat me, Cuz?”

“Eat you? Ha! You give yourself too much credit, dog!”

“Erm, you can call me Lucy. My momma, Sandi, and my sister, Brownie, are also on board. We’re the Salty Sea Dogs!”

Sandi and Brownie race over and join me staring down at the shark. It’s quite addictive watching it, and I just can’t look away. Round and round the boat the shark swims.

In the background, Chris is furiously taking photographs of Cuz.

“Cuz is looking terrific,” Monique says.

“Yes,” replies Chris. “He looks like he’s grown about 30 centimetres since last season. And he looks much wider!”

“Hello, Salty Sea Dogs!” Cuz seems delighted to meet us.

“Not to worry, you Salty Sea Dogs are much too skinny. If I had to eat you … well, you wouldn’t give me much energy. You’re mostly just bones!”

“Ha, that’s great!” says Brownie. “I’ve just been put on a diet so at least there’s one advantage of missing out on food,” she sniggers. “Now I’m just too skinny to be shark food!”

“I know we are able to catch and kill most animals in the ocean, but we’re actually very selective when it comes to our prey,” says Cuz.

“Why would you be so fussy when you could eat anything you wanted?” I ask.

“Well, it takes a lot of effort to hunt, so we only hunt prey that will give us lots of energy. You dogs don’t feature on our menu at all. Neither do people, in fact, despite what most people think.”

Having met Cuz, I’m starting to feel much, much better. Maybe my fear was all for nothing. I still can’t believe how calmly Cuz cruises around the boat. I’m watching his body language, and his words match his actions.

Cuz slips beneath the surface of the water, and like magic, he is gone without a trace.

We are all disappointed and shout after him, “Hey, Cuz! Come back!”

He must have heard us because he pokes his head up once more. “Sorry, Salty Sea Dogs, I’m dealing with an emergency down here. I must get going.”

“Wait!” I call out after him. “Can we help?”

It’s an emergency!

We watch as Cuz considers my offer.

“It’s my sharky friend, Rasta,” he explains.

“Wait,” says Brownie. “You have a sharky friend? I thought you great whites weren’t very good at making friends with each other?”

“Well, that’s true. I mean, we definitely don’t swim around in packs, or pods or schools or anything.”

“So you’re ‘solitary’, then?” asks Brownie.

“Yes, we’re solitary, but we are also very aware of each other when we are in the same area. Like at Seal Island, for example. We all know who’s around at the same time.”

“Wow,” I say. “That’s really cool! But what’s the emergency then?”

“There are often two other sharks that come to Seal Island at the same time as me, so we’re mostly on friendly terms. I’m talking about Rasta and Shy Guy.”

I remember Monique spotting both the weirdly named shark, Shy Guy, and Rasta a little earlier.

“Let me explain,” continues Cuz. “Rasta is much, much bigger than Shy Guy and me, so we are always very respectful and give her all the space she needs. She is very grateful for that. And we say hi now and then.”

“And Shy Guy?” asks Momma.

“Well, that’s a different story … We’re both about the same size and just sorta get on with our own hunting business. We keep out of each other’s way, but we also know when the other is here. It can get lonely in this huge ocean, so once in a while it’s nice to say hello.”

“I’m starting to really like you sharks!” I pipe up. “But what’s the emergency, and how can we Salty Sea Dogs help?”

“Emergency, yes! You Salty Sea Dogs are talking too much!”

On hearing this we zip our lips and let Cuz continue.

“I’ve got Shy Guy on the case too, but he’s very shy and doesn’t like coming close to boats. You won’t get to meet him, because he’ll keep away, but I am hoping he’s really busy down there.”

“But what’s the problem?” I push for Cuz to tell us what’s going on.

“It’s Rasta! She’s gone into a deep depression. The situation is not good. Right now she’s just lying on the bottom of the sea floor and not moving much.”

“Is that bad?” Brownie asks.

“It’s not just bad – it’s terrible!”

I gasp.

“We sharks need to keep swimming all the time so that water can pass through our gills. That’s how we get our oxygen in order to breathe and stay alive … Rasta said something about tasting salty tears and that nobody likes her. I think she’s really sensitive about the bad reputation that sharks have.”

“Oh no!” I cry out. “Those were my salty tears!”

I start to whimper in shame. “I’m so sorry, Cuz. I just didn’t understand at the time. I must speak to Rasta.”

Brownie and I look at each other in understanding. We know what we must do, and Sandi agrees.

“You two need to go underwater,” whispers Sandi. DM

Lucy and the Great White Sharks is published by Penguin Random House South Africa. It is available at a retail price of R230.