Read Online The Shark Whisperer by Ellen Prager - Free Book Online Page B

to tell. He heard running water and a bubbling sound. Then he noticed a nerdy looking guy reaching into one of the tanks. He was skinny, ghostly pale, wore glasses, and Tristan wondered if he was colorblind or just fashion unconscious. He had on a red and green striped shirt over purple plaid shorts. The outfit was made complete by a pair of bright yellow rubber boots.
    â€œThis is Mark. He’s our lab tech and takes care of the seawater system. Hey Mark, tell them a little about the system if you would.”
    â€œHi Ms. Sanchez, kids. It’s a pretty complicated computer-controlled networked system with a serious firewall and redundancy built in.”
    â€œIn English please,” Ms. Sanchez interjected.
    â€œWell, the basics are that seawater is pumped infrom the lagoon, filtered, tested, and then sent to different areas of the park, including here. We also test the water in different preprogrammed locations several times a day to ensure the right parameters are met, like temperature, salinity, and clarity.”
    â€œOkay, thanks Mark.”
    Hugh raised his hand. “What happens to the seawater system if the power goes off?”
    â€œSmart question kid. We have several backup generators just in case.”
    â€œWhat if the computers crash?” Hugh asked.
    â€œWe also have several backup computers. If you’re interested, I can give you a tour sometime,” Mark offered.
    Hugh nodded.
    â€œOkay, let’s check out some of our patients,” Ms. Sanchez said, walking to a nearby table that held a glass tank about three feet long and two feet wide.
    The tank had a sandy bottom with clumps of sea grass scattered over it. Streaming upward, the grass blades resembled lime green strands of angel-hair pasta. About ten saucer-sized shellfish sat on the sand between the clumps of sea grass. Each had two fan-shaped fluted shells that were hinged together at one end.
    â€œIn case you’ve never seen them alive, these are scallops,” Ms. Sanchez told them.
    One of the scallops suddenly shot off the bottom, crazily flapping its shell like a stapler gone mad. Little popping sounds came from its frenzied clapping. Thenthe flapping slowed and the scallop sank back to the sand. Two more scallops jumped up, crazily clapped their shells, then fell back to the sand.
    â€œWhat was that?” Sam asked.
    â€œOh, they’re just excited to see us . . . and showing off their swimming skills,” Ms. Sanchez answered.
    â€œI didn’t know shellfish could swim,” Tristan said.
    â€œMost, like clams and mussels, can’t. But scallops can be speedy little suckers for short distances. It’s a handy trick to get away if under attack.”
    â€œHow do they know we’re here?” Sam asked.
    â€œOkay everyone, get real close and look around the edges of their shells in the gap between the two halves. You should see a line of tiny bright blue spots, like a row of iridescent beads. Those are their eyes.”
    â€œAll of them?”
    â€œYes. These have about fifty or so. Some scallop species have up to a hundred eyes. But they don’t see like we do. They can detect changes in the intensity or level of light. When we walked up, we cast a shadow on the tank so they knew we were here.”
    â€œHow come they’re in there?” Sam asked.
    â€œNotice anything different about any of them?” Ms. Sanchez responded.
    The Seasquirts crowded around the tank peering in.
    â€œYeah,” Ryder said. “This one over here has, like, a shell that looks messed up and it’s blue.”
    â€œThat’s right,” Ms. Sanchez said, walking around to get a better look at the scallop. “Unfortunately, thislittle gal swam straight into a rock and badly cracked her shell. We think she’s farsighted in all fifty eyes. She keeps running into the tank’s walls and other scallops. We brought her here after the accident, but the only way to save her