Pictures of everyone's T-shirts for chapter 46 of Beneath The Surface

 

Alice's blog post in chapter 46 of Beneath The Surface

Hi, Everyone! I'm Alice, little sister to Bella and a casual observer aboard Galeos. My original summer plans had included soaking up the sun poolside but then I suddenly found myself halfway around the world on a research boat. I'm not the researcher in my family. In fact, I'm not even a fan of open water. It's my older sister, Bella Cullen, who is the marine biologist in love with the oceans. Bella came to MMR to learn about sharks and she is getting a first-rate education from her mentor Masen, with tips, tidbits, and a ton of support from the rest of the team too. It was a little jarring to arrive here and see how much they'd already bonded with my sister, to witness the lengths they would go to in order to educate and protect her. It was even harder to process that they apply this same dedication and passion to their work, which right now happens to be sharks. Toothy, massive, scary as all hell sharks—at least to me. The team takes more of a "Girls just want to have fun" view on these fish. Fish is actually the correct term! I looked it up—and made Gopher promise it was right.

So these fish are endangered for a lot of reasons, but they all basically lead back to one source and that's us humans. People like me who are afraid of sharks and don't see a problem with there being less of these fish in the water. People who think shark fin soup makes them cool and debonair. People who have to fish for a living but don't use the right nets, either out of expense or just not caring—we're going to assume the latter here. We need everyone to care about sharks. We need it because these fish are at the top of a very sophisticated food chain and every time we take one down, we shift the balance in a bad way. If we don't start preserving these guys, we're gonna topple it right on over and have no one but ourselves to blame. And blame doesn't fix anything so what then?

Everyone here at MMR—Masen, Bella, Whit, Lee, Gopher—they all want to help fix things. They study sharks so they can save them. This is a really simple way to say it, and maybe in time I'll figure out how to truly explain the beauty of their collected genius, but for right now it's the best I can do. See I've only glimpsed a small part of what they do for sharks, for all of us really. But what little I've seen is enough to inspire me. Back home, back where I avoid open water like a plague, I volunteer on a lot of committees focused on helping people in my community to survive and thrive. Helping others is my passion in life and I believe that every hour of hard work I put in is one less hour of hardship for someone else. I believe we all have to work together and help each other in order for any one of us to truly know happiness. It gives me purpose to be generous.

I have to admit, I wasn't very generous when I first met this team. I only saw them as shark people. I saw them as adventure seekers wasting their intelligence and talents on people-eating monsters. I brought with me a bias that I have carried ever since I lost my father to a bull shark attack. It's funny when I look back on it now, but the person I butted heads with most is the one who has the best understanding of what it will take to get people to care about sharks—Masen knows the key to conservation is changing perception. Show me a struggling family and I can't donate fast enough. Show me a puppy and I will foster it until it finds a home. Show me a lion, a whole pack even, and I will sign every petition to save their species and give them a future. But a shark? What has a shark ever done for me but break up my family?

I love scallops—I know this seems off topic, but bear with me. I love scallops hot off the girl, bathed in butter over pasta, and stuffed inside a potato with other yummy ingredients. But I might not get to have scallops in a few years because we humans are killing too many sharks. Scallops are near the bottom of the food chain. Sitting in the middle are rays. Rays love scallops too. In fact, they love them so much, they don't even wait for them to get big and plump and extra delectable. They just raid the beds and wipe them out. Know what eats the rays and keeps them from overwhelming the scallops? Sharks! And when we have no sharks to eat the rays, and the rays eats the scallops unchecked, then we have no hauls for the fisherman, no income for the households, and no food on the tables of our neighbors. I know all of this because of MMR.

In addition to their own work, they are working with other researchers, and reading countless studies. They are collecting the knowledge and doing their best to put it into simple terms, terms that people like me will understand. Their passion and dedication are visible in everything they do and it’s truly inspiring. You see, MMR isn't just a single research team. What they really are, are volunteers on the biggest, most important committee we have—the committee to save our planet. The more MMR learns about sharks and how to save them, the more they'll contribute to saving the entire human race. That's pretty damn bad ass.

I still don't like sharks but as someone recently told me, I don't have to like them to respect them. Out of respect for the major role sharks play in my life and the lives of all those I care about, I'm going to make my first ever donation to a shark conservation fund and I'm also going to sign a petition to help ban finning. What will you do to help save us all?