Ocean: The Sea Warriors Read Free Page A

nets underwater that were of a better design than before, to more effectively protect the swimming area from sharks and other predators. At the same time, teams of scuba divers armed with spear guns shot any dangerous fish that had already ventured into the protected zone, and earlier Jeff had buzzed the water in a helicopter, flying low and dropping explosive charges in the water to frighten creatures away.
    The beach was closed, and Preston had posted security guards onshore and in boats to keep people away—until the work was completed.
    “I see a barracuda out there,” Jeff said, pointing. While his grandfather listened, Jeff radioed the position to the divers, and moments later the long, slender fish vanished—too quickly to give Preston any assurance that it had either fled or been shot.
    “We’ll have to keep patrolling inside the net for anything we missed,” the old man said.
    Over the years, Preston had taken actions to protect sea life, for the benefit of scuba divers and tourist boats. Now he didn’t care so much about the deaths of marine creatures, convinced that they were more numerous than environmentalists claimed.
    Here, dead fish had washed ashore (mostly from the explosives Jeff had dropped), and the waves in the shallows were turning the white sand beach red, while a crew scooped up the carcasses and hauled them away.
    “Bloody sand is unsightly,” Jeff commented.
    “They’ll wash clean soon enough, when the tide comes in.”
    “I’m sure you’re right.”
    Preston had never been so worried in his life. The scale of the attacks by marine animals against the beaches was something that should not be occurring in Hawaii; it was unprecedented, threatening to turn paradise into hell. To boost the improved physical barrier, his crews were also installing an electronic system that would keep poisonous jellyfish out, discouraging them from even approaching the barrier. He also had a seabed monitoring system; a system of high-resolution underwater cameras that was capable of detecting even creatures that tried to camouflage themselves, such as stonefish.
    “I never anticipated anything like this in my business plans,” he said, glancing at the younger man. “My father taught me to always consider worst case scenarios when making decisions, but I’m certain that neither he nor my grandfather ever faced a situation that was so perplexing, so far out of control.”
    The Ellsworth elder shook his head sadly. The animals of the sea were going berserk, and it was costing his resort a lot of money—not only the added expense of protecting the beaches, but the continuing loss of revenues. The ranch’s hotel was only seventy-four percent full, when normally it was fully booked at this time of year, as mainlanders came for sunshine, beaches, and flowers when their own weather was bad.
    Through it all, he knew his newspapers, radio stations, and television stations around the islands could show their own increased revenues (albeit temporarily) if he permitted them to run feature stories on the loss of tourism, but he’d been trying to keep a lid on the crisis, hoping things would turn around. Now, despite his efforts to suppress the bad news, it was leaking out anyway; the problems were being reported by national and international news outlets.
    “At least no tourists have been killed in the attacks,” Preston said. “That’s something, anyway. The sharks and barracudas have not actually bitten anyone. It’s strange the way several species keep scaring swimmers off, though, heading toward people and then veering off at the last possible instant—just enough to give them one helluva scare. And the box jellyfish attacks with toxins that are not their customary lethal deliveries. The same for the stonefish, too. I wonder what in the hell is going on….”
    Jeff didn’t comment. No one seemed to know why it was happening, but this was not paramount in his mind. He was only going through the motions,