Read Shadows at Predator Reef for Free Online

just tell me and I’ll make sure we get it for you.”
    By the time we opened our mouths to thank him, he was already on his way out of the room. He turned back before reaching the door.
    â€œBe careful in there,” he said, pointing at the circling blacktips. “Mr. V is counting on you.”
    Okay, so diving with sharks may sound like a really bad idea, but in reality there wasn’t much to fear from the sharks in the exhibit. Zebra sharks mostly eat crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. There has never been a reported zebra attack on humans. At the aquarium, they were fed by hand.
    The blacktips were a slightly different story, however. They look totally sharklike and can be dangerous if you’re diving with them in the wild.
    â€œFrank, did you know that unlike most sharks, the blacktips live in social groups?” Joe asked me a little too loudly, trying to show off for Aly, who was walking past with another BAD diver. “You may not know this, but the staff has actually trained the ones at the aquarium to eat together at feeding stations so they won’t munch on the smaller fish in the exhibit. A well-fed shark is a happy shark. The black-tips in Predator Reef are so well conditioned to humans, they usually just go about their business as if the divers are any other kind of non-prey fish.”
    All I could do was shake my head and try not to laugh. My brother was repeating the same exact facts I’d told him that morning. He was laying it on thick for Aly. I snuck a peek over at Aly and saw her give a little smirk in Joe’s direction while pretending not to notice him showing off for her.
    A minute later she walked over with the other diver, a guy everyone called Big Chuck. Big Chuck worked with Aly teaching the scuba classes (and just in case it wasn’t obvious from the nickname, Chuck was not a small dude). Big Chuck was wearing a big wet suit, and Aly had on a Bayport Aquarium hoodie.
    â€œOh hi, Aly, I didn’t see you there,” Joe hammed it up for his crush. “I was just telling my brother about some of the sharks in the exhibit, right, Frank?”
    â€œMm-hmm,” I said, biting my tongue to keep from laughing. I hoped Aly didn’t notice.
    â€œOkay, Aquaman,” she said to Joe with a knowing smile.“I’ve got to take care of some stuff so I can’t hang around, but Big Chuck is going to be supervising the dive to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
    â€œWe’ll be fine,” Joe said. “I’m practically a pro.”
    â€œNot yet you’re not. You still have your big certification test coming up tomorrow,” she reminded him.
    â€œI’ve got it in the bag,” Joe bragged. “I think the instructor likes me.”
    Aly laughed and turned to Big Chuck. “Take good care of them, Chuck. It will make me look bad if Joe drowns before passing the exam.”
    Joe’s confidence drained away as soon as Aly walked off. Something else had grabbed his attention.
    â€œUm, hey, Frank,” Joe whispered, making sure Aly didn’t accidentally overhear. “We don’t have to worry about them when we dive, do we?”
    He pointed to the Shark Row tank, where the big sharks slowly circled the aquarium lobby. It wasn’t crazy of him to be nervous. While the vicious-looking sand tigers were actually (usually) pretty docile around divers unless provoked or threatened, they were still fearsome predators. The aquarium staff took every precaution to make sure there were never any incidents.
    â€œNothing to worry about,” I reassured him. “All the big ones stay in Shark Row. There aren’t any sand tigers in Predator Reef. The exhibits share a holding tank where animals can be moved for veterinary care, but it’s always keptsealed off from one side. That way the big sharks can’t ever get into the reef exhibit, where they might be tempted to feed on their smaller