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Barracuda, Stingrays, and Sharks, Oh My!
Now that you know I was on last week's cruise of the Disney Wonder, let's
pause to talk about wildlife I saw there. We'll start with the barracuda I saw
in the adult-only beach, Serenity Bay. The wading area here features hip-deep
water, and extends out dozens of yards. The barracuda dogged us for some time,
shadowing us, moving away when we went toward it. I'm still not 100% positive it
really was a barracuda (I kept hearing that line in the Nemo musical – "Coral!
No!") but really, what else could it have been? A very small shark? Pikes are
freshwater fish.
Normally I would have noted the barracuda and went on with life, and
forgotten about it a bit later. I mean, sure, they are theoretically vicious,
but this is Disney property here. Surely nothing is going to get me here. That's
what the Disney brand means, for crying out loud. Safe family fun.
It's Disney. That lagoon will be safe, right?
Right?!
Though now that I think about it, they did have signs posted on the beach,
saying there are dangers from sharks and jellyfish and the like. But I'm not
exaggerating when I say that 95% or more of the patrons just rushed right by the
signs. This is Disney's island. Surely there are shark nets (answer: yes, there
are) so there is nothing to worry about. And of course a barracuda could get
through the shark net. It's so small. Perhaps I was worrying too much.
But as luck would have it, on this very same day, one of my traveling
companions spent several minutes observing a stingray with a four-foot wingspan
on the bottom of the sea in the snorkeling area. She and her friend were
understandable nervous about the ray, since one had killed Crocodile Hunter
Steve Irwin by puncturing his heart, so they actually crossed their arms over
their hearts and kept their distance. One of them, the more skittish, swam away
as soon as she saw it. No sense in taking chances.
Even that, though, I would have filed away and forgotten. But three others of
my traveling companions (what can I say, I was there to watch a wedding!) saw
something else entirely: a six foot shark, casually swimming away right there in
the snorkeling area. Granted, it was the deep part of the snorkeling area,
almost out to the breakwater, but still. A six foot shark!
There just may be a shark in that water,
there!
They swam up to a nearby lifeguard. A family of four was also there,
frantically reporting the shark in the water. Their son was frightened and their
girl was traumatized, almost hysterical. The lifeguard leaned in and told them
not to worry, that a nurse shark sometimes came to visit Castaway Cay, and this
kind of shark posed no harm to humans. He'd heard on the radio a few moments ago
that the nurse shark was spotted here. He also added that could they all please
keep it quiet, since there was no sense in causing an unneeded panic.
I heard about all of this much later. But in bothered me in a few different
ways. Keep it quiet? There's a six foot shark in the water! Yes, I know, nurse
sharks really *do* pose no danger to humans. I know this instinctively, and yet
I want you to picture yourself, snorkeling away in a spot you think is
completely shark-free, and then a six foot shark enters your view. Friendly or
not, dangerous or not, you are a brave person indeed if this does not induce
goose pimples of fear. Sharks are *primal*, and in me at least, they cause a
primal reaction.
And I was perturbed by the casualness of the lifeguard. How in blazes do they
know for sure it was a nurse shark? None of *them* were in the water to see. Had
it been spotted from the ship? Can you tell a nurse shark from the top? I've
seen millions of them inside aquariums and am pretty confident I would know it
in the water myself, but these lifeguards were not *in* the water; they were on
towers perched overhead.
Our lagoon is perfectly safe, sir!
The more I thought about it, the more annoyed and frightened I became. I
quizzed my companions, and one of them said the lifeguard had assured the
frightened family that "they pull up the shark net before every cruise ship
visit and inspect it for damage." I turned that over in my mind multiple times.
Am I missing something? If they are inspecting the net without getting wet,
doesn't that mean the net is presently not in the water, and any shark who
wanders by can get in?
So there you have it. On one single afternoon, my party and I got to see a
barracuda, a four-foot stingray, and a six-foot shark, all within Disney's shark
nets and safe zones on the beaches of their private island. |
