The next cage was our last. I was spent. The hoisting of traps and the constant bailing had caught up with me. The sun was now turning to broil, and I hadn't had a drink of anything since leaving Treehouse. I left the crane work to MyCaptain. He sensed something different in the drag of the rising cage and tied off the line. With his spyglass he peered into the water and cursed. "Shark in the cage " he said unimpressed. WHAT???!!! "There's a shark in the cage, we gotta get it out" WHAT????!!!! I had forgotten the cage was only three feet by four. In hindsight I should have realized that this was not "Jaws". But it was a shark none the less. We both raised the trap together and when it broke the surface I hid behind MyCaptains courage. He slid the trap across the boat and our shark tested the integrity of the wire. He shook and writhed in defiance. After a short while, our prize lay silent, his gills emitting low grunts that earned my sympathy. I could just see the silly tourists surrounding our boat on the beach as we unloaded this trophy of a fish.
MyCaptain told me to undo the mesh on the sides so the shark could slide out. I started to comply until I realized that he would slide out, slide out to my feet! I imagined him taking a revengeful chunk of my leg with him. But I think the broiling sun had taken its toll on our shark as well. I raised my feet to the bench seat and our little killer plopped into the pool of water accumulating on the floor. He was still, but alive. MyCaptain mended the holes in the cage and together we slid it back to the sea. He then said he would release our captive, but away from his traps.
I then spotted them. The glass bottom boat had released its snorkellers a couple of hundred meters away.
I begged him, pleaded with him. I wanted to release our friend close to those snorkellers. With a great presentation I imagined dropping Jaws into the water in full view of the tourists. What fun!!! He didn't share my enthusiasm. At all. We puttered off a good distance and with the two by four paddle and thick sticks we levered Sharky back to the sea. He disappeared in a flash.