A Storm Too Soon by Michael J. Tougias

Author:Michael J. Tougias
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

TETHER OURSELVES TOGETHER

Drowning and hypothermia are the first two obstacles that JP, Rudy, and Ben will have to overcome to stay alive through the day, but not far off will be two new challenges: sharks and dehydration. With the surface of the ocean in such a chaotic state, sharks in the area are probably staying well below the crashing waves. But as soon as the seas abate, the life raft will attract them like a magnet. In a section of ocean devoid of floating objects, a life raft is a curiosity for sharks, and they will come and investigate. Colors also draw sharks, and bright colors in particular are a focus, while dark hues such as deep blue and black are the least appealing. So while life rafts need to be a bright color for planes, helicopters, and boats to spot, those same colors are increasing the odds of the life raft being visited by sharks. The bottom part of JP’s life raft—all that is left—is black, but a couple of tattered slices of the orange canopy trail off its side.

Because sharks can sense vibrations in the water, a person moving or bailing inside the life raft is sending out a signal to sharks that seems to say, “Come here, there is something alive and wounded.” Large sharks, such as blues, mako, and great whites, fear nothing and are lured in by the sounds and motion and, eventually, the sight of something large and unusual in the ocean. A shark often finds a meal in the form of other fish swimming beneath the raft. Maybe it’s the shade provided by the raft or its color or structure to hide behind, but bait fish will fin beneath it, which in turn attracts larger fish, and those will get the attention of sharks. And once the sharks linger, they are sure to know that something is alive inside it.

Curiously, instead of attacking the raft with their teeth, most sharks, upon first encountering a raft, “bump” the vessel. These bumps can be in the form of a gentle nudge or a rubbing of the shark’s back along the entire length of the raft. Perhaps sharks use bumping as a cautious way to probe the raft to sense what is inside, or, with harder blows, to knock its contents into the sea. The bumps and blows escalate into attacks if there is more than a single shark at the raft or if a shark sees there is a living creature—food—inside the raft. Laura Hillenbrand, in her book Unbroken, describes how Louis Zamparini and two other castaways in a life raft were being circled and nudged by sharks until Louie leaned over the edge of the raft. One of the sharks “leapt from the water at a terrific speed, mouth wide open, lunging straight at his head.” Louie lifted his hands in front of his face and managed to turn the shark just before it took his head in its mouth. Later in his

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