In the Abyss

Sunrays shimmer in the currents. Cool, humid air caresses her fin as it cuts through the waves. Her grey body is lithe, powerful. She's fast when she wants to be, but now she moves leisurely to warmer waters.

Her world is endless. She can swim for days across this abysmal desert without seeing another of her kind. Sunshine undulates overhead, and the briny deep lies below, bottomless. Open and infinite. The embodiment of freedom.

Vibrations. Changing course, she follows the feel of the movement with an empty stomach and hungry teeth. She's an apex predator and unafraid. There's little here to match her vigor.

Flashing silver, the school of fish rotates like a vast and living whirlpool. Bubbles tickle the shark's scales as she glides into the mass. The little creatures change direction, their shape arcing in tandem, the choreography of a hunter and its prey.

Rolling her pupils back, she rushes in, catching one and swallowing it whole as it thrashes down her throat. She circles around them, each fish steering their neighbors away as she passes. She takes three more.

Another shark, white-bellied with black eyes, joins the feast. He's massive and a danger even to her. But, for now, she's not on his radar, and they can binge in concert. They swirl and dance in the sapphire expanse as sea birds dive above them for an easy meal.

The female's hunger is satiated, but the excitement of the hunt still calls to her, like a siren. So, she stalks as the others feed, soaking in their energy, before finally swimming away. She longs for the warmth of the tropics and the taste of fatty seals.

To her surprise, she is caught. Something clings to her, everywhere. Enfolding her. She's trapped. She twists and rolls, but it holds her ever tighter. Frantic, she bites and spins, but the ocean is unyielding. Uncompromising. Strangling.

With sudden force, she's pulled upward and out of the water, which pours off of her in a great flood. Then, blinded by harsh daylight, She's hefted onto a cold, hard surface, where she flops. Helpless. The sun is scorching, and the air is dry. She can't breathe.

This world is brutal and unforgiving. A man with heavy rubber boots, caked in slime, stomps in her direction while another holds her steady. The first man has something in his hands that gleams in the high-noon light. He uses it to cut her while the other's knees stab into her muscle.

Pain radiates through her back as he removes her dorsal fin; her body shakes as he slices. Blood trickles down her sides onto the wood. She attempts to wrestle herself from their cruel hands but is held in place by their strength and her suffocation.

Piece by piece, he strips her of parts of herself. She opens and closes her mouth, weak and defeated. Both men hoist her over the edge of the boat and throw her in. With a crash, she's engulfed in the clear blue liquid, her home, but it comes with no relief.

She can't swim, and her gills are useless. Her body will not cooperate, and she cannot choose her own course. Her wounds sting in the salty water. She sinks, leaving brightness behind. She falls into the void, as dark and terrifying as her imminent death. In the sea she once commanded, she's been crushed. Reduced and discarded like garbage.

The temperature drops as she does. In the frigid depths, she senses the skillful motion of another beast, more monstrous than herself. She doesn't know whether she's afraid or grateful.

Millions of sharks are killed everyday for their fins and thrown back into the water either dead, or alive and suffering.

Check out Shark Steward's website to learn more and see how you can help!