Morgan's Story

A calmness came to Morgan as she continued to sink down into the dark depths of the Gulf of Mexico. She kept her eyes open, brave and daring. The sun’s light began to fade as her lungs needed no air the further she slowly sank. A sole Blacktip shark crept its way in perfect view. Morgan halted her desent and reached out. In her mind it whispered, Carcharhinus limbatus. Suddenly, beneath Morgan’s feet, from the dark below, a black orb moved and faded into nothing. Had Morgan the ability to stop and measure the almost human sized black orb, she would have taken caution at the giant shark it was attached to. The air in Morgan’s lungs, she needed to breathe. Her eyes darted then shifted up. She was too far down to make it to the water’s surface. She calmly excepted her fate and allowed her body to calmly rest. She took a deep breath in.

“Doctor Tiburon, Doctor Tiburon…Morgan?” A gentle voice awoke Dr. Morgan Tiburon. A student and a member of her expeditionary research team into the Gulf of Mexico opened the Doctor’s cabin with a smile. “Dr. Tiburon, we are approaching the site.” The young marine biology student held open the door, allowing the cool ocean breeze to further awaken Morgan from her slumber. Morgan tried desperately to remember parts of her reoccurring dream to no avail. “You can just call me Morgan. We are all one team out here.” This was Morgan’s fifth Gulf of Mexico research expedition. She enjoyed taking young and eager marine biologists to the open ocean to view and study these creatures firsthand. Morgan always believed in giving back as much as she could. It was a stroke of luck when Netflix approached her and her team in sponsoring their second expedition for their premier Shark-Week Shark-A-Thon. She was reluctant at first, until they offered to pay for multiple research expeditions and offered a salary that allowed the traditional academic a chance to do this fulltime and not waste away behind a desk.

Donny, an original crew member of Morgan’s team and the captain of the vessel, slowed the boat to their destination. Five students gathered and joyfully pointing into the blue ocean. An array of ocean wildlife almost sprang from nowhere as they were witnessing this display of life swimming around the boat "Living the Dream," the name given to the research vessel many years ago when Donny exited the Navy and wanted nothing more than to be back on the drink and away from land. After meeting Morgan on a captain for hire ad placed by her former university, the two have become a formidable team and well known to the community as the leading force of oceanic wildlife research.

The team was blessed with calm waters by King Neptune himself. Morgan almost had difficulty mentoring the students that joined her on this four-day trip with the amount of wildlife that were visible from the deck. Kemp’s Ridley’s, Green sea turtles, the hundreds upon hundreds of saltwater fish; but it all didn’t compare until they bore witness to their first shark of the day, a Bull shark.

“Carcharhinus leucas.” Morgan whispered to herself as she began to request radar imagery of the ocean beneath them. Morgan was still admiring the scenery as Katy, the youngest of the brilliant minds who were still absent of fear and hopeful of their dreams, asked a question that unbeknownst to Morgan, would plague her.

"Dr. Tiburon, how do I know this is right for me? How do I know I belong doing this? How did you know?" Sincere eyes gazed at Morgan's.

"I…um…" Thankfully for Morgan a Great hammerhead, a critically endangered species of shark, grazed by the floating research lab and caught the eyes of everyone aboard; all eyes except those of Morgan's. She has never been asked such a profound yet simple question. Sphyrna mokarran whispered inside her consciousness. A list of features specific for this magnificent creature was neatly organized and was presented in an orderly fashion within Morgan's mind. "I will get back to you with that question Katy."

As fast as a splitting cell, Morgan stood port beam and dwelled over the question. She repeatedly asked herself, "how did I know?"

Morgan fixated on the ocean's ripples created by the rocking of the boat. Each ripple, to Morgan, began to split, disturbed by an emerging head of a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle. "Oh hey little guy, you look…" A hypnotic urge came to Morgan as she began to take notes on the critically endangered species emerging its head from the calm waters. The vessel began to sway slightly as winds shifted nautical knots. Morgan's eyes grew heavy as she placed one foot upon the edge of the boat. She lifted her body and stood on her toes on the port beam. She raised her hands to her sides as she felt the urge to dive deep into the gulf. Her mind became hazy, incoherent; words wanted to be spoken but all that could leave her lips were the repetition of the scientific names of every creature visible. Morgan twisted her head and cocked it to a dominant side as she simply wanted to dive into the ocean's unknown. Just as easily as they left the port, Morgan woke from the hypnosis…was it hypnosis? Her body relaxed as she felt another urge to leap into the water. She looked back at her team, all were focused on their own studies, it seemed to be a beautiful display of endangered species intermingled with common ones. Morgan inhaled deeply and dove feet first into the gulf. Her body stood suspended as she did not feel the wetness of the water on her body. Her hair flowed with the gentle waves as she descended deeper into the darker depths.

One by one a curious creatures observed and inched their way closer to Morgan. Morgan hesitated to look up at the surface, as she thought if she did, she would need to breathe. Something inside her eased her mind as she inhaled the bubble that formed in front of her mouth. A Tiger shark carefully and playfully like a purring kitten slid to the side of Morgan’s ankles. Galeocerdo cuvier, her mind whispered again. Gorgeous, she thought to herself as she reached down to allow the shark to pass again, this time at waist level. A Blacknose shark followed and passed on Morgan’s opposite side. Carcharhinus acronotus, again her mind whispered. A shiver of sharks formed around Morgan. She twisted and turned, dancing under the water’s sunlight. She grazed her hands ever so softly upon their leathery skins. Each shark passed, more massive than the other. Morgan paused. She was not frightened. She paused in awe. Before her, a prehistoric giant, calmly swimming in circles underneath her feet. Impossible, she thought to herself once more, but her mind hushed her thoughts away and whispered, Otodus megalodon.

Morgan fought all instincts to dive deeper into the darkness. She felt at home, at peace. Perhaps this was the answer to the question that confused Morgan, a person who could research and scientifically deduct a solution to any problem; she was stumped before but now had an answer. She slowly eased her way to the water’s surface. She climbed up a ladder staged on the port beam. No water clung to her clothes or body. She looked back at the shiver and smiled. “Hey, I have a beautiful shiver of sharks here!” Morgan called for her team to gather round. The sun eased its rays slightly as a calm set upon the vessel Living the Dream. For Katy, the sight of these magnificent creatures swimming in almost perfect unison, as if to show off their forms in a dance under the water; a spark could be felt within Katy’s heart. For Dr. Morgan Tiburon; she knew exactly this is where she needed to be.