The water was always colder than Leigh expects. She felt the cool water welcome her through the wet suit as she dipped into it, letting go of the edges of the shark cage and dropping in. She made sure her tank was working and checked her radio. Then she lifted her arms out of the water and Hector handed her the camera.
Once situated, she focused her lens on the shark cage on the other end of the boat, where Dickie and Andy would drop into. No one was in the ghost cage today, so both cages were barred in with lightweight metal.
Leigh took a second to pause, scanning the murky water below her. This is when she remembered that she was swimming in the same waters as an apex predator. Technically, she was one as well, but nothing could make you feel smaller than a twenty foot great white. However, they hadn't seen a great white shark larger than ten feet so far and South Africa was turning out to be a bust and a half.
"There's a shark down here, guys. About 9 meters down?" Leigh was trying her hardest to learn and use meters out of courtesy but she followed it up with, "'Bout 30 feet."
Her voice was distorted through the comms system but her message was confirmed by Hector. She assumed that he relayed it to the guys because moments after she hit record on her camera, she watched as they plunged into the larger cage. Through her monitor she focused on the shark below them after she panned as quickly as she could underwater. No one had warned her that there was a massive learning curve with underwater cameras. Quick movements were basically impossible, given the camera's weight and the resistance the water gave it. However, her experience with all types of cameras made her qualified for this position while Josh was on the boat, monitoring the camera feeds like a good broadcasting student.
"White shark, for sure." Dickie's voice called through the comms, his excitement audible. Leigh knew that a lot of the audio they used would come from the underwater comms, so she had to go radio silent unless something very important happened. Andy was used to being in front and behind the camera, but Leigh was there just to be behind the camera. So she quieted her voice but could not stop her smile from underneath her mask.
The shark looked to be at least fifteen feet long, but she couldn't ask. Leigh had to wait for someone, either Dickie or Andy, to confirm it.
"Holy cow," Andy's voice came though and Leigh laughed freely after she made sure her radio wasn't on. He had such a foul mouth when he wasn't on camera so it was a shock to hear him say 'holy cow'.
"She's gotta be sixteen feet long, mate." Dickie said to Andy and Leigh grinned.
Finally, a shark larger than ten feet! Leigh focused on it, watching through the monitor on the camera as she followed its ascent upwards towards her cage, rather than the larger one.
"You getting that, L?" Dickie asked and it startled her but she managed to keep the camera steady like her life depended on it. The shark was getting closer, it's tail fin swishing gracefully through the water as it rose up to greet her.
"He's coming for you!" Andy called.
Leigh waited to reply until the shark had made a last minute turn and just booped its nose on the bottom bars of the cage below her feet.
"Definitely a female, boys." Leigh spoke, her gleeful laughter just barely making it through before she cut off her radio again.
"Also definitely sixteen feet." Andy added.
"Hector, the decoy!!" Dickie shouted and Leigh cringed as his voice pierced her ears through the comms.
There was a splash above them and the boat began to move incrementally, dragging the cages forward a bit as the seal decoy floated in front of them. Leigh knew that there was a very very low chance that her shark would breach on the lame, unmoving decoy, but her heart still sped up at the prospect.
The shark swam around her cage still, its pectoral fins straight, indicating that she was curious about it rather than aggressive. Leigh made sure to follow the shark's movements closely with her camera and she watched as the shark dove back down into the depths.
There was a stillness to the water after she disappeared but she knew that everyone was holding their breaths. Would she resurface and try to take out the decoy? Would that be the only great white over ten that they'd see in South Africa?
The answers, respectively, were no and yes. Leigh's shark dove down and did not resurface, but after a couple minutes had passed, smaller white sharks rose up to bump the cages and nibble the decoy.
That was their last day in South Africa and Hector celebrated it by cooking something that wasn't meatloaf and serving it on the deck for everyone. Leigh was terrified that she had made a mistake by replying to the guys over the radio and it ate at her stomach all night as she waited to be lectured by the older Hispanic man.
The lecture never came and while Leigh was helping him to clean up, he told her that after an executive decision, Hector reasoned that it was good to hear her voice over the radios. The only females that were ever on shark week shows were survivors of attacks and experts. Never had viewers seen or heard a female diver.
"So you're saying that if my audio makes the final cut that I'll be, technically, the first female camerawoman on shark week?"
"10-4, girl." Hector smiled kindly at her and Leigh's lips stretched into a wide grin.
"I was worried you were going to be disappointed in me."
"Well, Dickie and Andy called to you first, so if I came down on anyone, it would be them. But it's easy enough to remove audio in post. Editing guys won't be pleased about it but," Hector shrugged, dumping dishes into the sink, "What matters is that you'll already be in some shots. We won't have any interesting footage of the sixteen foot white today otherwise."
"I did good?" Leigh asked, still concerned about her position aboard the ship.
Hector slapped her on the shoulder and said, "You did good."
——
Leigh woke to a ringing noise somewhere in her head. When her eyes opened blearily, she noticed that the bunks were all empty and the ringing hadn't stopped. She groaned, her muscles cramping as she rolled out of the thin bunk and her feet landed on the floor. Turns out, scuba diving and swimming with forty pound cameras wasn't as easy as she expected. Leigh was in horrible shape.
"Ugh," She mumbled as she realized the ringing wasn't coming from inside her head, but rather, outside of it. Leigh followed it to her bags, trying to stretch her sore muscles at the same time. Digging through her clothes, she found a satellite phone tucked inside a pair of panties she definitely did not pack. They were dainty and lace and Leigh's head cleared suddenly. There was a sat phone that did not belong to her tucked into a pair of panties that definitely did belong to her, in the suitcase that belongs to her. It was a different model than Hector's but she managed to answer it anyway.
"'llo?" She asked into it, cringing at the rough sound of her voice after a week and a half aboard a sea vessel, shouting into the salty wind and shouting into her comm system.
"Leigh?" Anthony's voice called through the other line, slightly delayed. Relief rushed through her at the sound of his voice and Leigh didn't even realize she could miss a sound that much.
"Anthony? Did you do this?" She motioned to the phone but realized he couldn't see the gesture.
"Yeah, is that okay?"
"Oh my god, I don't want to know how much this is costing you right now but I'm so glad to hear your voice, love." Leigh sighed, crawling back into her bunk once she caught sight of the time— they were headed to Australia today so it was a day off as Neil got them all there on the Just Nuisance.
She heard his relieved laughter from the other end of the world and smiled.
"How have you been doing?" He asked, out of breath from the grin she could hear through the line.
"I haven't gotten heatstroke. How are you, though? How's the weather? I miss that stupid city more than I thought I would." Leigh fired off questions to try and stop herself from mentioning Josh.
"I'm alright. The weather is hot, you would hate it."
"Oh my," Leigh said, thinking of the oppressive heat when they were in South Africa.
"I miss you so much. So did the girls, actually. Michael and Kate send their love."
"You saw my brother?"
"Yeah, a couple of us— me, Kris, Addison, and Schwarb swung by for some chicken one night. Ended up hanging out at, what's that bar's name?"
Leigh supplied the name of the neighborhood bar Michael convinces everyone to go to.
"Until it got too crowded, though. Word spread fast. I kinda feel like a criminal because if I stay still for too long, there's a crowd around me."
"You're a hero, Anthony."
"Please, that's a little dramatic, isn't it? We didn't even win."
"No, you were a hero before, to all those kids you visited and helped, but now you're a hero to the whole damn city. Look how far you guys got this year. Imagine next year. You're my dad's hero."
She could sense his blush from thousands and thousands of miles away and it made her smile fondly.
"I have a surprise for you when you get back."
"What is it?"
"I can't tell you, then it wouldn't be a surprise!"
"Oh my god. I've been writing letters to you. Just to remind myself of all the stuff I have to tell you when I'm home."
"Can I read them when you get home?"
"Maybe." Before Leigh could begin telling him about the shark she touched, Dickie's voice called down from above decks, "Leigh!!"
"Who's that?" Anthony asked, probably trying to decode the accent.
"That's Dickie, the shark guy. Crazy dude. I gotta go though, Anthony."
"I know, I know. Is it okay if I call you again?"
"Anytime. If I don't answer it, I'll call you back right away."
"Deal. I love you, bella."
"I love you more."
The call disconnected and Leigh dropped her head back against the pillow, suddenly turned to jello and unwilling to move. She heard Dickie's erratic footsteps clamor down the steps and into the bunk area.
"Oh, you were on the phone. I thought you were talking to yourself."
Leigh snorted and looked up at the South African, his face becoming more tan and his hair just as erratic and wild as he.
"Nah."
"Didn't know you had a sat phone, damn. That's moola." He offered his hand and she used it to pull herself out of bed, tossing the phone back onto the covers.
"Neither did I, my boyfriend snuck it into my suitcase I guess."
"Oooh." Dickie replied, looking around and realizing that he had trapped her against the bunks, "Oh! I'll— I'll go back up."
He left quickly, without another comment and Leigh narrowed her eyes at the peculiar response to her statement. It was the first time she had outright mentioned her boyfriend, so she assumed that he was just caught off guard. Especially since he's seen her in a wet suit. Leigh would be surprised that she had a boyfriend too, given that Dickie knew about her incredibly present baggage.
Changing quickly and glancing once more at the phone on her bed, she ran abovedecks and into the blazing sunlight as Australia came into view on the horizon.