HUMPBACK WHALE: Humpback whales grow to be between forty and fifty feet long. How big is that? Many kids’ bedrooms are around ten feet long. That would mean one whale could be five times as long as your bedroom!

JEWEL ANEMONE: These colorful creatures make a fabulously colorful display on underwater cliffs and can be any color, although pink and yellow are common.

KILLER WHALE: Killer whales are not whales at all. They are the largest member of the dolphin family. Despite their name, killer whales are not known for attacking people—or mermaids—in the wild.

KRILL: Antarctic krill are very important in the southern ocean food chain.

OCTOPUS: The small blue-ringed octopus makes enough toxic spit to kill a human! It has little bright blue circles all over its body.

PINK CORAL: Corals are some of the brightest reef creatures. They can be pink, red, orange, yellow, or white.

POLKA-DOT BATFISH: The batfish is an oddly shaped fish that uses its fins to walk over the ocean floor.

PURPLE SEA URCHIN: This small urchin loves to eat kelp. In fact, urchins have destroyed parts of giant kelp forests.

SEA CUCUMBER: This wormlike creature eats mud and sand!

SHRIMP: There are many types of shrimp in the ocean. The peacock mantis shrimp is brightly colored and lives in warm water near reefs.

STARFISH: The vivid colors of starfish scare off some predators.

TUBE SPONGE: This pinkish sponge looks like fingers reaching up from the sea floor.

FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT . . .

Danger in the Deep Blue Sea

Late-Breaking News!

OH MY NEPTUNE!” PEARL Swamp shrieked as she swam into the huge front hallway of Trident Academy. “Did you see the newspaper this morning?”

Wanda Slug, Pearl’s good friend, shook her head. “No, I didn’t,” she said. “I had to finish my homework before school.” The two mergirls floated out of the way of some fourth-grade merboys who zoomed past them.

Trident Academy was a prestigious school in Trident City. Third-grade through tenth-grade merkids came from all over the ocean to study in the enormous clamshell. The front hall alone was big enough for a humpback whale to take a nap in.

Pearl’s blond hair and long strand of pearls swirled in the water as everyone rushed around her to get to their classrooms. “My dad made me read the front page,” she told Wanda. “You’ll never believe it! There have been shark sightings in Trident City!”

“What?” Wanda gasped. “Are you kidding? That’s terrible.” Sharks were the number one danger to the merpeople community.

Pearl’s green eyes widened. “I’m serious. I couldn’t even swim here by myself. My father hired a Shark Patrol guard to escort me to and from school.”

Wanda shuddered. “I’m glad I live in the Trident Academy dorm. I wouldn’t want to be swimming home with a shark on my tail.” Both girls looked at their mertails and wiggled them gently. Neither girl noticed that the front hall was almost empty of merstudents.