Once they settled, Philippe positioned his lights and switched them all on. Spots at each corner of the cage illuminated a massive halo around them for a good fifty feet in all directions. Jackson took the tuna and lashed it to the bars of the cage. When Betty came in for her breakfast, he’d cut it loose. Though the inch-thick titanium bars could stop a freight train, he didn’t fancy the idea of having five thousand pounds of shark getting tangled in their overhead cabling.

Jackson breathed slowly. The sound of his escaping bubbles, and the occasional bump or knock from the boat above, and there was nothing else. Philippe was ready on the camera and Arty was gripping the bars with both hands and looked frozen with fear.

Jackson grinned around his mouthpiece, not believing he actually got paid to do this. He loved this moment – the anticipation, the utter darkness beyond their halo of light, and the unknown depths below them. The three of them were small alien creatures that had descended to another planet to observe the weird and wonderful life forms. He brought out the tracker. Betty was around but seemed to be keeping her distance.

He pulled out his clicker, and began to snap it, making a popping sound under the water. It usually brought her up fast, but today she seemed a little skittish. Rising up, but then darting off, or heading back down.

Come on, my big darling. Jackson clicked it again, and was relived to see the blip on his tracker begin to change direction and rise. She was coming up from the south, and he tapped Arty on the shoulder and pointed out into the blue-black water.

She usually came in slow, her massive body seeming to glide or float from the depths. The shark would circle them, passing by several times before judging all was in order, and then come in fast to take her prize.

Beside him Arty started to jostle Philippe who was trying to hike his camera a little higher. And then, from out of the deepest shadows the familiar torpedo shape appeared.

He grinned, feeling the thrill pass through his entire body. She never failed to instill awe, and a little primal fear. Her girth was astronomical, as wide around as a draft horse, and everyone knew she had to be pregnant. It must have been why she would accept easy meals from cumbersome little human beings in a cage, and not have to try and chase anything down. But today, strangely, instead of gliding in, she moved fast, shooting by them so quickly, they all felt the current rock the cage.

Jackson pulled back, spinning to watch her go by. He turned to Philippe who shrugged and shook his head – no shot. At least Arty seemed happy, and he tapped Jackson on the shoulder and gave him a double thumbs-up.