“They eat people!” the blonde girl blurted out.

“Hand up!” Mrs. Jayawardene instructed.

Julie’s hand shot up above her head and wiggled fiercely.

Elsa nodded at her. “Yes, young lady?”

“They eat people!”

Her classmates snickered nervously.

“No, that’s not exactly true,” Elsa corrected her. “The film Jaws convinced millions of people that great whites were cold-blooded monsters. But the truth is, they hardly ever attack human beings. In fact, you have a better chance of being killed by your kitchen toaster than a great white. Yes, they do occasionally attack swimmers or surfers, but marine biologists will tell you they don’t like the taste of us. Most attacks are little more than ‘test bites,’ as they attempt to establish what we are. And because of our ability to get out of the water and get medical attention, most of these attacks aren’t fatal. Those who do die, sadly, die from excessive bleeding. It’s very, very rare for a great white to eat anybody alive.”

“What do they eat then?” asked an Asian boy who was holding his backpack on his lap.

“Peter, hand!” Mrs. Jayawardene admonished, and Elsa realized the woman’s scowl might just be a permanent fixture on her face.

The boy raised his hand.

“They have a varied diet,” Elsa told him. “But their main prey are pinnipeds such as sea lions and seals, dolphins, porpoises, other sharks, and even turtles and sea birds.”

“Dolphins?” Julie griped. “But I like dolphins.”

“Julie, quiet!” Mrs. Jayawardene snapped.

“You might be surprised to learn,” Elsa said, “that great whites are also eaten themselves. Orcas, otherwise known as killer whales, hunt even the largest great whites. They bite off the great white’s tail from behind and finish it off when it can no longer swim. If the great white gets away unharmed, it won’t return to that hunting ground for up to a year.” She clasped her hands together behind her back. “What I want everybody to take away from today’s dissection is that great whites—and sharks in general—aren’t the fearsome creatures of the deep that they’re often portrayed as. We shouldn’t fear them or stigmatize them. They’re simply a part of the circle of life, part of the food chain, doing what they have done for millions and millions of years, long before humans were around. In fact, many of them now need our help. Because of overfishing, some species are critically endangered and might one day go extinct, and nobody wants that, do they?” She smiled. “But enough talk. Is everyone ready for the dissection?”

This was greeted with cheers and a splattering of applause.

Elsa went to the stainless-steel necropsy table and picked up a large, thin filleting knife. Mark followed her with the video camera.

“You should all have a good view on the TV out there,” she said, the microphone amplifying her voice with only the tiniest trace of feedback. “If anyone is squeamish seeing blood, you can look away or close your eyes. But remember, this is just a fish, a big one, but just like the fish you see on ice in the supermarket. One big piece of sushi. Now, I’m going to begin with the snout.”