After what feels like hours, Graeme splashes for my hand. Tugs it. My stomach tightens. He guides me around him, pointing to a shadow approaching through the murk. My heartbeat accelerates. I sweep my arms wildly, propelling myself backward. He brushes my forearm with his fingertips and motions emphatically for me to look again.

The shadow consolidates. A form comes into view. A smooth, brown head. A slick, streamlined body. It whizzes toward us, then veers at the last second, looping through the water like a graceful torpedo—a sea lion.

No, a baby sea lion. I squeal in delight, chest exploding with cuteness overload.

As it swirls nearer, the sea lion’s big, glassy black eyes peer at us curiously while its long whiskers trail through the water. Graeme lifts a small, waterproof video camera that’s looped around his wrist. It’s hard to tell with a snorkel in his mouth, but I think he’s smiling. Without warning, the sea lion darts toward me. I recoil reflexively before a cascade of bubbles engulfs my mask. It bounds away, swerving and somersaulting

The sea lion is playing with us. In a flash of flippers, it blows bubbles at Graeme next. A current catches us, and before I know it, a large wall of rock looms ahead. Beside its coral-dotted, jagged edges, two other baby sea lions dip and dive in a spirited dance. The current presses me forward, and I pump my arms against the push-pull of the waves.

The sun shimmers above and nature swirls all around. Time slows and I’m lost in the wildlife and waves—with Graeme.

As suddenly as the sea lions appeared, they scatter. I twist my head, trying to track where they went. I look down. And stop breathing altogether.

I’m in deep water. And beneath us, there’s a shark.

I scream and flail as Graeme fumbles for my shoulder. He’s not swimming away.

Is he crazy? There’s a shark down there! And I might as well be chum!

My breaths come faster as panic trickles out of its cage.

I kick, but he holds firm. I look down.

The shark isn’t coming at us; it’s swimming away, its powerful gray body rippling far below us, the white tips of its dorsal fin and tail gleaming in the muted, murky light. I suck in a rattling breath through my snorkel. It’s actually… beautiful. Scary as shit, but beautiful. I swim, cautiously, after it. I never imagined I’d see a shark in the wild, let alone from this vantage point. Like a hawk flying above a sparrow. Except in this situation, even though I’m the one above, I feel like the sparrow.

My soul recognizes what I’ve been feeling this entire day. First on the hike and now, swimming with Graeme. It’s something I haven’t experienced in a long, long time.

Wonder.