Hennessey Part 10: Kings and Queens

Every tail stroke drove Hennessey towards the cove she had selected for the birth of her insistent pups. As the water shallowed, ocean waves calmed, and the water grew greener and warmer. There was a smell of marsh sulfur in the water, alongside the musty taste of useless minnows. The sun above was hot, heating the water in a thick upper layer. Yet the sea bed was sandy and clean, and the depth was enough for Hennessey’s bulk.

She patrolled the small bay, marching along the shoreline back and forth, feeling the pups’ increasing movements. Hennessey twisted in sharp turns as she swam, always keeping in the shallows, always keeping warm.

After one twist, a new tail appeared, back near her rear pelvic fins. The new tail seemed tiny in comparison to her own bulk, but was already bigger than the tails of most of the fish in the sea. Hennessey did not stop. Within a few seconds, the new tail beat back and forth on its own, twisted, and within a few seconds literally pulled the pup out of Hennessey’s uterus. Released into the ocean at last, the new shark rolled and straightened and settled onto the bottom as if to catch its breath and figure out where it was.

Six more times a new tail appeared and dragged a pup into the warm and waiting sea. All seven newborns rolled into the waiting embrace of the cove. Then one-by-one, all seven small white sharks, pups no more, headed out into the green water, leaving their mother and her labors behind.

Hennessey remained on patrol even after the pups were gone, stalking back and forth along the shore, until she could feel no more of the frantic squirmings inside her. Once they subsided, she turned and sought out the mouth of the cove, following her pups out toward the open sea, toward the ocean they would inherit, future kings and queens of their world.

To start at the beginning of Hennessey's journey, click here.