3 since sunrise Occupational hazard for spotters Ring was a little queasy himself He hoped the food would settle his stomach He also hoped that Asia didn’t spot a vaquita while he was eating below deck That would be just my luck he thought as he followed the tantalizing smell of bacon down to the galley He piled a plate with pancakes scrambled eggs toast and bacon He slathered the pancakes with butter drowned them in maple syrup then began wolfing the mess down with the help of a large glass of cold orange juice This ship might run aground or sink but no one aboard is going to starve to death he thought loading up a second plate The crew was a little annoyed at having two kids aboard but they couldn’t complain because their dad Dr Jack Wilde was paying all the expenses of this vaquita voyage including the food A crew member named Betty came in and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down across from Ring No luck she asked Nope Ring said Don’t get discouraged I’ve been on this ship nearly a year and I’ve only seen a vaquita three times and it was the same one in three different places Last year they had dozens of sightings Either the population has drastically dropped or we are looking in the wrong places If they’re picking up echolocations on sonar one of The WILDES
4 them must be around here Ring said He poured himself another glass of orange juice and put another pancake on his plate even though he was full What’s your name again she asked Ring doubted she had forgotten his name but he answered her anyway My name is Ring Unusual name I was born in Madagascar where my mom was studying ring-tailed lemurs Asia was born in Asia where Mom was studying saiga antelope named after a monkey Betty smiled She’s named after a continent and you’re Ring returned her smile even though it wasn’t the first time he’d heard the joke Technically lemurs are prosimians not monkeys but yeah you’re right Is your mom in San Felipe Ring shook his head She’s in Brazil working on a golden lion tamarin reintroduction near the Xingu River We were with her before we came up here That must have been interesting Betty said It was Ring thought if you consider kidnapping and being shot at interesting But he didn’t mention it She’s training a new batch of graduate students to do the observations She’ll be up here for the summit but I don’t know when Knowing his mom it could be days She had a hard time turning her reintroductions over to others The VAQUITA
5 I hope I get to meet her Betty said I’m a huge fan of her work I’ve read all her papers and books Your dad owns the Wilds The Wilds was their two-thousand-acre wildlife He says that the Wilds owns us but yeah he started it conservation center in Texas before I was born You were raised in a zoo It’s a conservation center We live on the property Glen Rose Texas Ring nodded South of Dallas I’ve never been there I’m a marine mammal person Dad just completed a state-of-the-art marine mammal facility at the Wilds It’s a holding area for injured marine mammals When they’re better we’ll try to release them back into the wild Your dad’s a veterinarian Ring figured Betty already knew his dad was a veterinarian and was probably making polite conversation as a way of pumping him for information about his famous parents He is he said Is the Wilds open to the public Some of it is some of it isn’t The public can’t go to the breeding facilities or reintroduction pens The ship came to a slow stop and the engine was shut down The WILDES
6 What’s going on Ring asked a little concerned We’re drifting Betty answered They must have picked up more vaquita clicks They sometimes shut down the engine because it scares the porpoises away They’re skittish Ring jumped up from the table and rushed to the bow where he found the researchers oohing aahing and pointing Asia had relinquished her high-powered binoculars to someone else and was now snapping photos through a telephoto lens Ring squeezed his way to the rail next to her Where Two o’clock Asia pointed as she continued snapping photos Two adults Thirty yards out Ring spotted the vaquitas but couldn’t see them very well Do you have your small binocs In my pack He yanked them out and focused on the porpoises Beautiful he shouted He didn’t even care that Asia had seen them before he had It was like spotting two unicorns He had spoken to a fisherman who had been fishing in the Sea of Cortez for twenty years and had never seen a vaquita It is like the Bigfoot the man told him It does not exist It is a myth The vaquita does exist Ring thought joyfully Their dark backs and dorsal fins glistened in the sunlight Puffs of light mist wafted from their blow holes They were The VAQUITA
