A shark by any other name . . . (is still a shark)

15th Street in Del Mar has a flat, sandy bottom and a rolling beach break perfect for surfers.

That flat, sandy bottom is also a favorite of sand sharks, who seem to come out around sunset to feed.

So here are Jonathan and Eric on The Great Sand-Shark Hunt.

Eric reassures us that they are harmless and that it's just fun to spot the creatures as they wiggle around in the shallows.  (Right.) The water is super clear so they are pretty easy to spot. (Oh goodie!)  We become aware of each sighting with their whoops and hollering. 

Lucy and I are content to sit this particular event out and so we remain uninvolved.  She is just tired of being sandy and wet.  I, on the other hand, am having visions of Richard Dreyfus in Jaws screaming, "We've gotta get a bigger boat!"  (Hey, a shark is a shark.)

Instead, I have my camera in hand and unenthusiastically acknowledge their shark findings with a nod and a sarcastic "That's so great, you guys!"   In the meantime I can't get that Jaws music out of my head - "Da-dum. Da-dum. Dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum-dum . . ."

I wonder if this ability to freak myself out is just a typical mom-thing or if it's a by-product of having been brought up in a Cuban home. (I'm also trying to calculate how long it's been since their last meal and whether the three-hour-before-you-go-swimming rule applies to wading too, but that's not important right now.)

I try distracting myself by taking more pictures of the sunset and try thinking of another song.

"Show me the way to go home,
I'm tired and I wanna go to bed . . ."
~ from Jaws, 1975

Sigh. ;-)

[UPDATE: My friend, Pam correctly pointed out that it was the Roy Scheider character, Chief Brody, who said the aforementioned line.  Sorry about that.  It just goes to show that I haven't seen Jaws since it first came out in 1975 and I was so royally freaked out that I'm pretty sure I took a vow right then and there never to watch scary movies again, but that's not important right now. =D]