Chapter 2: Myxini
He could feel the frigid water rushing past his gills as he swam feverishly through the North Atlantic sea. His long, paddle-shaped body beat back and forth against the thickening ocean in search of food. His last meal had been months ago at this point; he could only recall a sampling of small red bandit fish and many weeks of nothing. His small eyespots weren’t particularly helpful for finding his next meal, but the tentacles around his mouth were sure that there was something huge nearby. His slimy skin began to pulse with anticipation, but he knew with opportunity came risk; what was he sensing and what other creatures were following the same clues?
He was sure he was heading in the right direction. A full day of swimming had passed since he first sensed his next potential meal and he was getting tired. His soft, cartilaginous body began to slow as his mind wandered. He reflected briefly on his life; he was a father after all. In fact, he was quite the prolific dad with over one hundred slimy kids. But, he hadn’t seen his family in a long time. Suffice it to say; he wasn’t the kind of creature to stick around. It wasn’t like he was proud of his absence either, “There’s no right way to bring children into the world” he insisted.
Sometimes when fishers mistakenly caught him in their nets, they pulled him aboard and gasped at the sight of him. They called him “Disgusting!” But this wasn’t his fault, after all his natural reflex when afraid for his life was to create a thick, viscous slime. As it turns out, this technique may have worked a little too well because he had never been held onto by ambitious fishermen or by his family.
Maybe he was a little too good at defending himself.
Another day passed, and he had almost given up until his tentacles finally confirmed what his skin had been telling him — food! Initially, he began to snack on small bits floating by, but then he saw it, an enormous grey blob hovering just a few meters away. He had never been so happy than to see that magnificent whale-shaped blob; this was his saving grace!
Uh oh.
Not even a few moments of joy had passed until he began to sense other creatures, some of which were all too familiar to him. His body began to secrete a thin layer of slime as he thought to himself what these unidentified competitors could be. He racked his brain trying to determine what he might be up against until he was sure of it. Their sheer size was what tipped him off. Three colossal Greenland sharks!
Their ancient, humongous shark bodies thrust through the ice-cold water thunderously. They might have been beautiful If they weren’t so terrifying. Rain-cloud grey with dramatic white stripes along their back, these monstrous competitors dwarfed his narrow eel body by being nearly 20 times his size and hundreds of years older. He counted 50 teeth, all razor sharp. The legendary beast must have known he was there, why wasn’t he already an eel-shaped appetizer? Then he remembered what had brought him there in the first place, the giant, grey, whale-shaped blob! Why would a shark waste their time snacking on him when there was enough food for a lifetime floating ahead of him. Relief set in as he continued his pursuit.
For the first time in a long time, he was glad that he was a small fish in a big ocean.
Months after Myxini first found Baleen, who he finally learned was the name of his saving grace. He shared breakfast, lunch, and dinner with thousands of other creatures who he became friends with over time, including hundreds of Hagfish like him. He finally got the chance to learn more about the sharks he had feared and realized they had more in common than he initially realized. Despite their size and age, the sharks who formerly terrified him weren’t the apex predators he had learned about when he was an elver. In fact, those same humans who had fished Myxini from the sea months ago were responsible for a significant decline in the shark’s population. Myxini and the sharks bonded over their mutual fear of humans and since Baleen was providing them with an endless buffet, a lasting alliance formed. However, Myxini was sure never to get too close; a hug could cost him his life!
Many more months passed until one-day Myxini noticed that the world had slowly grown darker. At first, Myxini could swim all the way around Baleen, being sure to munch on pieces that were ignored by more ambitious creatures. But now, he began to notice that Baleen was getting much closer to the seafloor and a strange ship had started to come into focus. Tiny red crabs stood in anticipation of their turn at the buffet line, in fact, they had been snacking on the pieces Myxini had allowed to fall the whole time. Their outstretched claws created a carpet of bright red along the barren seafloor. Silently, they scurried back and forth in unison catching small pieces in a finely choreographed dance. He knew all at once that the increased attendance might limit his food prospects, but how could this happen to him? He continued to deny the inevitable in his usual fashion until Baleen softly landed on the seafloor.
There was no denying it; his small monopoly was over.
Thanks for reading the second chapter of Whale Fall
Continue to Chapter 3 (Free on Medium!)
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