THE GREAT WHITE RED ALERT

The emergency alert came at a bad time. Of course, there’s never a good time to find out someone is destroying the ocean in some far-flung corner of the world. But, for Alena, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The great white shark could have told you...

The twins, Alena and Tyler Worthy, had taken their big hydroplane, the Sea Worthy, across the Santa Barbara Channel to San Miguel Island for a Saturday of diving and research. Tyler parked the boat between Point Bennet and Castle Rock at the western tip of the island. A light breeze was clearing the early morning fog. It was going to be a warm day.

Tyler looked around, grinning. “We’re going to have lots of company in the water,” he said.

The beach and rocks were almost invisible beneath the shiny, squirming bodies of thousands of pinnipeds—commonly known as seals and sea lions. The water around the boat was dotted with dark heads bobbing up and down as they hunted breakfast.