Deadly Waters by Gloria Skurzynski

Jack again, letting him make the decision. “OK, Ashley, it’s worth a try,” Jack agreed.
    Bridger took a deep breath. “Let’s do ’er, then,” he said. Once again the three of them splashed beneath the still surface, and Jack felt the water, warm and dark, close over his head.
    Jack and Bridger dove to the shallow bottom, swimming one on each side of the manatee, from its head to its flat, round tail. It lay motionless on the soft mud. Jack had known that manatees were big, but close up, this one looked enormous, shaped like a miniature submarine, 10 feet long at least. His father had said manatees were related to elephants, and Jack could see a resemblance—here and there, stiff, straight hairs grew out of its thick gray brown hide. Even its baby was huge, almost as long as Ashley was tall. How Ashley could possibly manage to get that big manatee calf up to the surface, Jack had no idea.
    When the three of them came up for air again, Bridger said, panting, “Running out of time. All I can figure to do is, you grab it on one side, Jack, under its flipper, and I’ll take the other side. We’ll try to heave her head up, nosefirst. Can’t manage more than that. That thing’s heavy as a full-grown bull.”
    â€œOK. If we just get the nose up, she can breathe,” Jack agreed. Down they went again. The boys attempted to grab underneath the manatee’s flippers, but their hands kept sliding off its rough skin. In all the commotion, the manatee calf separated from its mother; Ashley was able to wrap her arms around it. Moving in a swarm of bubbles, she lifted the calf to the surface just as Jack and Bridger came up for air.
    The four-foot-long baby wiggled and began to squeal and squeak. Even if it was brand-new, it knew this wasn’t supposed to be happening to it. “It’s all right, baby, don’t be scared,” Ashley cooed. The 60-pound calf writhed in her arms, splashing water into Ashley’s open mouth. “Puft!” she spat.
    Suddenly, next to them, the water parted; they could feel it swirling around them, an onslaught pushing against them, before they even saw what caused the upheaval. An immense mass rose with a force that knocked Jack and Bridger off their feet. It was the mother manatee, looming huge, rivulets streaming off her gray sides, like in a scary movie where a sea monster emerges from the bottom of the ocean.
    Even though she’d been hurt, the manatee’s consciousness must have been penetrated by her calf’s cries. Like any mother, she was rushing to defend her infant. Ashley barely managed to hang on to the calf. It squeaked even louder than before, while its mother answered with vocal squeals of her own.
    â€œDrop the baby!” Bridger yelled. “ Drop it! ” When Ashley let the calf go, it swam to its mother’s side.
    Mouth agape, Jack stared into the adult manatee’s face—wide-set, beady eyes, bristly moustache, a snout like an armored tank, ready to run over him. When she opened her nostrils to breathe, they looked like the finger holes in a bowling ball. Even though he knew that manatees were the gentlest of creatures, the animal’s very size took Jack’s breath away. “Let’s get out of here!” he shouted, pushing himself backward through the water, trying to stay on his feet.
    â€œWait!” Instead of moving back, Bridger went closer to the manatee. “I want to get a look at those cuts. Find out how bad they are.” But before he could get near, the manatee submerged again, her baby once more at her side. “I’m going back down,” Bridger said, and followed the manatee beneath the surface.
    â€œThat Bridger—he’s not scared of anything,” Ashley said. “He’s got guts, don’t you think?”
    In reply, Jack spit out a mouthful of water, not liking the taste of it.
    Exploding through the surface, Bridger shook his