I've always loved dolphins. They are a part of me, ever since surfing near San Diego when dolphins saved my life. I had believed that dolphins nearby meant that there wouldn't be any sharks. So I stayed out in the water near sunset and learned that it is a myth. Sharks aren't afraid of dolphins. They should be, though.

The beautiful sunset and a whole day of surfing had me exhausted and just relaxing on my board. The dolphins were playing nearby, I could hear them splashing and laughing. They would swim up next to me with their big happy smiles and I could tell they liked the sunset too.

Then came a shark, a juvenile Great White. It had probably circled me already and I hadn't noticed, because I thought I was perfectly safe. It brushed me from under my board and the hard bump tipped me into the water. Then it dove down and spiraled up and in the clear water I could see its mouth aimed at me. It wanted a bite and then it would have me at its mercy.

I was all alone out there and if it opened me up I would bleed to death before I got to shore. Then it would eat me. It is also a myth that sharks don't eat people. Surfers and swimmers get eaten by sharks every year.

I was screaming in terror as I tried to get back on my board, splashing frantically. My board was the only defense I had and the image of so many surfboards with shark bites taken out of them flashed through my mind. I was panicking because there was no escape. I anticipated the attack from below, driving me out of the water in its mouth as it clamped down and my blood sprayed everywhere. I knew I was going to die, I could already feel its teeth slicing through my wetsuit.

Suddenly, before impact, the shark was knocked aside as two dolphins rammed it from the side. They weren't done, they kept ramming it with their pointy beaks until it decided to retreat. As the bleeding Great White left me alone it grew dark. I was crying and laying on my board. I had to get back to shore.

As I paddled my way back the dolphins escorted me. When I was safely ashore I looked back and saw them leaping away, laughing playfully. I waved to them, thanking my totem animal for the protection.

I approached a driftwood fire on the beach where a guitar was playing and a bottle was being passed around. I was welcomed and enjoyed meeting some new people. They liked that I believed that dolphins were my totem animal.

"I was out there and a Great White was coming for me." I told them.

I got sighs and "yeah right." and some of them rolled their eyes or gave me an indulging smile.

"No, let her talk." Joshua stood up and they all respected him: so there was silence for me to tell my story.

I explained that I was watching the sunset with the dolphins and a small Great White had attacked. Before it could get to me, however, the dolphins had attacked the shark. Then they had escorted me back to shore.

"That's quite a story, Noel." Joshua smiled at me. I really liked his smile and I was blushing.

"Not a lot of girl surfers out here are as brave as you. Most girls are just posers." Another guy around the fire tried to get my attention, but I already liked Joshua.

I saw him again after that. He seemed to show up wherever I was along the beach. We surfed together and I spent the night with him. He told me he was leaving for the Amazon. He wanted to know if I would go with him.

"You got a job in South America?" I asked him. We were sitting there drinking soda while the morning warmed up.

"Can I trust you, Noel?" He asked. I nodded, excited that he would confide in me.

"I love dolphins too. A lot more that you do, I think." Joshua claimed.

"Okay." I conditioned, "But that is a whole lot. I'd do anything for dolphins. They saved my life."

"That really happened." He agreed. "What if I told you that someone has got to protect the River Dolphin?"

"I don't know." I hesitated.

"Would you at least come with me? If you see what is happening, I think you will understand." He promised.

So I got my passport and borrowed money from my aunt so that I could take a trip to South America with Joshua. I was infatuated with him and it seemed like he was totally sincere about helping the pink dolphins. A week later I was sitting next to him on a plane.

A few days of travelling by boat brought us to where Joshua wanted me to meet his friends. They had their own boat and I was brought into their meeting, as one of them. A map was unfolded and a plan was made. First they explained what was going on, mostly for my benefit:

"We are heading here, to this village. There are so few Boto left that the dam they are building will endanger the whole species. They travel through this area and when it is complete the Boto will be trapped on either side. It is a hydroelectric dam and they don't care how many dolphins die because of it."

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"What are we going to do about it?" I felt a kind of fear of knowing I had gotten involved in something I shouldn't. I was excited and scared at the same time.

"What do you mean?" Carmine looked at me with surprise and then at Joshua.

"Noel is with us. She will do anything for the dolphins." Joshua spoke for me.

"I'm asking her. What do you think we are going to do about it, kid?" Carmine was glaring and and put his hands on his hips, pulling back his jacket so I could see that he was wearing a gun.

"Ba-blow it up?" I gulped nervously.

"That's going to be your task. You and Joshua will plant the charges." Carmine said firmly.

"But I don't know anything about bombs." I felt terrified. Just the thought of handling explosives was enough to make me sweat. I can't even light the fuse on a firecracker without panicking.

"You don't need know nothing." Gus told me with his broken English and heavy accent. He put a satchel on the table and showed me the charges. "Deez are see-four exploded. They don't go boom until remote triggers them. All you and love-boy do is set them on top of dam every fifteen yards and then walk aways."

"It's easy, Noel." Joshua put his hand on my shoulder and reassured me. I was trembling with anticipation. The team began to make their final preparations while Joshua and I only had to wait to do our part.

He went below deck and left me looking at the beauty of the Amazon River. The sounds of the forest were almost soothing me and the sun was setting. I looked out on the water at the beautiful sunset. From where I sat on the boat I could see some of the dolphins I had come to save.

They were playing in the water and swimming back and forth. Pink dolphins were still dolphins and my totem animal. I felt the way I had when the shark had come for me. I felt very afraid of what I was supposed to do. I felt like I was in the jaws of a shark, except the shark was the men on the boat and the teeth were the bombs I was to set for them.

"It is time." Joshua came up behind me. We were dropped off at an old half submerged dock and the satchel was handed to Joshua. It was dark and we had to follow the path through the jungle to reach the top of the dam.

Despite the cool breeze from the water I was sweating in fear. I kept trying to think of some sort of excuse of delay. I didn't want to blow anything up. Finally, with the dam and its lights and the barbed wire fence I stopped him:

"I'm scared. Please, I can't go there. We can go back home. Let's not do this!" I was shaking and my feet firmly planted. I was holding his arm, trying to plead with him.

"Are you serious?" He snapped. "We came all this way and you want out now? What about the dolphins, I thought you would do anything for them. They are counting on you to save them." He shook off my grip and scolded me.

I started crying. I was so scared that I couldn't go on. He shook his head at me in disgust and left me there while he approached the fence. He took a pair of heavy bolt cutters out of the bag and easily cut the chain and opened the gate.

"We're in." He told me. "Let's go."

With fearful reluctance I followed him. I prayed to my totem animal for guidance. Was this really for the peaceful dolphins, or was something more sinister happening? My instincts told me that I was being used and that the dolphins would be fine.

"Take these and plant them like you were told." Joshua handed me three of the charges and gestured to the other end of the dam. He had already set the first of them.

I went along to the other half of the dam to set my charges. It made sense to start at the opposite end and make my way back towards him, so that is what I did. When I got there I was at the parking lot for the dam. I could see the village below and a building set aside from the dam was called 'centro de visitantes'.

I set my armload of explosives down on the concrete barricade and wandered into the unlocked visitors' center. The first thing I saw was a mural of Boto, the pink dolphins I had come to save. I couldn't understand most of it, but from what I was seeing, the dolphins had a fish ladder to safely cross the dam along with every other kind of wildlife. I read some of it out loud and got a different impression of the dam than I was told:

"Conservación es la protección, preservación."

A model of the dam in the children's area had toy dolphins on strings and other animals that lived in the Amazon. I picked them up and guided them safely through the state-of-the-art dam. I found a plaque in English that proudly stated that this dam was a world class hydroelectric dam that was designed to function with the least amount of impact on local animals and people as possible. No expense was spared.

And I was there to blow it all to Hell.

When I went back outside I looked along the length of the dam. I saw Joshua had finished planting the explosive charges and was fleeing back out the way we had come in. He was abandoning me. A chill ran across my skin as I realized that as soon as he was back at the boat they would blow up the dam. I was still on the dam.

Panic nearly overwhelmed me. I had to escape but then I looked down from the dam and saw the village sleeping below. Nobody had said anything about murder. All those people would be in the path of destruction if the dam exploded.

"What do I do?" I was hyperventilating. If I ran away and did nothing then I was the shark. I called on the dolphins, remembering how they had bravely defended me against the Great White. They were my totem and I could be just as brave. I was the dolphins this time.

I started with my own charges, hurling them over the side of the dam as far downriver as I could. Then I ran along and found one every fifteen yards and threw them as well. I was nearing the very last charge when its little red light turned on and it emitted an audible beep. I flinched, the teeth of the shark coming up from below to take me, my hands were held up defensively against the explosion.

It beeped again and again, the little red light flashing its warning. I ran towards it as the beeping and flashing red light went faster and faster. It was about to explode. I picked it up, seeing the dolphins making their attack on the shark at the last instant and saving my life. I hurled it out over the dam into the dark night.

I fell down and skidded on my butt across the dam from the percussion of the blast. It had exploded midair and knocked me down. My ears were ringing and I was bruised, but otherwise unharmed. I just sat there crying in relief that I was still alive and the dam still stood.

I was found, treated for my injuries and arrested and taken in for questioning. When I told them the truth and that I had saved the dam they changed their questioning. They wanted me to give them the details about Joshua, Carmine, Gus and the rest of them. I told them everything, even how they had lied to me and used me. I apologized.

I was released without being prosecuted for my crimes. I was told I would never be allowed back in their country again. On the flight home, sitting beside a U.S. Marshal, I stared out over the water below.

I could see them, even from the clouds. As the sun was setting on the water they were swimming and leaping towards it: all my beautiful dolphins.