Go into the Water

Eager grad students from all over the world have earned their fins at the station, but it was in the surrounding crystalline waters that Rice's faith in the repellent was put to the test one day last year. Conditions were so clear that day, that when a 14-foot hammerhead approached the bait hanging from the side of the 16-foot boat commandeered by the Shark Defense team, Rice watched it coming from a basketball court's length away.

"The other guys were screaming 'Grab the fish heads!'" recalls Rice, who gestures in the air for emphasis. "But the first thing I did, as an almost involuntary reaction, was to see where the big bottle of shark repellent was."