Horizon had done a lot for many of the Animalians that lived in Lyre/Animalia or many of its colonies and for many of the people that then converted, and among them was Aleta. The female Bull Shark was quite happy to meet Buford, though there were some things about him that served more to raise confusion than anything else. Some of it was due to colloquialisms on his part that she wasn't naturally aware of and some confusion on his part that she didn't expect, but then that wouldn't necessarily be something that wouldn't last forever. And if Buford proved to be a good mate, Aleta would have no problems with that.
Of course that would mean some lessons in swimming and alternating between breathing through his lungs and his gills, as all fish Animalians, with the exception of any Lungfish Animalians, which hadn't been developed yet, weren't one hundred percent "pure" in that regard. The uplifting process with fish Animalians often included the addition of Lungfish DNA as that would then allow fish Animalians to safely breathe out of the water. They might not have the endurance out of the water that other Animalians would, but it would avoid the main weakness that fish would otherwise have of not being able to breathe out of the water.
The biggest issues on the training, however, wouldn't actually relate to breathing out of water. That issue for fish Animalians had been solved rather easily. The issue actually would have to do with breathing IN water, and that often had to do with the fact that many pools often used Chlorine as a means to fight bacteria. For lung breathers that Aleta had met, like Mandibula and Crânio, that wasn't a major problem, as they could hold their breath under water, but for those that could breathe underwater, Chlorinated water was a potentially lethal problem, as that Chlorine had the potential to operate just as the Chlorine Gas could during the First World War. This had meant that pools for fish Animalians had to keep the water clean through different means and that had meant that as Aleta made her way through to the specialized lab that Horizon had to teach Buford, there were a few memories that went through her mind that she remembered her own uplifting in the Amazon River...
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"You want us to uplift a shark?" Mandibula asked raising an eye ridge in what was one of the main office area in the hotel building that had become the main part of the Brazil colony.
The area had once been a planned hotel outside Manaus that had had trouble as a result of old disease outbreaks when the building was initially constructed. However, those outbreaks had gone away, and when Mandibula had been uplifted the area was much quieter in that regard. In fact the colony had become its own independent "city" that was welcome for all that lived there, and Mandibula was quite happy with her mate, Crânio. With the finding of various archeological finds in the jungle near the former hotel, the colony soon got its own name of Vilcabamba and gained some attention and development that went beyond just the former hotel itself. However, that "independence" didn't mean that the colony was entirely separate from Manaus.
Some people from Manaus and other parts of Brazil liked to come visit Vilcabamba for a couple of reasons. This often related to the curves on the female Animalians and the muscles on the male Animalians. That generated its own sets of arguments when lead to issues where Animalians didn't want to lose their mates or end up in arguments that felt that their mates were being hit on by people who wanted to Animalians. That took time for things to be sorted out. The biggest thing that ultimately attracted people into Vilcabamba was ultimately in relation to Manaus's fishing industry, with Mandibula saw no problem in, as that often related to much of the diet that many Animalians had. As a Black Caiman Animalian, she and Cranio often worked with the Manaus fishermen, which actually numbered among the people who had come today.
"It was a Bull Shark," of the Manaus fishermen answered, "it'd certainly eat all of us."
Mandibula glanced to Cranio and to the Horizon representative was presently in residence at Vilcabamba as well. Fishing was a big part of life for the colony, particularly the predatory Animalians that lived there, as fish was a major part of their natural diets. Mandibula and Cranio could eat more than fish, as large crocodilians they weren't limited to the water, but they did understand the importance of fish as part of their diet and their safety. Mandibula especially understood this as she was a bit younger than Cranio. When Melbourne uplifted her, she was young enough that she wasn't fully mature, and as such there could well be the chance of ending up on the menu of either adult Black Caiman or on Bull Sharks while immature, especially since Bull Sharks could breathe underwater, and while as a Black Caiman she could hold her breath for a long time, she would need to surface eventually.
Cranio, being older and more mature and thus larger was less concerned on Bull Shark's presence in the area, though he did note a bit of Mandibula's shared nervousness with the Manaus fishermen. Feeling protective of his mate, he would take a stand in dealing with this shark, as the Horizon scientists had shared some things that they had learned or knew. And there was a lot that was known on the Bull Shark. It was highly aggressive and far more so with regard to lethal attacks on man than even sharks like the Great White, but where it differed from all other sharks was that the Bull Shark could tolerate freshwater, which would surely make people nervous, as they wouldn't want to end up going out fishing and being eaten.
"We'd prefer that you kill it," a different Manaus fisherman commented, "but if you uplift it... maybe you could convince it to go away and leave our people alone."
"Suppose he or she joins the colony?" the Horizon scientist asked in shaky Portuguese. He was stronger in Spanish, but he was good enough that he wasn't completely lost.
The Manaus fishermen looked to each other and shrugged. Eventually their leader looked to the Horizon scientist and said slowly, "Well... I suppose that would be okay... so long as he or she doesn't eat the people of Manaus or the colony here, as many of you here have been our friends too."
"Under Animalia's Edicts, that shouldn't be a concern," Mandibula answered, "Now where was it that you saw this Bull Shark?"
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Mandibula and Cranio found the tell tale fin moving up and down in the water not too terribly far from the riverside docks where a lot of the Manaus fishermen had their fishing boats docked.
"It most have been following the various fish that routinely swim by," Mandibula commented slowly, "or had some local territory..."
"More likely the latter," Cranio commented, vaguely remembering seeing Bull Sharks before, though as a mature Black Caiman, he had been able to force them away from him. He remembered that these large predatory fish often hunted many of the same fish he did, "As there are plenty of fish that all of us eat, even with everyone that was uplifted to be part of the colony."
Mandibula nodded and looked to him, "So how do you want to do this? Drive it into the shallows?"
Cranio slowly nodded. Both of them were presently in swimsuits, mostly for ease of maneuver in the water and some sense of modesty. Though, how they were dressed wasn't the entire issue. The issue was being careful. Even if he and Mandibula were too formidable to be threatened by the Bull Shark, that didn't mean that the Bull Shark would easily let them approach it, either. And since it could easily stay submerged, they didn't want to have the shark speed out into deeper water or go up the river in a way that they couldn't easily it.
"Slowly though," Cranio nodded, "I will come in from the west and push the shark toward the shore and you will come from the east. It may go among the pilings for their docks, but by then, the shark will lose a lot of its maneuverability. Once close... I will pin the shark to the river bottom and you will then move in and inject its dose so that it will be uplifted, from there... we can take the shark back to Vilcabamba and we'll be good there..."
Mandibula nodded and the two soon began to gradually heard the Bull Shark into shallower and shallower water. It wasn't easy, as the shark could pick up their movements along its lateral line and the fact that the Amazon did not have water as clear as in spots like Mieni's lagoon, but by moving slowly, they managed to keep from alerting the shark to the fact they were essentially hunting it. It simply moved after the fish it'd been hunting and going into shallow water. And with their nictitating membranes covering their eyes when they submerged, both Mandibula and Cranio could see while underwater. This let them set up the ambush, which worked perfectly. Cranio moved first and was on the Bull Shark's back and held it down while Mandibula readied the specialized syringe and placed it on the spot on the shark's back, just below the dorsal fin, which was where the Horizon scientist said had been the best spot to "dart" a shark.
They quickly backed off and let the Bull Shark go, which soon darted out into river to escape the attack. Thankfully for Cranio and Mandibula, the Bull Shark didn't employ it's prime defensive tactic to escape attackers, emptying its stomach as a distraction. However, the two did follow behind the Bull Shark to keep an eye on it, and thus managed to pick up some signs of its uplifting. Its dorsal fin seemed to move up to its head, which had a minor alteration in how it was aligned with its spine, essentially giving it the ability stand erect like a human could, which was part the uplifting process that was often the most disconcerting for many animals as it wasn't how they normally stood or swam. The shark's pectoral fins would lengthen and grow into webbed hands with claws at the end of each finger, though the webbing was such that neither Black Caiman could doubt that the claws were more something to help it swim than to truly be a weapon.
The biggest changes came toward the end as the shark's pelvic fins grew and lengthened into legs, ending in webbed feet that could help it walk on land as well. At this time, they also got some sense that the shark was female as they couldn't spot any claspers and the development of two large round breasts soon became a tell tale sign of Animalian femininity. It was at this point that the shark stopped swimming and looked at herself and then at Cranio and Mandibula as they approached.
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And the two Black Caiman would explain everything. Aleta didn't quite understand why the people of Manaus were so afraid of her, as she'd swum up and down the Amazon for years, feeding on fish as she went. It was something natural, and had never been a problem for her. Though, of course the explanation that humans weren't easily adapted to the water and often had some fear of things that could easily drown them made some sense. Aleta accepted that, along with the name that the Horizon scientist gave her, which turned out to be Spanish. It was a bit odd in the sense that Brazil's language was Portuguese, but Aleta didn't really mind, and at that time what she'd been told about Animalia seemed rather interesting.
"And of course this Buford could also be interesting," Aleta thought to herself as she noted the converted human coming into the lab room with its large fresh water tank. He was followed by two other Animalians, both converted humans, one a lizard and another a large freshwater turtle species. She guessed the three were friends and they wanted to watch Buford's swimming lessons, which Aleta supposed would be fine enough.