Disclaimer: Octonauts belongs to Meomi and its creators, Michael Murphy and Vicki Wong. I own my original characters. Additional original characters also belong to Gullfriend13 and FLUFFYGLASS_.

This story was inspired by my Girl Guide leaders' two kids, so shout out to Jack and Heidi :)

Since this was written with young kids in mind (rather than this story's target audience of tweens and teens), this chapter is rated All Ages instead of the usual 12 and up.

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It was late in the afternoon, and the Octonauts were working when a sweet smell began wafting throughout the Octopod.

"Tunip must be baking kelp cakes," said Captain Barnacles with a chuckle.

He was right; down in the kitchen, Tunip and the Vegimals were hard at work, baking batch upon batch of kelp cakes. They chirped and sang in their merry Vegimal way.

Unbeknownst to them, the smells were getting outside, and nearby critters were stopping in their tracks to enjoy the delicious scent. One creature in particular, a slender little shark, was so entranced that she began looking for a way inside the Octopod. She eventually nosed the Octo-Hatch open, damaging her pointed snout in the process, got inside, and surfaced in the Launch Bay. One might imagine the surprise on Tweak and Elekai's faces to see a little shark inside the Octopod!

"Cap," said Tweak into the intercom, "there's a shark in the Launch Bay!"

Captain Barnacles raised an eyebrow. "In the Launch Bay? The Octo-Hatch isn't big enough for a shark to get in."

"Well, there is, sir," said Elekai, moving to the side as to show the captain. "I think she's hurt, sir."

Seeing the shark splashing in the Launch Bay with scratches on her snout was evidence enough to convince Captain Barnacles that they were telling the truth. "Dashi, sound the Octo-Alert." Dashi nodded and pressed the button.

"Octonauts, to the launch bay!"

The Octo-Alert blared throughout the Octopod, and the crew rushed to the launch bay and crowded around the little shark, who was yelping and whimpering.

"How'd this li'l fella get inside the Octopod?" Kwazii asked.

"She must'a pushed the Octo-Hatch open somehow," said Tweak.

"Her nose is all scratched up," said Deborah, pointing at her injured snout.

"We're going to have to bring her to the sick bay," said Peso, reaching to pick up the little shark.

"Wait!" Shellington yelled. Luckily, Peso pulled back just in time.

"Don't touch me!" The shark bared her teeth and snapped at him.

"This is a dogfish shark. They have strong jaws and sharp teeth." Shellington flipped through his book. "Even if she didn't bite you, they've got toxic venom in their skin."

"If we can't touch her, how are we going to bring her to the sick bay?" Kitsune asked, twitching her nose.

"We'll find some buckets and start a brigade," said Captain Barnacles. "Octonauts, let's do this!"

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The bucket brigade began. It started with Kitsune, who coaxed the shark into a little metal bucket. She passed the bucket on to Kwazii, who hopped up the stairs into HQ and passed it on to Lekona. Lekona rushed across the room to pass it on to Dashi, who slid down the Octo-Chute into the hallway and passed it on to Deborah. Deborah blitzed through the hallway and passed it on to Shellington, who brought it into the sick bay and passed it on to Peso, who freed the little shark into the sick bay tank.

"So, how did you get inside the Octopod?" Peso asked, hoping that asking questions would ease the little shark's nerves.

"I smelled something sweet and tried to find it," said the little shark. "The big chute was shut tight, but I still got in."

"Dogfish sharks are very strong. Even their young can hunt prey that's two or even three times larger than themselves." Shellington looked up from his book. "They normally go after fish, such as herring, mackerel, and capelin."

"My family's probably looking for me," said the little shark. "We're all over the place here."

Shellington nodded along. "Dogfish sharks are commonly found in waters from Nova Scotia all the way down to Florida. It's not unlikely that she and her family live here, off the coast of Sheet Harbour."

"I've lived my whole life in the Atlantic," said the little shark. "I can't bear to go anywhere else."

Just then, something began ramming into the Octopod. Up in HQ, they could see a family of dogfish sharks knocking against the glass windows surrounding the area.

Captain Barnacles turned on the outside speaker. "Attention, sharks. Please stop hitting our ship."

"Give us back Lydia!" The leader of the group yelled.

"Lydia must be the shark from the launch bay," he thought. "Your friend is in our sick bay. She'll be along as soon as her snout is patched up."

The leader snarled, which gave Captain Barnacles the feeling that they'd better give Lydia back to her family or else there would be trouble. He paged the sick bay. "Peso, is your patient ready to go?"

"Just a moment, Captain," chirped Peso. Lydia was finally calm, and he was able to bandage up her nose. Now his only worry was getting her back to the launch bay and into open waters, as he didn't want to bother the others into doing another bucket brigade. He got the idea to tag-team with Kitsune. He coaxed Lydia into the bucket, and both medics carefully brought it down to the launch bay.

In the launch bay, Kitsune let Lydia into the tank. Just before Tweak could open the Octo-Hatch, Tunip toddled into the area, carrying a kelp cake. He chirped and passed in to Lydia, who wolfed it down.

"Thanks for everything, Octonauts," said Lydia, just before swimming out of the Octopod and back into the port of Sheet Harbour with her family.

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Back in HQ, the sweet smell of the kelp cakes was fading.

"Oh, Peso," queried Shellington, "did that little shark ever get that kelp cake she was after?"

As he asked this, the family swam by. "We've gotta find these guys another time," said Lydia. "Their little spongy sweet things hit the spot!"

The Octonauts all burst out laughing at this statement, and went about their business.

BKPSDITTEKDL (Report of Creatures time)

"Calling all Octonauts!"

"Kwazii!"
"Peso!"
"Shellington!"
"Dashi!"
"Inkling!"
"Tweak!"
"Juniors!"

…

"Tunip!"

Captain Barnacles chuckled and put Tunip down. "Kwazii, activate Creature Report!"

"Creature Report, Creature Report!"

"Creature Report!" (clap clap clap)

"Facts: Dogfish sharks are rather tough."

"Check!"
"Check!"
"Check!"

"Even though they're quite small stuff."

"Check!"
"Check!"
"Bree!"

"They've got strong jaws with sharp teeth within…" (Creature Report, Creature Report)

"…and toxic venom in their skin." (Creature Report, Creature Report)

"From Canada down to the USA…"

"Check!"
"Check!"
"Chirp!"

"You can find these sharks going along their merry way!"

"Dance break!"

(insert dance break here)

"Go sharky! Go sharky! Go sharky! Creature Report, Creature Report!"

"Creature Report!"

"We're done with our mission! Octonauts, at ease, until the next adventure!"

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Info about the dogfish shark taken from Wikipedia and NOAA Fisheries (ALSO I FOUND OUT FROM THE CREDITS OF THE NEW MOVIE THAT THE ACTUAL SHOW USES NOAA AS A SOURCE TOO? I FEEL SO VALIDATED :D)

Info about Sheet Harbour taken of Port of Halifax