You are in the oceans of China, Asia, 240 million years ago.

The sun was high over the shallow, warm sea, You were navigating on a small, open-hulled reconnaissance boat, searching for shoreline, when the calm, emerald water suddenly broke just twenty feet off the starboard bow.

It wasn't a shark, and certainly not a fish. Three creatures, each roughly three feet long, surfaced in a synchronized, languid roll. They looked almost like modern dolphins—"tear-drop" and streamlined, shaped bodies, pointed snouts, and dark, slick skin. These were ichthyosaurs, small basal ones typical of the Middle Triassic, though you were uncertain which kind.

As they surfaced to breathe, you were astounded by their eyes—enormous, black spheres set within bony, armored rings. One of them turned its head, its massive, light-sensitive eye focused directly on you, likely analyzing the heat signature of your boat rather than the animal inside. The pod circled the boat once, curious, their conical, needle-like teeth visible as they snapped at small cephalopods near the surface.