Coastal Waverunner

The **Coastal Waverunner** is a medium Tidal Class dragon that lives on beaches, near cliffsides and shallow tide-pools.

## Official Description

Coastal Waverunners spend most of their time skimming the waves along the coast, snatching up their prey from the shallow waters. They have developed markings along the leading edges of their body that help disguise them as breaking waves. When they are not hunting, they enjoy playing among sand-dunes and shallow tide-pools. These dragons live in small but noisy rookeries. Some stories say Waverunners can fly for days on end without landing.

## Physical Appearance

Coastal Waverunner eggs have a similar pattern to the dragons themselves, with a dark blue gradient and a light blue and white wave-like pattern along the top, skewing to the side. Oftentimes, people say the eggs remind them of the sea.

## Hatchling to Adult

Hatchlings are small at first, about the size of a household cat, but they grow quickly. The babies are known for being very chubby, storing lots of fat from the egg, which sheds as they grow and romp and fly around. The crest on their head doesn't have a membrane until about 4 months of age, and the beak and wings don't sharpen out until 5 months of age.

Adult Coastal Waverunners have large, blade-like wings that can steer through both air and water. They have a tail with a large diamond tip, helping to balance and steer. Waverunners are known for their prominent tube-like crest off the back of their heads, along with their light and dark blue patterning that helps them camouflage against the waves of the ocean.

## Abilities

### Swimming

Being Tidal Class dragons, Waverunners are adept in both the air and the water. Their sharp edged wings allow for smoother movement in water. However, these dragons do not like to fully submerge themselves in water for long, and will instead quickly dive and catch their prey before flying right back out. They've been seen swimming up to 19 mph in water, allowing them to keep up with the animals they hunt.

Surprisingly, Waverunners do not have gills, so they've adapted to holding their breaths for a moderate amount of time. Although they are the type to dive in and quickly grab what they need from the water, they're able to hold their breaths up to 15 minutes, which is considered long for a dragon this size.

### Speed and Agility

   Due to the sleek frame of the Coastal Waverunner, these dragons are speedy while both flying and swimming. Described to be graceful in flight, Waverunners can be skimming the waters, diving, and twirling with ease. Most adults can keep a steady speed of 41 mph, but the highest one has ever clocked in at was 50 mph. While flying, Waverunners will use their tail to balance and steer along the waves.

### Hunting and Fishing

Coastal Waverunners hunt from the early stages of life, accompanying adult dragons as hatchlings to learn how to hunt before they can catch their own food. These dragons are able to swallow food whole, and will eat pretty much any marine creatures they can gobble down. However, they prefer fish, shrimp, and crustaceans. They can even eat the exoskeletons of the latter!

### Camouflage

The Coastal Waverunner's colors and patterns allow them to blend in as they glide along the ocean waves and dive into the waters. Looking at them from above, you would have to look very closely to notice that the waves are actually a dragon.

### Amplifying Sound

The large tubal crest atop the Waverunner's head amplifies sound all around the dragon, and allows them to call out louder for their families and young. They're capable of a wide variety of sounds that they use to quickly communicate with each other.

## Personality and Behavior

Coastal Waverunner hatchlings are playful and can often be found romping about in the sand. They often practice the movements of flight and hunting before their wings grow in, and once they do, they learn to fly very quickly. Before their wings develop, hatchlings may play in the sand alone, but will never enter water without a buddy or a parent. Many hatchlings will bury into the sand when threatened, since their striking blue colors can attract predators.

    Waverunners are extremely sociable creatures. Adults are rarely seen far from other adults. They most often stay with the familial group that raised them, but do sometimes strike out and join or form other groups, most often in the case of an unexpected death or groups growing too large for the local ecosystem to sustain. Multiple familial units do not usually live too close to each other. Groups may move a few times in their lives to avoid overhunting any of their prey, and when they do move, they often choose beaches nearside cliffsides with close access to shallow tide-pools. Waverunners have been seen bathing in shallow waters by landing and rapidly flapping their wings, spraying water very far up the beach.

If a group nests near human settlements, they may drive out the humans in the area with their constant noisiness, which they seem to consider entertainment.

Waverunners are more human than many dragons in a way, as they will mourn over dead hatchlings for a few breeding seasons, which is in summer. The pair that lost their hatchling will often refrain from bredding for several seasons. These dragons mate for life. If a dragon in a group of Waverunners, known as a "rookery," passes, then the other members will have an elaborate ceremonies to signify the passing.

Abandoned or lone hatchlings learn to hunt more quickly than their counterparts with adults to teach them. However, abandoned hatchlings may find trouble settling into another group, so they will display stunted growth from the lack of sociability.

## Training

Waverunners take some time to train, as adults can be very skittish, and hatchlings will bury themselves in sand to hide themselves at any threat.

One sure way to train one is to raise one from a hatchling or an egg, but it is possible to tame a wild adult with a little bit of patience, not only for gaining its trust, but for handling its loud sound trial. Much like the Deathsong, singing a song as loud as you can to an adult can help gain its trust, but you may have to do this multiple times to find a song it likes. Instruments may also work, specifically flutes or other wind instruments. Maybe even a horn!

On top of this, you need to offer a Waverunner plenty of food. If they have a family, it would be wise to get enough food for all of them. Once a Waverunner rolls onto its back to show its stomach or rubs up against you, you've gained its trust.

## Trivia

* The Coastal Waverunner is from the online game Dragon Cave.
* Shrimp seems to be the favorite choice of food for both hatchlings and adults.

## Image Sources

1. Coastal Waverunner by IsisMasshiro on DeviantArt
2. DC: Coastal Waverunner by Rooncakes on DeviantArt
3. Coastal Waverunner by thezonzonzone on Tumblr
4. Coastal Waverunner by thenorthernstark on DeviantArt