He breathes sharply when he sees the splash. Despite this being exactly what he was hoping for, there's at thrill all the same. He's here. He kept his promise. And now he was going to talk face-to-face with another sentient species that lived on their planet, could be potentially and wildly dangerous, and no one knew he was doing so. Of all the idiotic, exciting things he'd done...

"Good to know I'm a beacon," John drawls, both amused and a little alarmed. Does that mean others of the mer-person's kind could follow, ones that may not be so benign? But then again, they'd gone to beaches dozens of times and not had any trouble, so maybe it's only when one of their people was actively looking for them? Or maybe it's just this particular mer-person.

John gets closer to the water, to where the sand is actively sinking under his boots, to where the water just barely surges into it. The fact that the mer-person was looking up and around isn't lost on him--probably a good idea he didn't bring the Jumper back ups.

"Thought maybe you weren't gonna show up." There's a smirk, and despite himself, he can't hide how pleased he is that the alien came.