Goal 13: Climate Action

Gillian, Vanessa, Queena & Christina

Our video is about student’s opinions on climate action. We hope you can learn from this video, and take inspiration from it.

Underwater Skeletons

By Sissi

THUNK.

“Hey Bubba, you alright in there?”

“Oh yeah, just knocked over the pot again. ”

“Alright then, hurry up! We need to leave soon.”

Bubba gave the seaweed package one last push and tied it up. She swung it onto her fin and went outside to find her sister, Nessie. Bubba was greeted by a shiny grey pelagic fish smiling a smile so big it barely fit on her face. Nessie had been looking forward to this day for years, so she was giddy with excitement. She had always dreamt of going beyond the reefs and exploring the deep and vast oceans.

“Oh, I’m so excited!” Nessie exclaimed as they swiftly maneuvered their way out of the corals into the open and joined the rest of the crowd. “I can’t wait to discover new treasures that lay in this endless ocean! How cool would it be if we were to discover a shipwreck? Or, bump into a huge whale! I read that they eat fish like us, you know.” Bubba tried to look excited but the truth was, she didn’t like the thought of leaving the safety and comfort of her home. Bubba had always hoped that the corals would all of a sudden gain their color back, and everything would return to normal. She kept onto that flame of hope till the very end, when the last surviving branch of coral had blanched yesterday. That was when she finally snapped into reality and knew she couldn’t stay there anymore. Schools of fish and other animals had already been evacuating and moving out of the reef for the past few weeks, and now it was her turn. In fact, out of all of the residents of the coral reef, only the school of pelagic fish had stayed. They agreed as a whole to stay together, and now to leave together. Nessie didn’t want to stay behind, since she has always been extremely adventurous, but she decided to stay for Bubba. Now that there was no other choice, the two sisters and the giant school of pelagic fish decided to begin their journey to find a new home. She looked around and took notice of everything around her for the last time. The water was a dark shade of swampy green and yellow, which had seemed to get darker day by day. There was no sign of life except for the muffled murmurs coming from the group of creatures getting ready to leave. All of the wildlife had died out– including the great reef. Bubba looked gloomily at the place where she had lived for her whole life, which was now just a field of

ragged

white

skeletons.

Life wasn’t always like this, though. Bubba remembered when she was younger, the ocean used to be less of a swampy green and more blue toned. Also, you could easily spot patches of coral that had still retained its colour, including the branch she had lived in. According to her mom and grandparents, the ocean water used to be so clear, you could see the sandy bottom from high above. The elders also said that the corals had also been different shades of fuchsia, lemony yellow, blue and more. She could clearly remember the patch she and her family lived in was a faint shade of pinkish velvet, even though her parents had said it used to be a shade of wine like crimson. She missed how she used to wake up to the bubbling sounds of the other fish swimming around chatting with neighbours and going hunting for prey every morning.

Bubba had mentioned these memories to Nessie, but she didn’t seem to remember at all. “Hasn't the ocean always been green, and the corals dull?” She responded. It seemed as if Bubba was the only one that remembered an ocean full of life and spirit. Sometimes she even felt that she was hallucinating and none of that had actually ever happened. However, each time she felt doubt, she would stare at the coral from afar and almost see the vibrant colours and hear the rustling of animals so clearly as if it were actually happening right in front of her.

“Alright folks, we’re going to be leaving now. To the North!” The leader of the group shouted out. Bubba shook and brought her mind back to what was currently happening. All the fish and different sea creatures swam in one big group and headed off on their journey to find a new home.

ooooooooOOOOOOOoooooooo

Countless hours passed as they searched the endless abyss in vain. Everyone was tired and wanted to rest– everyone other than Nessie, that was. She was still filled with energy and excitement similar to when they first started the journey. Bubba, on the other hand, had already started missing her old home. Her mind was full of worried thoughts. What if we never find another home? What if we don’t find food? She constantly thought about the old memories she had back home at the reefs. Bubba missed home.

The seawater turned a significantly darker shade, signalling nightfall. “We’re going to be settling down for the night now, everybody.” The leader shouts, as they reach a small forest of kelp. Everyone scattered into smaller groups and unpacked what little they could carry. Bubba, Nessie and a few others that lived near them decided to settle near the far corners. Bubba slid her kelp baggage off of her fin and untied it carefully. “How long do you think it will take until we can find a new home?” One of their neighbours asked. “Oh, I do hope we never do! This adventure has been so exciting.” Nessie exclaimed, still giddy with excitement.. The five proceeded to discuss all of their fantasies and wishes well past midnight. Well, really, it was the four of them. Bubba couldn’t be bothered to think. She removed each layer of wrapping slowly and took out her most prized possession– the small piece of crimson red coral her grandmother collected before they all blanched. It had been passed down to her mother, and now her. Somehow, it had still retained its color even after being seperated from the big branch. Relieved that it was still there, Bubba gave it a small dust with the gentleness one would have when touching pudding. She placed it back and covered it back up with the eversame carefulness as before. She was too tired from the day of travelling, and was worn out by having all of those worrisome thoughts. She kept still and soon fell into a deep slumber.

The crew woke up bright and early the next morning to prepare for another day of exploration. They hastily packed up and headed further North in search of a new home. Nessie was of course, still chattering nonstop, but this time it wasn’t to Bubba. This time, she was talking to the new group of sea creatures she had befriended the night before. They talked like best friends who hadn’t seen each other in years, and found out they shared many common interests.

This cycle of exploring, sleeping, waking up and exploring again repeats itself for what seems like weeks and months. Even Nessie has gotten less excited about this adventure of theirs. They have had some pretty interesting encounters with various types of other sea creatures such a few sea turtles and sea lions. The weird thing was, instead of the water becoming cooler like it ought to be in the North, the temperature felt like it was rising by the day. Some fish questioned if they were going the right way, but the leader of the group just brushed off their questions and assured them they were. Everyone was tired of doing the same routine over and over again, so they tried to make things interesting. Some of the fish made up games and lists of things they heard or read about and tried to look for them. Many new friendships formed during this long and grueling journey. Bubba was still as quiet as ever, with the only thing different about her was that she missed home more each and every day. Every few nights, all the fish would gather together and share stories and play games, and Bubba would swim off into the distance. She liked the peace of being by herself. On one such evening, everybody gathered together in the deep open ocean, with nothing but darkness and the school of fish in sight. By then, everyone had lost count of how many days or weeks they had been travelling, so a debate sparked upon this topic. Bubba zombily nodded her head in agreement when Nessie looked to her for support and said that they had only been travelling for a few days. After the argument started escalating, Bubba slipped away from the group, thinking she had gone unnoticed. However, the fish she had previously sat beside felt movement beside her and realized she had disappeared. She followed Bubba closely and was taken back by surprise when Bubba turned around.

“What are you doing here?” Bubba asked in a serious tone.

“I... I’m here to.. uh-”

“It’s fine, I’ll just leave.” Bubba replied and turned back to the group.

“Wait no- don’t go. I was just curious about... where you were going and why you left!” The fish blurted nervously.

“Oh.” Bubba replied. “ I just wanted to get some peace and quiet to myself. Sometimes it’s very exhausting-” She paused. Why would I need to tell her this? She thought. Everybody seems to like being around others. It seemed like she was the only one who enjoyed being by herself.

“Yes! I totally agree. I find it very calming to be alone sometimes. ” The little fish replied.

Bubba was shocked. This was the first time anyone had understood her. The only other person she’s really talked about all of this to was Nessie, and she thought that Bubba was crazy. Bubba felt a smile form on her face, and received one back from the small grey fish. They sat there in silence and felt the water around them. There was not a hint of awkwardness or discomfort between them. After a while, the bigger one of the two decided to speak up.

“I just remembered, I never caught your name.” Bubba said.

“Penny. I’m Penny. ” The smaller fish replied quietly.

“I’m Bubba.”

“I know.”

Bubba looked at her with surprise and confusion, but then smiled to herself. She had just made her first friend.

ooooooooOOOOOOOoooooooo

Bubba woke up feeling refreshed and calm the next morning. She was in a great mood and greeted all those around her with a cheerful smile. During the journey of the day, Bubba was also feeling very lighthearted, and for the first time in forever, not worrying about anything. Nessie was especially confused and even a little concerned with her sister’s sudden mood change, but decided to shrug it off and enjoy it. Bubba still wasn’t very talkative, but she seemed much more engaged in conversations. After a few hours of travel, the crew was allowed on a tiny break. This time, no big group activities were hosted and only small groups and conversations were formed. Bubba’s first thought was to find her new friend, but Nessie had other plans for her. She dragged Bubba by the fin to her group of friends. All the while Bubba was looking everywhere, desperately trying to get away and find her friend. Nessie proceeded to call attention to all the fish and started to host a quick game of Imaginary. It was a game she and her friends had made up, and the objective was to go in a circle and share your wildest fantasies of the ocean and whoever had the most adventurous or creative one got to judge the next round. Bubba wasn’t necessarily interested in this game, but for Nessie’s sake, she put up with it and stayed the whole three rounds. The game had taken longer than expected, so they lost quite a bit of daytime for exploring. Another fish suggested they should just rest for the night, but the leader insisted that they travel a bit more. With that, everybody packed up again followed the leader. They journeyed for around an hour after nightfall before finally stopping to rest. This time, no conversations, let alone games happened and even the ever so hyper Nessie was worn out. Bubba followed her drained sister towards the corner of a nearby boulder. On the way, she felt another fish’s fin lightly brush by hers and turned to see Penny’s figure fade into the darkness.

The next morning, everyone awoke to the loud shriek of Nessie’s voice.

“Wake up everybody! Wake up! I think we might have found something!”

All the fish shot awake and swam to where Nessie was, and looked in the distance. Because they had travelled so late into the night without light, they missed the huge reef of corals that lay just a mile or two in front of them. Everyone swiftly packed up and swam towards the reef.

On the way, Nessie was exhilarated and could not contain her happiness. She was chattering even more than normal and her friends had to keep giving her little pushes, signalling her to walk faster when she started slowing down because she was talking so much. Bubba was feeling a mixed feeling excitement and worry, which was a feeling she had not felt in a long time. She and Penny swam side by side, occasionally having some small talk regarding the newly discovered reef. They were both so immersed in their own thoughts and the possibilities that they were too busy to talk or really do anything. As they approached the reef, they saw that there were no other inhabitants there. There were also a few patches of some green foamy stuff covering some of the corals, but everyone was too overjoyed to either notice or question it.

“Well, folks. I see this long journey and adventure of ours has finally come to an end. This calls for a great big celebration!” The leader boomed. Everyone cheered and some even started to cry uncontrollably. Bubba still could not really believe that they had found another coral reef- one that was still colorful that was. While everyone celebrated and began claiming their place of abode, Bubba once again swerved away from the crowd and went to find a branch of crimson red coral. She found one not too far away from where she had been earlier, and began to unpack. She took out her small branch of coral, gave it a quick dusting, and placed it beside the giant branch. The colors still were not matched perfectly, but this branch of coral was definitely a crimson red, not a pinkish velvet like the one she lived in before. She left her miniature branch there and headed out to find the others.

That evening, everyone gathered about and celebrated. They danced and sang and did whatever it was that fish do to celebrate. They also had a huge feast of planktons that a group had managed to gather just for this event. Halfway through the celebration, Bubba noticed that Penny wasn’t there. She said her goodbyes to the group of fish she had been talking with, and headed off to find Penny. Sure enough, she had been farther out from the group, taking in the serene ocean waters. Bubba quietly swam up to her and blew a bubble. “I knew you would be somewhere out here.” She said. “Just enjoying some freedom by myself.” Penny replied. “Doesn’t it feel weird knowing that we’ve finally found a place to settle after all these weeks?” Bubba asked. Penny looked at her and made a face. “I guess, but for some reason, I don’t think this is the end.” “What do you mean? Are we going to have to move again?” Bubba asked worriedly. “I’m not sure, could just be my imagination.” Penny finished and silence fell. After a while, Bubba opened her mouth to say something, but heard the fast movement of a fish approaching behind her. “There you are! I was looking all over for you.” Nessie exclaimed, breaking the silence. “Oh and Penny! Hey there.” Before Penny had time to respond, Nessie’s loud voice could be heard again. “Let’s go now, the party’s over.” Nessie once again dragged Bubba away by her fin. “Have you found a desirable branch?” She asked her sister. “Yeah. The crimson one.” Bubba replied. “Alright lead the way then!” Nessie replied.

The celebrations quickly reached an end and everyone adjusted to the new lifestyle. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and it was like they had been living there all along. Bubba was idle and left to herself most of the time, and the only time she went outside was to hunt for food and on certain nights to go meet with Penny. On the few occasions she did go out though, she observed the green foamy thing covering the corals had started growing at an alarming rate. The temperature had also seemed to increase. Bubba wasn’t sure what or why this was happening, but this reminded her of how Penny had said that this might not be the end.

Sure enough, it wasn’t. The green foamy stuff mentioned earlier was algae. The reason why it was so foamy was because it had turned into harmful algal blooms, which occur when algae start growing at an overwhelming speed and produce harmful toxins that could kill fish, plants and even humans. In Bubba’s case, they had found a coral reef which had been taken over by such algal blooms. One of the main causes of these harmful algal blooms is the water warming, which is caused by global warming. Over time, the toxins can clog a fish’s gills and with the warming water making their immune system weaker, they become vulnerable to diseases and parasites. These toxins also make it so that the diseases can be more infectious amongst other fish and sea creatures. We can only hope that it ends well for Bubba and her crew.