The Sealump

This guest entry was written and illustrated by Troll Man

Bobbing along in great undersea herds are one of the newest animal species to take the plunge into the briny depths, the second lineage of truly marine tentacled birds, distant relatives of the sea mittens, but its closer relatives are still roaming in great herds across the frostbitten lands. Now, great herds of trunkos roam the shallow seas along the coastal rim, escaping from the ice-scarred continent to the lush underwater eden just beyond the shore. As the chill of the advancing glaciers destroyed more of the wetland, forest, and fluvial habitats of the inland ecosystems, pushing their populations south towards the coast, more and more of the ancestral boglumps retreated to the oceans, where food was found in endless abundance and easily obtainable, and the climate remained tolerably mild year-round. Kelp forests, sea bamboo meadows, and sandy underwater prairies of seagrass as far as the eye can see, and more importantly, as the mouth can eat. Already accustomed to occasional ventures into saltwater, over thousands of generations, a new subspecies emerged which was now primarily marine, rarely venturing beyond the shoreline. So were born the first true sea-dwelling trunkos as the sealumps, now by the far the most populous subspecies of boglump and likely the most wide-ranging variety of trunko during the ocean age. Of course, with a new habitat, there come new challenges, and although physically extremely similar to its inland relative, numerous slight modifications, both morphological and behavioural have occurred over many millennia as modifications to better suit life at sea.

First and foremost is the development of salt glands, a necessity for marine birds, to process the excess sodium the animals regularly ingest while feeding. Sealumps are capable of drinking seawater with no ill effects, but generally get most of the liquid they require from their diet of seagrasses and kelp. The bigger challenge the sealumps face is from the greater multitude of oceanic predators and competition. In inland ecosystems, their large size protects them from most predators, with the exception of the largest bumblebears and pack-hunting circuagodogs, little poses a threat to a healthy adult. In the sea, they now face a greater variety of predators, ranging from large predatory jetguppies, roving super-colonies of sea shoggoths, carnivorous dolfinches, and others, and now they are no longer close to being among the largest animals of their ecosystem. However, sealumps are gradually closing this gap, as adults now average thirty-percent heavier in mass than the nominate subspecies (M. ruforhinus ruforhinus), nearing four-hundred kilograms in weight, as the greater open area permits unrestricted growth and the larger they grow, the fewer predators can threaten them. Herds often get much larger, with groups hundreds strong not unheard of, providing additional protection against marine predators. With younger, more vulnerable animals nestled near the centre, the adults present a nearly impenetrable wall of flesh on all sides.

While larger herds provide greater protection, it makes them highly nomadic to avoid overgrazing, as hundreds of the animals consuming vegetation together can quickly deplete a regional ecosystem if the vegetation is not given time to regrow. A herd of sealumps grazing nonstop throughout the day can devour literal tons of plant matter, trimming down the fertile meadows like an army of lawnmowers. Fortunately most undersea flora grows exceptionally quickly, with optimal growing conditions year-round and nearly the entirety of the Icebox Seaway carpeted in greenery, there will always be some new kelp forest or sea bamboo meadow to feed from somewhere, allowing ravaged feeding grounds more than enough to recover. Their activities inevitably make sealumps a keystone species, with shoals of fish feeding off their waste, small predators trailing behind to feed on benthic creatures disturbed by their movements, large predators being kept well-fed on stragglers, and their movements churning the waters to encourage new plant growth in their wake.

This nomadic lifestyle has resulted in the sealumps ranging far and wide across the Icebox Seaway, from the Fringes to the Meridians, and almost nearing the coast of Serinaustra to the south. Populations of sealumps can be found nesting on almost every major island, crowding like elephant seals on the shores. Sealumps often spend days, sometimes even weeks, foraging at sea, but still return to the relative safety of the land to rest and breed, and some are swept towards foreign lands incidentally in their travels. Colonies of smaller seabirds and aquatic molodonts often nestle themselves near colonies of sealumps, which provide some degree of protection from most land predators. With larger and more webbed feet than its more terrestrial relatives, it is somewhat more cumbersome on land and rarely ventures far inland. Infants are mobile and capable of swimming only a day or two after hatching, although it takes a bit longer for them to learn to make controlled dives and sustained migrations. For the first few weeks after hatching, parents will stay with their young in the tidal shallows to prepare them for a life spent foraging in the open ocean.

Unlike the inland boglumps, sealumps are accomplished long-distance swimmers and divers, capable of holding in its breath for up to twelve minutes at a time foraging near the seabed and can now even sleep in the water. Greater cranial kinesis granted by their fleshy faces allows them to process the aquatic vegetation more efficiently than any of the aquatic plant-eating invertebrates, fish, or dolfinches they coexist with, while their flexible facial tentacles can quickly uproot plants to consume the more nutritious underground rhizomes, allowing their herds to dominate the marine meadows in great numbers. They suffer greater mortality from large marine predators than boglumps, but living in such great numbers affords them relative safety as healthy adults, as does foraging primarily in shallower or more vegetation-choked waters where most large predators cannot easily traverse. Most losses occur with injured or yearling sealumps during migrations in deeper waters between feeding pastures. Young sealumps can ride on the backs of the adults during such migrations when they are not strong enough to keep pace with the adults. With lack of seasonal variation and ever plentiful food supplies, sealumps breed year-round, making up for greater mortality rates, and they are among the most populous grazer on the planet during the ocean age. Even as the world is being gradually smothered beneath a blanket of ice, the ever adaptable trunkos continue to evolve and thrive into the end of Serina's habitable cycle.