Oceania: The Underwater City Eliza Taye (classic books for 12 year olds .TXT) 📖

first day we’d met. Passing by my backpack, I slung it onto my left shoulder when something caught my eye. It resembled the little anemone Dylan had once shown me in the tidepool, but this one was much larger. The innermost ring of the anemone was a very rich aqua-green color that nearly mesmerized me as I gazed at it. The outside tendrils were of a slightly lighter green with reddish-purple tips. It definitely was the most beautiful anemone I’d ever seen.

Quickly, I turned the pages of the book to search for anemones. It took me a lot longer than I had wished, but I was able to find the section on sea anemones. Flipping through the pages, I discovered this particular anemone was called starburst anemone, or as scientists referred to it—Anthopleura sola. Reading further, I learned that what I called the innermost ring was properly called the oral disk. The “tendrils” were actually feeding arms they used to catch food particles in the water as it floated by. I read on until I had completed the entire section on the starburst anemone.

Closing the book, I moved on to the tidepools and spent the next several hours identifying almost every creature I saw there. I tried my best to learn and memorize both the common and scientific names of the animals. One of the oddest species I found was a gooseneck barnacle, or Pollicipes polymerus, which had the weirdest shape I’d ever seen for a barnacle. It had a long neck like a goose, which I guess is what gave it its common name. With the cream-colored white top, it resembled a mushroom more than something that belonged near the sea. The mussels clinging basically to every rock on this beach were California mussel, or Mytilus californianus.

Before I knew it, the sun drifted low on the horizon and I’d have to return home soon. Having enough of looking up invertebrates and running out of new ones to identify, I decided to cool off in the cold waters of the Pacific. Leaning to the left and allowing my backpack to slide off my shoulder, I set it on the ground. Unzipping the rear compartment, I slid the library book back into its place. Finding a large rock, I rested it on top where the incoming tide couldn’t take it out to sea.

Turning toward the ocean, I scrambled across the rocks down to the waves, my footprints leaving deep indentations as I pounded the sand to reach the sea. Cool splashes of glorious water collided with my overheated skin when I crashed into the surf. Diving into the waves, I let the cold, silkiness of the water flow over my entire body. It felt so good that I began to wonder how I could have stayed on land for so long.

As I had many times before, I swam far beyond the breakers where the sea was calmer and enjoyed the feeling of being immersed in the ocean with no ground at my feet.

Repeatedly, I dove underwater and swam with the fish, gazing up through the blue to the white light of the sun shining down. Each time I had to return to the surface for a breath was a wasted moment. All I wished was to stay beneath the waves for as long as possible.

Eventually needing a break, I treaded water for a while, watching the sun continue to make its way toward the horizon. Focused on the sun and its retreating rays, I was brought back to the sea when I felt a bump on my leg. Startled, for a second, I feared a shark had just attacked me. Twisting around, I vigilantly searched everywhere for the telltale dorsal fin, as I reached down to check my calf to see if a chunk of it was missing. My hand felt only the smooth skin of my leg and I let out a sigh of relief. Then, the next thing I knew, Jagger popped up in front of me and spoke in the squeaky voice of a dolphin.

“Jagger, what are you doing this close to shore?” I laughed and reached out to touch his rubbery skin.

Jagger kept swimming around me and nudging me playfully. Like before, I grabbed onto his dorsal fin and he dove beneath the waves. Holding on tight, he towed me along at a fast pace, the water streaming past me. I held on until my lungs began to burn, released my grip, and swam the few feet to the surface.

Suddenly, I became aware the sun was setting, but I reasoned that playing with a dolphin was much more fun and rewarding than getting home on time. Gran would just have to wait and she could scold me as much as she wished. Right now, I was having the time of my life.

Diving back down, Jagger was waiting for me and I grasped his dorsal fin once again. Gently, he moved beyond my reach and shook his head once. Confused, I stared at him. Talking back to me in a voice only a dolphin could recognize, I watched his movement to decide what he wanted. Swimming away a few feet, he’d return to me and speak once again. Thinking that maybe he wanted me to follow him, I did so. Jagger moved slowly, keeping pace with me as I followed him through the water.

It wasn’t long before I encountered his pod. Instantly, I was surrounded by over ten dolphins all wanting to play and inspect me. Nudges and squeaks came from every direction. I reached out in opposite directions with each hand, touching two different dolphins. I don’t know if it was my imagination or not, but they seemed to lean in at my touch. Grinning, I rubbed their bellies and scratched underneath the chin of one of them that kept looking like he was going to head-butt me. After that, he seemed satisfied and was