JUNE 2021
ocean
Table of Contents Reef Revolution
Words and Illustration by Rachel Middleton
Ocean Mysticism
Words and Illustration by Indigo Branscombe
Wonderful Jellies Illustration by Jenni Tilson
Sailing into the Storm Illustration by Rachel Middleton
Spinner Dolphins
Illustration by Amy Rose Perkins
Cover and Endpapers: Margarita Louka Editor: Anna Stone
By: Rachel Middleton
Reef Revolution
As many of us are now aware of the dramatic impact that global warming is having on our oceans, there is no doubt that we all feel devastated by the speed at which so much of the ocean’s coral reefs and wildlife have been stripped away. The colourful reefs that we are so accustomed to seeing in wildlife documentaries and on diving trips are losing their vibrancy and beautiful structures. Corals get their colourful appearance through a mutualistic relationship with algae. They help each other survive through the coral giving the algae a protected structure to grow and compounds for photosynthesis. The algae produces oxygen, food, and helps the coral remove waste. But when the water is too warm, corals will expel the algae from its structure, causing the coral to turn completely white, a process known as coral bleaching. This has made the diverse, multicoloured reefs that we have taken for granted turn into white and dulled ocean floors. As the corals become bleached and vulnerable, they will no longer be able to sustain the ecosystems around them, causing other organisms and fish to struggle to survive. The way that it will become habitable again is if the water temperatures return to a more normal
Illustration By: Rachel Middleton
temperature. Oxygen-producing organisms are a vital part of the oceans way of regulating it’s temperatures, by absorbing vast amounts of CO2. This is why coral reefs and algae are so important in combating the changing temperatures. So in order to re-build the reefs, scientists have already been re-growing coral in laboratories around the world, however the process is very slow. It would normally take 25 to 75 years for coral to reach a reproductive stage. In 2018, at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, Dr David Vaughan discovered through a mishap, a way to grow coral 40 times faster than it currently does in the wild. By trying to remove some coral from the bottom of a tank, he accidentally broke the coral into a dozen pieces, but to his surprise those pieces regrew to the same size in a matter of weeks! This made for a very exciting breakthrough as it means that now the re-distribution of coral can happen much faster, and at a more promising capacity! Now scientists and conservationists will be planting 100,000 pieces of coral around the reefs in Florida and millions more pieces of coral in the years to come. Although we must still be very concerned about the current state of the reefs and the ecosystems that rely on them, there is a lot of hope from this new technique. There is still a chance that we can see the reefs being restored to their vibrant glory!
By: Indigo Branscombe
Ocean Mysticism
Many of us know of the ocean as a place of mystery. From popular fiction we are all mostly aware of creatures such as krakens, a giant octopus capable of swallowing a ship whole, to mermaids or sirens, which lure unsuspecting sailors to watery graves. But the sea is filled with rich folklore beyond that. The Umi-bōzu is a mythical monster from Japan. It hides its appearance under the waves, only pushing it’s dark head above the water to attempt to speak to sailors. However if any crew mate on the ship speaks to the Umibōzu the boat will be capsized and sunk by the creature.
to eight meters long. It also harbours ancient but living fossils such as the Coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct for 66 million years before it was rediscovered by chance in the 1900s. With the vast depths of the ocean still yet to be fully explored we still have many mysteries to uncover.
For the children of the Inuit people the Qalupalik is a frightening creature. They are told it will lure them to water or thin ice and steal them away into the sea. The Inuit stories describe Qalupalik as having a human-like appearance but often with grey or scaly skin and long, claw-like fingernails. Closer to home, for myself at least, in Scotland we find Selkies. These shape-shifting creatures take the form of a seal in the water, but shed their seal skins to become human on land. The human form is said to be deeply beautiful and enchanting, tempting the men of folklore to steal away a selkie woman’s skin to keep her as his bride. However such unions always seem bound for tragedy as the selkie women hear the call of the sea each night and escape their human family to return to it. The ocean lends itself to the development of these tales. Deep sea creatures caught by fishermen often resemble sea monsters, such as the serpent-like Oarfish which can grow up
Illustration By: Indigo Branscombe
Wonderful Jellies Illustration By: Jenni Tilson
Sailing into the Storm Illustration By: Rachel Middleton
Spinner Dolphins Illustration By: Amy Rose Perkins
Copyright © 2021 by Margarita Louka, Rachel Middleton, Indigo Branscombe, Amy Rose Perkins, Jenni Tilson, and Anna Stone. All rights reserved. This publication or any portion thereof may not be reproduced, copied, reprinted, reworked, redistributed, or used in any manner whatsoever without the explicit written permission of the copyright holders.