The Blue Island
This publication has been edited by DG Environment and is published in all the official languages of the European Union.
The publication is also available at the DG Environment web site for Young People and Environment : http ://europa.eu/comm/environment/youth/index_en.html
Script : Benoît CoppéeIllustrations : Nicolas Viot
Technical production : European Service Network
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Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007
ISBN 978-92-79-05318-4
© European Communities, 2007
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
From the top of her favourite rock, Lila the fox gazed at the ocean. A warm breeze ruffled her fur. “How beautiful the sea is !” she said to herself as she watched the green waves lapping on the white beach, with the little fishing harbour in the distance. Every day here on Blue Island was absolute bliss ! But suddenly, from the harbour, came the sound of shouting. Lila pricked up her ears and twitched her whiskers.
- “Cast off ! Quickly !” yelled Babou, captain of the coastguards.
- “What’s going on ?” Tom asked Lenny the coral fisherman.
- “Some coral thieves have been spotted near Turtle Island !” said Lenny, looking furious. “Those people have no respect for Nature ! They’re robbing the ocean ! I hope the coastguards will catch them !”
- “Captain, the propeller !” shouted one of the guards.
- “What about it ?”
- “It’s got tangled in a fishing net ! We can’t start the boat !”
- “Well untangle it then !” ordered Babou.
- “OK, but it’ll take some time” said another coastguard.
Babou hurried over to speak to Lenny.
- “Lenny, I need your boat ! My men will join us as soon as possible. Cast off immediately !”
The Cap Totu sped across the surface of the sea. On board were Captain Babou, Tom and Lenny – who was steering the boat.
- “Those thieves make me so angry !” Lenny was shouting. “If they could they would raid every single reef and drive the corals to extinction !”
Everyone on board the Cap Totu was feeling tense. Suddenly, as the boat rounded the corner of a creek, Tom spotted Lila.
- “Stop, Lenny ! I want Lila to come with us !” he begged. Lenny steered the Cap Totu close to the black rock and Lila leaped on board.
- “Right, let’s go !” said Babou. “Every second counts ! We’ve got to catch these criminals. They take rare and beautiful creatures from the sea and sell them to rich collectors in faraway countries. They’ve got to be stopped !”
- “That’s where they are” said Lenny, scowling, as Turtle island came into sight. Then he turned to Tom.
- “You see, Tom, there are rules saying what fishermen are allowed to catch in these waters. Fishermen who have a licence can take pieces of coral from the reef as long as they keep to the rules. But the thieves just ignore the rules ! They even catch animals that are in danger of becoming extinct ! Like rare turtles...”
Tom suddenly shouted and pointed.
- “Look ! Over there ! A boat and two marker buoys. It must be the thieves !”
- “You’re right, Tom. There are two of them” said Babou. “We’ll catch them when they come back up to the surface”.
As Lenny steered the Cap Totu towards the thieves’ boat, Tom looked down into the clear water and saw, swimming beneath the boat, several huge turtles.
- “Wow ! I’ve never seen turtles so close up !” he said to Lenny.
- “Here’s where you’ll find the most beautiful ones” said Lenny. “That’s why it’s called Turtle Island”.
- “The most beautiful turtles are the ones in greatest danger !” added Captain Babou. “If those criminals so much as lay a finger on a turtle shell they won’t get away with it ! I’ll see to that !”
The Cap Totu came alongside the thieves’ boat and Captain Babou jumped on board. Tom followed him. The boat was already loaded with boxes full of coral. Babou was furious !
Then he spotted the thieves. “There they are !” he said. “They’ve surfaced. Two of them, just as we suspected”.
- “And here comes the coastguards’ boat !” added Tom. “They managed to untangle the propeller.”
Standing tall and proud, Capitain Babou called out : - “Got you ! This is the Captain of the Coastguards speaking. You are under arrest and your boat is confiscated. Swim ashore and my men will pick you up !”
Tom et Lenny tied the thieves’ boat to the Cap Totu.
The thieves had to swim to Turtle Island. Back in Lenny’s boat Tom watched them angrily as they swam ashore.
- “I’m glad the coastguards are watching over the treasures of the sea” he said.
Under the water, a group of turtles was swimming slowly around the Cap Totu.
- “Just look at that !” murmured Lenny. “It’s almost as if they were trying to thank us !”
- “They might be” answered Babou. “After all, the coastguards are protecting them. Turtles are getting so rare that no-one is allowed to catch them. They can live undisturbed in the waters around Turtle Island”.
Lenny picked up a piece of the stolen coral.
- “What a waste !” he said. “They haven’t even bothered to collect the coral carefully. Look : it’s broken here”.
A short distance away, on Turtle Island, the coastguards were arresting the thieves.
- “Well, that’s put a stop to their little game” said Babou, smiling with satisfaction.
- “Well done for spotting their boat, Tom” said Lenny. “I’d like to give you a little reward.
- “What do you mean ?” asked Tom.
- “A trip to the sea bed, my lad ! You’ll love it ! Come on : I’ll show you how to dive.”
Lenny found some fins and a mask, and Tom put them on. What a day this was turning into !
- “You’re lucky, Tom” said Babou. “You’ll get to see the rare and beautiful coral that the thieves wanted to steal. Lenny collects small amounts every month. That’s his job. He sells the coral to craftsmen on Blue Island who make jewelry from it”.
- “He’s allowed to do that ?” asked Tom.
- “Yes” said Babou. “Coral is a natural resource and people are allowed to use it. But there are strict rules and the coral fishermen must have a licence”.
Tom dived – staying close to Lenny and carefully following his instructions. Through his mask Tom looked with amazement at the wonders of this underwater world. It was the loveliest sight he had ever seen !
-
“How beautiful the sea is !” he thought to himself.
“Infinitely beautiful”.
Back on board the Cap Totu, Tom sat next to Lila, feeling the warm wind blowing through his hair. Lenny was towing the thieves’ boat and the sun was slowly sinking towards the sea. At the back of the coastguards’ speedboat, the two coral thieves looked thoroughly miserable. They knew what to expect on Blue Island ! As the boats came into the harbour, an extraordinary sight greeted them.
- “Look, Lenny !” shouted Tom. “Look at all those people ! Everyone from the village must be there !”
Lenny laughed.
- “Of course they are ! They’ve been watching us through their binoculars, and you can be sure of getting a hero’s welcome !”
As the boats arrived all the village people cheered and clapped for Tom, Lila, Lenny and Babou. Lenny wore a tough expression but you could tell he was fighting back tears of joy. Tom felt very proud. As for Lila, she was exhausted and just lay asleep on Tom’s knees.
For days afterwards, wherever Tom and Lila went on Blue Island, people came up to congratulate them. On the last day of the holidays, a girl from the village came up to Tom.
- “My name’s Fleur” she said, rather shyly. “I know you’ve got to leave Blue Island soon. But before you go I want to give you a present”. She took a small box from her pocket and gave it to Tom. When he opened it he could hardly believe his eyes.
- “A coral necklace ! Like the ones the guys wear when they’re surfing ! Wow ! It’s brilliant !”
- “My dad made it from the coral that Lenny collects” said Fleur, smiling. “To take it back to your country you need a special paper they call a CITES certificate. Here it is. They’ll ask you for it at the airport”.
Tom thought for a moment.
- “So... This certificate proves the coral was collected legally, is that it ? I see. I’ll take great care of it ! Thank you very very much !” And he gave Fleur a hug. Just then, Lenny arrived.
- “It’s time to pack your bags, Tom. Tomorrow you’re going home”.
The next day, Lenny drove Tom and Lila to the airport. They were all sad to say goodbye. Tom showed his CITES certificate to a customs officer.
- “Fine : everything’s in order” smiled the officer. “And that’s a really cool necklace. Enjoy wearing it !”
- “Hang on !” said another customs man. “I know you ! You’re Tom ! You helped catch those coral thieves ! I saw your picture in the newspaper ! Where’s your friend the fox ?”
Tom looked around. Lila was standing a little way off, sniffing at a bag that a traveller had put down near the check-in desk. She looked worried, and from her movements Tom could tell she wanted him to come and help.
- “She’s over there” said Tom to the customs officials. “And if I were you I would check that bag !”
The officers went to the check-in desk and one of them opened the suspicious bag.
- “A turtle shell !” he exclaimed. “Excuse me sir, but you cannot take a shell like this out of the country. It is completely illegal ! I shall have to inform the authorities. Come with me, please !”
- “Why are so many people trying to rob the planet ?” thought Tom, sadly.
The plane taking Tom and Lila home to Merlin City was turning in a wide circle as it left Blue Island.
- “Look, Lila : that’s Turtle Island down there ! Doesn’t it look small !”
Lila stared down at the tiny white dot in the wide blue ocean. Tom stroked the coral necklace that Fleur had given to him.
- “Isn’t life beautiful !” he whispered into Lila’s ear. Down below, near the tiny white dot, three turtles were playing in the clear ocean water. And somewhere on Blue Island a girl looked up at the plane in the sky and waved – a long, loving wave goodbye.
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European Commission
The Blue Island
Luxembourg : Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
2007 – 20 pp. – 16.2 x 22.9 cm
ISBN 978-92-79-05318-4
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