Twin Cat Readers
The Kelp Forests of
Katar
Kelp
Forests
Of
Katar
Story O Williams
Edited Y Patterson
Kelp Forests of Katar
Hi my name is Thorn. Thorn Vialead.
I was born on the Planet Katar, known as the
Water World. We live in great domed cities on
the seabed and farmed the reefs that were
slowly being built up by the volcanic activity in
the earth’s crust.
The world transformers have planted a timer in
the planet’s core and every hundred cycles an
immense sea quake will convulse the sea crust
and push tips of the undersea mountains nearer
to the surface.
Of course it was usually death for anyone
caught outside the sealed city bubbles when
quakes went off, but some of the richest
inhabitants had some private bubble shelters
while we ordinary folk were shoved into great
dormitories and sleep gassed for the duration
of the quake years.
1
When we woke up, usually, the world and the
seas were transformed. It meant an all new
cycle of exploration and learning to live with the
aftermath of the quakes.
My parents had lived through the last quake
which had produced the rich kelp forests of
Katar and the needle spires that were breaking
into the world of atmosphere above.
It was hoped that this quake would form stable
land to release the plants and seeds and
animals held in status for just such an occasion.
The Rumble bomb was due to start next cycle
so all our lessons were geared to what life forms
were to be released into the new reefs that
would soon be formed. Hopefully...........
2
Snorkling and flippers
Tech can be pretty punishing
at time.
The teachers are cramming our
heads full of the new life forms
soon to be released.
Like where we are likely to
find them, and what they are
likely to eat.
Which ones are dangerous or
poisonous and which ones do
we need to harvest for food ?
But we don’t know if they have
mutated or been transformed
by the long star trip out.
So they warn us there
may well be surprises.
The Explorer teams have found many strange
creatures in the deeps. Like the ‘angels’. These
strange floating creatures have wings at least
two metres across.
3
They have been known to escort lost travelers
back up to the city bubbles. But they do not
come from old Ert, our ancient homeland ...and
there was nothing in the seas when the first
ships arrived. No one knew much about them.
Or where they have come from.
I’ll have to leave this diary now. The sirens
have sounded for shut down.
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The next day Thorn was called in for a series
of medical examinations and psycho testing for
Explorer status.
4
On the very first training dive we
ask our trainees to "lose" their
regulators behind their backs and
control their breathing while they
relocate them. Why not KISS?
Keep It Simple, Stupid!
If they lose the reg, swap onto
another working regulator so they
have time to solve the problem.
In a hostile environment, we need
all the help and simplicity we can
get, so it makes sense... doesn't
it?
Surviving Underwater
I want to join the Explorer Team when I leave
school campus. The reefs will be forming and
all new life released into the seas, we’ll have
never seen as it needs shallow water.
The last shipload of colonists bought people
who hope to settle on the islands that will form
in the atmosphere. Brr... All that empty space
above your head and the sun burning down.
No thanks ! Gives me caul skin thinking about it.
I am taking lessons in the simulator and have all
the sleep tapes read for when I enter the sleep
dome.
I hope I can join the Explorer Team my friend
Rick is in. Last cycle he ran into an area of hot
water whirls where a fissure
had broken open from the
seabed.
It had scalded two of his
team to death so they are
looking for recruits.
5
They learned about the angels and the un
explained happenings around the base.
There was the attack in the reed beds of a horde
of silver fish.
Something from the depths had scared them
into the cultivated seaweed plantations.
Next Harnold invited him to go skate hunting in
the kelp forests, a favourite pastime for most of
the early settlers . Then another cycle was
finished.
All too soon the countdown to sleep was posted.
Sarnel and Barrn, Thorne’s two best friends
accompanied him to the long Dorms. They
shook hands solemnly and the three young
people were soon in hyper sleep.
6
Monsters from the deep.
Frilled Shark. Humans rarely
encounter frilled sharks, which prefer
to remain in the oceans' depths, up
to 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below
the surface.
Giant Spider Crab.
Atlantic Wolffish Pair.
Fangtooth Fish.
Six-Gill Shark.
Giant Tube Worms.
Vampire Squid.
Chapter Two
Sea Quakes
Thorn woke slowly. Sirens were sounding,
something was wrong ! He looked across at the
other sleep capsules. Everyone appeared to be
sound asleep. Why was he awake?
Treasure and ballast from the sea.
He got up checked his survival gear and opened
the partition door. All was quiet he went along to
where the supervisors should have been but no
one was at the station although he saw the
warning board was ablaze with red lights
flashing.
Then he noticed that water
was pouring down the
corridor.
The hull of the city must
have been breached!
7
All electrical engineers and other specialists
would have awoken to deal with the emergency,
so why had he been awakened ?
Only a specialist could stop the sleep gas and
interrupt anyone’s cycle.
A masked head tapped on the glass partition
and motioned to him to go outside the dome
using the emergency exit.
It was Rick of the explorer team.
He went into the water well and slipped on the
deep sea flippers and air tanks, then flipped out
to join his friend.
8
Taken from the deep.
Uses of Seaweed
Seaweeds area food source for
humans especially in East Asia, it is
most commonly associated with
Japanese food. Seaweeds also are
used to make a number of food
additives which is used in cooking
and baking as a vegetarian
alternative to gelatine.
Many seaweeds are used as
medicine. Alginates are used in
wound dressings.
Seaweeds are ingredients in toothpaste, and cosmetics.
Producing his computer screen , Rick flipped it
open and wrote the message “ Need repairs.
Urgent. Get cold fire gun and follow.”
He flipped the ok and followed his friend. There
were at least ten men handling the cold guns
and trying to patch the dome crack as quickly as
possible.
He hefted a cold gun and joined his
friend squirting the glue that sets
immediately in the water. Thorn’s
arms ached and his head pounded.
He was getting pretty tired, and he’d
done hours in the training gym to
build up muscle tone.
But after four cycles of
breather time he was
ordered to the repair
dock for R & R.
Rick joined him.
9
“Congratulations on joining the Explorers
Thorne.” said Rick handing him a mug of nutro
stim.
“This was a real emergency so we had to wake
even you young ones. Now get some kip . I
think we have everything under control now and
it’s only patching to do.”
Thorne pealed off the flippers and wet suit,
showered and oiled his skin. The bed looked
very good. “What caused it ?” he asked.
10
Blue-green algae are not marine algae. They are in
a group called cyanobacteria and are more closely
related to bacteria.
Some cyanobacteria form brown, green, red or
purple tufts on coral reefs.
To survive seaweeds need salty or brackish water,
sunlight and a surface to attach themselves to.
Because of these factors they are generally found
in the littoral zone (this includes the intertidal zone
but generally extends out much further). They are
usually found on rocky rather than on sand or
shingle shores.
Seaweeds are a food source for marine animals
such as sea urchins and fishes, and are the base
of some marine food webs. They also provide shelter and a home for numerous fishes, invertebrates,
birds and mammals.
“The last rumble bomb started a chain of
volcanic explosions. For the last two seasons
while you’ve been a sleeping beauty, a whole
new world has been forming.
Reefs galore, and some islands at last.
The scientists have released a lot of life into the
oceans. Watch out for some big ones. You have
finished your simulator training ?”
‘Yes. Last week ...well it was last week to me.”
he yawned.
“Get some sleep Thorne. That’s an order.” said
Rick. “I’ll fill out the paper work.”
Thorne dimly remembered rolling into an empty
bunk. Then....
Blackness.....
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11
He awoke to chaos and a rolling, and a feeling of
increased depth. The emergency lights were on.
A klaxon was blaring the alarm. The three other
men were fumbling for deep sea gear.
Rick handed him his equipment. “Quickly” he
said.
“What’s up ?”
“ANOTHER QUAKE. We’ve broken our
moorings. We are in the Markham Trench .”
Thorne shivered. The Markham was unexplored
deep.
He pulled on his survival gear, checked his
breathers. both the tank and the chemical gills.
Just like training. He was ready.
12
Kelp grows in "underwater forests"
(kelp forests) in shallow oceans, and is
thought to have appeared in the Miocene, 23
to 5 million years ago.
Seaweed is a very, very broad term that is
used to describe the many marine plants and
algae that live in the world's waters.
Seaweeds range in size from the microscopic
to the massive, while kelp are so large and
complex that they form massive underwater
forests.
At least the other team members were there to
help him.
“Out you go youngster, and head for the surface.
You have an indicator and the other teams will
pick you up. Now go ! “
Thorne dived into the well and entered darkness.
His lamp shone a strong beam through the darkness but there seemed to be nothing to be seen
in it’s beam. He looked to the left and saw the
other team members flipping above him.
He followed.
Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral
retrieval process that takes place on the ocean
floor.
Ocean mining sites are usually around large
areas of polymetallic nodules or active and
extinct hydrothermal vents at about 1,400 –
3,700 m below the ocean's surface.
Then suddenly ‘an angel of the deep’ was beside
him. It’s huge fins enveloped him and he was
rushed upward faster than his feeble flippers
could do.
Below him there was a dull
thump of an explosion as
the Rescue bell they had
been in imploded in the
deeps. He was surrounded
by a green forest of kelp
that was waving in the waves.
13
The angel unfolded its fins and he latched
himself near the root of a giant kelp. The roots
clasped the hard rocky cliff that lead up and up.
The kelp helped shield him from the fury of the
waves above him. The noise of krill filled his
ears. His beeper sent out his individual code to
the tracers. He was safe here in the Kelp forest
of Katar.
He saw many small fish darting to and fro and at
one stage a huge shadow sailed over the kelp.
He thought it was some sort of shark or dolphin
or Orca, but he wasn’t sure.
New Life indeed ! It would be a whole new world
now to the one he had known. He looked at his
air gauge. Half full !
If the rescue craft didn’t arrive he would have to
head for the surface. No unthinkable ! To go up
to the sky ? No. He waited to be rescued.
14
Underwater caves and canyons.
CAVE VRELO - World deepest underwater cave
Located on the right bank of the Treska River, the
cave was listed as one of the top 77 natural sites
in the world in the New7Wonders of Nature
project.
Vrelo Cave has many stalactites including a large
one in the middle of the cave is known as the
"Pine Cone" due to its shape. There are two lakes
at the end of the cave, with one larger than the
other. The smaller lake is 8 metres (26.2 feet) at
its longest length and 15 metres (49.2 feet) in
depth at its deepest .
Islands
An artificial island or man-made island is an
island that has been constructed by people
rather than formed by natural means.
Artificial islands may vary in size from small
islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar
of a building or structure, to those that support
entire communities and cities.
Early artificial islands included floating
structures in still waters, or wooden or
megalithic structures erected in shallow waters.
But soon the tank registered nearly empty so he
switched to his gills and headed upward to the
waves and the fury of the land above.
Once he cleared the depths of the kelp forest he
was faced with a wall of rock and corals and
there were anemones and other shallow life already coating the rocks with colour. He saw a
cavern entrance and headed for that.
He surfaced inside a cavern sufficiently dark for
him to feel safe. A shallow white coral sand
beach shelved off to the back of the cavern. He
headed for that and pulled himself ashore.
Gravity made him sink exhausted onto the sand.
15
He was awakened from a heavy sleep by a
small crab running over his hand. He looked at
it in wonder. New life forms indeed and he was
the first to see them.
The ocean is less explored than the moon.
What shall we find in our oceans?
Then he saw something unbelievable. A girl with
a fishes tail and scales over her body in delicate
patterns was watching him from weed covered
rocks. She gave a small oh ! When she saw
that he had awakened, and with a splash dived
into the water and disappeared from sight.
Australian Grayling.
Australian Smelt.
Climbing galaxias.
Common Galaxias.
Eastern Freshwater Cod.
Eel-tailed Catfish.
Estuary perch.
Flathead galaxias.
16
Surely his recent experiences had driven him
insane. It couldn’t have been a mermaid that he
saw, could it ? There was no such thing except
in the myths and tales of distant Ert.
He felt again the pull of gravity as he took off his
flippers and slowly walked to where she had
been sitting. There was a glistening of tiny fish
scales coating the rock.
It had been real.
Well something had been there.
He looked about for the shellfish
that he had been taught would
be edible.
17
Carefully he gathered them and using dry
seaweed made a brisk fire to cook and open
them. They tasted delicious.
After another sleep he found the temperature
dropping. He put his flippers on and entered the
water. He flipped out into the coral reef again,
marking the entrance to his cave. It was dark
outside so he was unaware of his surroundings
and the sky above him. It was then that the
position signal on his belt gave a series of
beeps.
The rescue sub had found him. From out of the
depths arose the three man sub. Rick handed
him a new tank of air and signalled to submerge
and get back to the city. The team were very
pleased to see him.
18
Why is our ocean at risk?
In many parts of the world, the ocean is
headed for a collapse. What this means
is simple – the way we exploit seas and
coastal areas destroys not only their
diversity, but also their ability to meet
our most basic needs.
Climate change is worsening this
process. As fish stocks crash and coral
reefs die off, millions of people who
depend on the ocean are at risk of
losing their only source of income.
Underwater Exploration
Our Oceans
Food, work, fun, adventure, sport
and life – not many things can give
us all those things in one. Every
day the oceans give us the air we
need to breathe; the weather to
grow crops; water to support the
smallest to the largest animals on
earth and 80% of all species; vast
ice flows to help regulate our climate; millions of jobs and a life-time
of pleasure.
“We thought you were a goner Thorne.
Especially when we knew your air tank had
expired. How was it Upside ? All that vast
emptiness ...How did you feel ?”
“Come on guys. Psych will want him to go over
and over all that. Come and get lunch you must
be starving.” said Rick.
After that, a bevy of scientists and doctors
descended on him asking him how he felt, what
he did, what he observed. But he did not tell
anyone about the mermaid. Before he went
back into cyro sleep he found himself a
celebrity, especially to the new Colonists now
awakening and ready to populate the islands of
Katar.
After a few more cycles he would be
awakened with his class mates to a new world
to be explored. But for now he
dreamed of mermaids.
19