Kids Bedtime Stories

Beyond Blue

Cosy up and snuggle down, for tonight's story is all about Beyond Blue.

You find yourself beside a huge dolphin as it surges through the ocean. Using your legs to power you through the water, you position your arms behind you, making you more streamlined, as you try to keep up with this beautiful animal as it swims through the hazy blue. It's important, you know, to keep your distance and respect the ocean and all that live within it.
You sense the power of this magnificent creature; its muscles rippling with energy as it rises and falls on its journey through the water. It feels like the rise and fall of a circus carousel and you grin from ear to ear. Then, through the speakers in your helmet, you hear the voice of your fellow researcher, Andre. He wants to know if you have started your mission to find and log the creatures of these waters. Reluctantly, you turn your head and catch a fleeting glimpse of your reflection in the partially closed, gentle eye before stopping to tread water as you watch the dolphin disappear into the great expanse of ocean. You linger for a moment and then drop below the surface.

Here the world is very different. You are surrounded by a thousand tiny bubbles that break from your wetsuit and scurry to the surface. Below you stretches the great Continental Shelf, alive with corals and seaweed and hundreds of tiny, neon fish that move in shoals, shimmering and dancing as they weave their way across this magical underwater kingdom. Beneath the coral, the golden sand, illuminated by the bright sun, spreads itself like a soft, billowing blanket across the ocean floor. And then, you see it. A huge Spider crab, lurching across the sand on its way back home, away from the rainbow colours and teeming life of the Shelf.

Swimming swiftly, you catch up with the crab and marvel at the articulation of its limbs. You know they live at much deeper depths than this, and so this must be a female, come to spawn and release her larvae amongst the flora and fauna of the coastal shelf where the sea grass undulates in the warm shallow water. Without thinking, you arch your back and crawl on all fours, like a gymnast, mimicking the spider crab's awkward gait as you both head for deeper water.

The bright candy colours of the coral reef give way to more sombre greys and browns. The water is cooler here, but you are safe and warm, protected by your tight-fitting wetsuit. You are wearing the latest free-breathing helmet. A design that allows you to see and hear perfectly while receiving a mix of oxygen, helium and nitrogen. Complete with long, slender flippers, you are almost a fish yourself. As you swim elegantly, and effortlessly, through the depths, your body flows like water over stones and you are at one with the environment. Then, in the near distance, you see an ominous shape looming out of the water. Curved bones that rise from the ocean floor like the ribcage of a huge whale. It is a shipwreck. You know that you should continue your mission and head for deeper waters, but your sense of adventure leads you to the wreck.

Weaving your way between the barnacle encrusted ribs of ancient wood, you spy a hatch with nothing but darkness within. Placing your hands carefully on either side of the hatch, you lower your head and peer in. Automatically sensing the darkness of the water, the searchlight on your helmet illuminates the scene. As you explore the hold of the ship, the thin shaft of light reveals a host of dark loving creatures: Hagfish, Seastars and squid. Magical as these creatures are, there is nothing here you have not scanned and tagged before. You push with your palms against the sides of the hatch and in a swift, practiced movement turn your body round to find yourself face to face with a shark!

Instinctively, you begin to turn your body into a ball, ready to push away with hands and flippered feet in an effort to escape this beast of the sea. But you quickly realise your mistake. This is a Whale Shark. One of a species that first appeared in the oceans over 250 million years ago. It is harmless and merely circles you, gazing with its warm, enquiring eye; wondering what new kind of sea creature it has unexpectedly encountered. You tread water gently and rotate slowly, following the movement of the shark. Your experience tells you that this shark is about 60 years old. As it moves away, you wave at its retreating fin and decide it is time to return to your mission. You emerge from the cage of the shipwreck and continue your descent.

At this depth your searchlight stays illuminated and produces a tunnel of white in the almost pitch-black night of the deep ocean. You swim for what seems like hours in search of your quarry when suddenly, a flicker of tendrils momentarily appears then disappears at the edge of the tunnel of light. You turn your head and are rewarded by a shoal of Atolla jellyfish. These are what you have come to scan. You swim cautiously towards them. You know that you are protected by your wetsuit, but you know how toxic their tendrils can be. You decide not take any unnecessary chances. At a distance you observe their translucent, jelly-like bodies.
Caught in the light, they are a beautiful deep red, almost violet. Their mushroom shaped bodies pulse rhythmically as they leave their long tendrils to trail behind. You begin to scan them one by one. Altogether there are six of them. You are lucky to have found so many of these rare and exotic creatures in one place. You swim closer.

Suddenly, as if someone has thrown a switch, they change colour. The red of their bodies is replaced by a beautiful luminescent blue that pulses in circles. You stare, mesmerised. You know this is their defence mechanism and so you back off. For a while you hang in the water staring at the receding blue lights pulsing hypnotically until, one by one, they disappear, and you are alone.
You have what you came for. You check in with Andre to make sure he received the information. He confirms he has, and you relax.

Floating, weightless, in the vast expanse of the ocean, you turn off your searchlight to fully experience the dark. You feel the pressure of the water against your body, and you feel at one with the environment. You know you are safe here, so you find a place you can rest and look up to see if you can catch a glimpse of the sun, but you can't.

You're tired now, so you close your eyes and easily drift away, awaiting your next adventure.