In And Out Of Situ

In a way, they are thinking of jumping.

Unni is thinking of Arthur jumping. It's the sort of thing he would do.

Arthur is thinking the opposite. If she jumps, what will he do?

He starts to unbutton his jacket and stares down at the gurgling water, heaving with seaweed.

Blurp, blurp!

Are you thinking of jumping? asks Unni.

No, are you?

No.

I was thinking, says Arthur. All this water. If we'd waited.

Yeah, says Unni.  They would have survived till we got here. Impatient little buggers.

We're here now, says Arthur.

And where are they? says Unni. In a screw top bottle. So what good did it do them?

We could let them out, says Arthur.

I don't know, says Unni. It was really hard getting them in.

.......

Schopenhauer has discovered a midden. A heap of old shells and bones. He picks up a handful and carries it carefully back to where Gaius is snoozing.

Gaius is unimpressed with Schopenhauer's field skills.

Such things are better examined in situ, says Gaius. But of course you weren't to know that.

Schopenhauer finds himself mystified by the scientific method.

Then why are barnacles not better examined in situ?

He doesn't like to ask, so he philosophises:

What is the difference, between old shells and bones and live barnacles? Hum....Aha!.... Life! It is obvious.

His thoughts pass from the general to the particular. Yes, the barnacles. He should let them out.

Too late! Arthur and Unni have come down from their vertiginous rock arch and taken the bottle.

They have unscrewed the top, and tipped out the CSIRO water..

Unni has tried to prise Captain Goose and Captain Wally out through the neck.

Impossible! gasps Unni,  giving Arthur the bottle.

Easy! says Arthur, smashing the bottle on a rock.

.........

Captain Goose and Captain Wally drift down, down, to the sea floor below Cemetery Rock. A flat purple fish shimmies past.

A ray ripples towards them, before turning sharply and rippling away.

The seaweed sways this way and that, rubbery, feathery, yellow and purple and brown.

A flat-headed cat shark noses up to them, spotted with denticles.

Save us! cries Captain Goose. This isn't a Blowhole!

A common mistake, says the cat shark. What kind of habitat are you used to?

Oh, don't even ask what we're used to, shudders Captain Wally.

We like heavy wave action, says Captain Goose. A rocky shelf where we can live just above the tube worm zone would be perfect.

That's right, says Captain Wally, admiring his quick-thinking friend.

Then Soldiers Rocks would suit you, says the cat shark. If you don't mind the occasional visitor dropping in unexpectedly. Come on, I'll take you.

They go.