Shortsighted Over-Consumption

Plop! Plop!

Baby Pierre and Ageless drop over the side of the tinny, and drift down to the sea bed.

Baby Pierre is lucky, says Terence. He gets to go down.

You're lucky too, says Belle. You have a parrot.

Don't be too sure about that, says Daniel O'Connell.

Whaaa! says Terence. Now what's happening?

I've come a long way recently, says Daniel O'Connell. I don't have to be a parrot.

Okay, says Terence. You can be my spider.

I'll be my own spider, says Daniel O'Connell.

Well said! says Margaret. Monkey bread?

Cheese and apple polenta? asks Belle

No thank you, says Daniel O'Connell.

He crawls along the gunwale to the bow where Gaius is sitting.

Any sign of them? asks Daniel O'Connell.

Not yet, says Gaius. We must be patient.

Daniel O'Connell jumps over the side.

Titan's Trousers! says Gaius. He's hot-headed!

My spider! cries Terence.

Before anyone can stop him, Terence leaps into the water.

That just leaves the adults on board.

This is awkward.

Ought we to do something? asks Margaret.

You're the captain, says Belle.

He'll be all right, says Gaius. It's not the first time he's been in this situation. He once rode a bicycle into the lake at Geneva, and sank to the bottom.

How did he get out? asks Margaret.

Gaius can't exactly remember. Probably Ageless was there.

Meanwhile Terence has landed on a soft bed of seagrass, disturbing epiphytes, epifauna, and several juvenile crustaceans, whiting and flathead.

The fish noise is deafening.

Ageless, nearby, is astonished.

Hear that fish noise, Baby Pierre?

It's Terence, says Baby Pierre. He's come down to help us.

That's not helping, says Ageless. That's skewing the results, that's what that is.

Baby Pierre makes a mental note of the skewing, in case Ageless forgets it.

As for Daniel O'Connell he has landed in the ribbonweed, and is being greeted by the grazing micro-organisms.

He is larger than they are but not ridiculously so.

He seems like a nice friendly fellow.

Hi hi hi, say the micro-organisms (that's how they greet you). Life is good!

Hi hi hi, says Daniel O'Connell. Why is it?

Because of the excessive nutrients about nowadays, say the micro-organisms.

That may lead to the eventual loss of seagrasses says Daniel O'Connell. Trust me I know.

No no no, say the micro-organisms. Never never.

A perfect example of shortsighted over-consumption, thinks Daniel O'Connell.