The Sea That Changed
変わってしまった海
Ao finally stopped in a wide that had once been a famous fishing ground.
Years before, this sea had been full of fish, birds, and singing whales.
Old sailors had told Sofia that the water here had shone with silver life.
But when the team arrived, the was strangely silent and empty.
The fish had disappeared long before Ao had reached these cold waters.
The temperature had risen by two degrees since the last .
Warmer water holds less , and much of the sea life had died.
"This place has been damaged by many years of human activity," Sofia explained.
Chemicals from distant factories had been carried here by the ocean currents.
Plastic has been found even in the deepest parts of this .
The , which had covered the sea floor, had turned white and lifeless.
Sofia realised that the had started decades before anyone had noticed.
"The ocean has been changed slowly," she said, "and few people have watched."
Ao swam through the empty water, searching for food that was no longer there.
She had travelled thousands of kilometres, only to find a dying sea.
Sofia had studied before, but she had never felt it so personally.
The whale's had been caused by choices made far away on land.
Rivers had carried into the ocean for more than a hundred years.
Much of that has never been cleaned, and it still harms the water.
"By the time we act, the sea has already been hurt," Sofia wrote sadly.
Ao lifted her great tail and turned toward the open ocean once more.
She had understood, in her own way, that nothing remained for her here.
Sofia watched the whale leave the place her ancestors had loved.
"The sea has been telling us the truth," she thought, "but have we listened?"