Ocean: War of Independence

by Brian Herbert

  More than a hundred associates worked with Fuji in the office, some handling public relations, others coordinating activities with various environmental organizations. Thus far there had been no formal recruitment outreach, because Kimo, Alicia, and Gwyneth were not yet certain how Moanna had handled the process of converting human beings into hybrids that could live in the ocean.

  He saw Alicia approaching now, walking from the trail onto the beach. She wore blue shorts, a white blouse, and sandals. Reaching his side, they sat on a natural lava bench to wait for Gwyneth. Kimo reached out, held Alicia’s hand. Since that magical, moonlit night when they made love here, there had been too little time for their personal relationship. The immense and all-consuming cause of the ocean had come first, and both of them knew that was how it had to be, how it should be.

  She looked at him, and they shared a long, tender kiss. Finally, Kimo pulled away, looked into her blue eyes, and smiled. “There will be time enough for us someday. I know this because we’re going to live for a long, long time.”

  She grinned, and rose to her feet, pointing out at the water, “There she is!”

  As Alicia watched, Gwyneth swam in as close as she could. Then, in shallow water, the three of them talked.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” Gwyneth said, “but I do have some good news. At last, the whales in the cordons around the islands are responding to my commands. They’ve disassembled around the islands of Oahu and Kauai, and other large-bodied animals have scattered with them—with the exception of the plesiosaurs. I intentionally left them swimming around Oahu, and patrolling Pearl Harbor. Our ferocious-looking sea monsters will remind people—and especially the Navy—that we mean business. And if you look out there –“ she pointed– “you can see the barricade around Loa’kai is starting to break up, too.”

  Alicia saw several whales turning away from the cordon and swimming out to sea, spouting water through their blowholes….

  For some time now, whales, giant octopuses, giant squids, and other sea animals had been removing garbage from the ocean on their own, working in a frenzy with no supervision from the Sea Warriors. They’d been bringing up shipwrecks, plastics, anything they could handle that did not belong in their domain, and depositing it on the shores of every ocean-facing nation.

  The largest sunken ships still remained on the seabed—vessels that the creatures had not yet brought to the surface, possibly because the hulks were too big. These included famous passenger liners, along with oil tankers, cargo ships, aircraft carriers, battleships, and old armor-clad vessels from the numerous, endless wars of humankind.

  All the while, human cleanup crews had been working to clear the messes from the shores, hauling everything inland. At most of the major shore sites around the world, police and military forces monitored the activities, in some cases grabbing valuables for themselves, such as rare gold coins, jewels, and antiquities, and occasionally demanding bribes. Some of the metals and plastics were being recycled, and many people were becoming wealthy from the cleanup operations and associated business enterprises.

  Around the world, additional species were taking action on their own. In Japan, Europe, and the United States, jellyfish were jamming their diaphanous bodies into the intake pipes of coastal nuclear power plants, preventing cooling seawater from entering the plants, and forcing the operators to take the systems offline. In the tropics, reef animals were stirring up the seabeds whenever glass-bottom boats full of tourists came near, preventing them from seeing much of anything through the murky water. And in the Arctic, walruses were attacking hunters who were trying to kill harp seals, forcing them to give up the effort.

  “What about the whales that have been involved in blocking San Francisco Bay, and in ocean cleanup operations around the world?” Alicia asked. “Have you gotten any of them to respond to you?”

  “I haven’t made the attempt yet. It’s only in the last few hours that I began to exert some influence over the whales in the Hawaiian barricades, and once they responded to me, so did the other animals, all of them leaving the cordons when the whales did. We know the whales have been leading the cleanup operations, and it looks like they’ve also been the leaders in refusing to break up the barricades, so I’m very hopeful. The animals are doing good work, but it is worrisome when they go off on their own and do such things.”

  “Yes it is,” Kimo said.

  Alicia scowled. “As I said the last time we were with Moanna, we still have a lot to learn. We also have a great deal of work to do, and need more recruits to help us, but we still don’t know how she accomplished the transformations.”

  Floating on the surface, Gwyneth said, “I’ve been combing through the vast amount of data in my brain, gathering clues and passing them on to both of you, but I don’t think we’re making much progress in figuring out the process she used.”

  Thinking hard, Alicia said, “The last time we saw Moanna, she told us we would ‘have the responsibility for creating thousands of new Sea Warriors’. Some things she said are crystal clear in my memory, the exact words, but I didn’t always fully understand. For example, after I was transformed deep underwater, she said to Kimo and me, ‘…if you bear children they will already be transformed because of the genetic design I have placed in your bodies, and so too with the children of other hybrids’. What did Moanna mean by that? Are we left only with the possibility of creating new hybrids by interbreeding Sea Warriors? Or, can Sea Warriors breed with normal human beings and still produce fully functioning, hybrid offspring?”

  Alicia paused, mulling over the mystery. “I realize now that she did not specifically say that a hybrid needed to breed with another hybrid for this to happen, but that was certainly the implication, since she was addressing me and Kimo. It’s strange, very strange. We are left with too many questions.”

  “All I see are dead-ends in trying to figure out the transformative process,” Gwyneth said, “and I don’t know what to do next. Moanna does not seem to have passed the technique on to me—a technique that she most certainly had herself.”

  “This is all very puzzling,” Kimo said. “I think we should go down to the place Moanna died, and see if we can find some inspiration.”

  They all agreed, and swam out to deeper water, then dove straight down.

  Reaching the depths of the ocean, they used their magnetic navigation systems, and their ability to see in even the darkest regions, to locate the exact place they’d last been with Moanna.

  On impulse, Alicia suggested that they gather in a circle over the spot. In a gray haze of water, she made out the assorted shapes of rocks, colossal clams, and other objects on the seabed.

  “Close your eyes and let your minds relax,” she said, “and we’ll just float here for a while.”

  Moments passed, and soon Alicia lost track of time. She felt her mind floating with her body, and became conscious of an increasing synchronicity with Gwyneth and Kimo. They all held hands, and Alicia realized that their thoughts were locked together, and their combined energy was stretching across the ocean, farther and farther.

  The sea around them began to glow, softly red at first and then brighter. The water temperature grew warmer against Alicia’s skin, and she realized that she could see a very long distance through the sea, all the way around the planet and back to where the three of them were. They could fan this vision out and look in any direction, as far as they wanted. They could also hear underwater over any distance, any marine noise they wanted to pick up, if they chose to focus on it.

  Critical new data flowed into their collective mind and coalesced there, telling them exactly how Moanna had transformed human beings into hybrids. Alicia, Kimo, and Gwyneth felt tremendous excitement at this, and in their expanding awareness they could observe, hear, smell, and touch every molecule of seawater on the planet, and every marine organism that lived in those waters.

  Then another thought formed, a sacred revelation. We are all the seas on this planet. We are Ocean.r />
  ***

  APPENDIX I

  Declaration of Ocean Independence (1st edition)

  As Presented by Kimo Pohaku

  to the United Nations Special Session

  August 23, 2024

  Statement of Purpose

  Under the international Law of the Sea, humankind has traditionally treated most of the world’s ocean as a common area, available to be exploited by all, while continental shelves and other areas have been claimed by specific nations. It is a system that makes an important underlying assumption—that humankind as a whole owns the ocean, and has a birthright to take from it whatever it wishes, while giving nothing in return.

  Over the years, a handful of environmental organizations have attempted to speak on behalf of the creatures of the sea and the sea itself, but with minimal success. The usurpation by the greedy has only accelerated, and a handful of corporations and nations have moved to the forefront, using factory fishing fleets, oil rigs, and other highly efficient methods of ocean exploitation that take the lion’s share of the resources.

  Historically, colonial powers have plundered the minerals, plants, animals, and other assets of third world countries, and in parallel fashion certain parties have treated the ocean that way as well, extracting everything they can from it—and even adding insult to injury by using the water as a dumping ground and spillage area for plastics, sewage, industrial wastes, oil, and radioactive materials—and committing a long list of other atrocities.

  Because of overfishing, as well as the catching of untargeted species (such as dolphins in tuna nets), and harm caused to wildlife by discarded monofilament nets, lobster traps, and fishing gear, the stocks of many fish have been drastically depleted, and some species have gone extinct. Coral reefs, estuaries, mangrove forests, salt marshes, and wetlands have been destroyed by mankind as well, in its headlong rush to take whatever each person, company, and nation can, without considering the cost.

  But the cost of such behavior has been substantial. It has been enormous. This Declaration of Ocean Independence marks a turning point, in which all nations are formally notified that the ocean is not going to accept this pattern of misbehavior any more. The ocean is fighting back, driving humankind back. All nations, all companies, and all individuals must fully accept the terms of the declaration of ocean independence that underlies this declaration. This is the new reality.

  No longer will any human being treat the ocean as a common area (or declare national sovereignty over portions of it), to be exploited for deep-sea mining, oil drilling, factory fishing, dumping, the transportation of goods, or any other purpose; no longer will any of you assert ownership over these waters, or the right to use them for any reason, except in very limited circumstances that will be closely monitored by the Sea Warriors.

  As part of the penalty for the terrible damages that have been caused, humans will be required to establish scientific study groups to research problems involving ocean waters and the life forms in them, with the goal of repairing as much as possible. The study of marine microbes is one example of a permitted use, because of the sensitivity of these microscopically small organisms, which are the basis of the entire marine food chain, and are known to have been harmed by greenhouse gases and other human-related factors.

  This radical historical transformation is only right, because of the damage human beings had done to the ocean over centuries and millennia. Mankind does not deserve to hold dominion over the ocean.

  Should anyone attempt to circumvent the new rules, they will be discovered by inspectors or sea creatures around the world, and this information will reach the headquarters of the Sea Warriors. Penalties will be severe.

  Our weaponry is vast, much more than we have displayed in the various battles that the Sea Warriors have conducted against imperialist forces. An appendix to this declaration lists some of the weapons at our disposal—the natural armaments of sea creatures, augmented by the special powers of some of our hybrid Sea Warriors, such as the tremendous and destructive tidal waves that Alicia Ellsworth can generate.

  From this day hence, there is no longer a planet called Earth. We hereby remove the world’s ocean from the control of human usurpers and rename the entire planet Ocean—reflecting the fact that almost 71% of the surface is composed of interconnected seas, forming one great body of salt water. A much smaller portion of the world is land, or earth.

  —Kimo Pohaku,

  Director of the Sea Warriors, and Administrator

  of the Declaration of Ocean Independence

  ***

  APPENDIX II

  Catalogue of Human Abuses Against The Ocean

  And Its Inhabitants

  (Addendum #1 to Declaration of Ocean Independence)

  The Sea Warriors and their expert advisers who have prepared this official document are not herein providing an exhaustive list of the transgressions that humans have committed against the world’s ocean. Rather, this is intended to be an overview of a massive ecological crime, with more than enough detail to prove the case that the ocean must be protected from those who have treated it so badly, for so many centuries.

  International treaties involving the protection of the ocean, coastal ecosystems, marine animals, and seabirds are filled with legal loopholes, and often provide only bandaids for wounds that require much more attention. One such treaty, involving the international regulation of whaling, took almost 40 years to reach an agreement among nations—from 1946 to 1985—and even then, it was a deeply flawed document. Some nations, such as the United States, have refused to accept major international treaties that involve the health of the ocean, the air, and the land—insisting instead that they have “exclusive economic zones” and the right to harvest whatever they please from the waters, thus maximizing profits.

  Hereafter, all previous international laws involving the ocean and any ecological matter pertaining to those waters are declared null and void. There is no longer a Law of the Sea Treaty; there are no exclusive economic zones for any nation, corporation, or individual. The Sea Warriors are setting everything back to zero. From this day forth, human beings no longer have any rights whatsoever involving the ocean, and will only have privileges that they are able to earn from the Sea Warriors, under the close supervision of this ocean-protection organization and the oceanographers and other marine experts associated with it.

  ***

  Index of Sections

  Catalogue of Human Abuses Against the Ocean and its Inhabitants

  I. Dumping at Sea and Carelessness.

  II. Overfishing, Hunting, and Gathering.

  III. Mining Problems.

  IV. Noise Pollution.

  V. Oil Spills and Oil Drilling.

  VI. Marine Pollution.

  VII. Damage Caused by Ships, Boats, and Aircraft.

  VIII. Cruelty to Marine Animals and Other Acts.

  IX. Imperiled Coastal Ecosystems and Shorelines.

  X. War and Preparations for War.

  I. Dumping at Sea and Carelessness.

  Human civilization, overflowing with garbage, has a habit of dumping it from shore, from pleasure boats, from barges that go out into deep water, and into rivers that flow into the sea. Out of sight, out of mind, has been the collective thinking, as many items are carried out to sea by tidal action and dispersed, or sunk to the bottom. But some of it subsequently washes back up on shores all over the planet, and vast amounts of plastics and other floating items form into garbage colonies on the high seas, floating about in currents in full view of any ship that happens to pass that way. Divers can hardly go anywhere without seeing some piece of discarded junk on the sea floor, or snagged on coral, or jammed between rocks, along with sunken shipwrecks, rusted remnants of oil rigs, and other large objects that have been left in place after an accident at sea. There are even a surprising number of junked motor vehicles and parts, such as tires and engine blocks.

  Creatures of the ocean and seabirds die regularly from becoming enta
ngled in discarded nets, fishing gear, and crustacean traps, and strangle in plastic rings from six-packs of water and soda, or suffocate when they ingest plastic bags. Even the nets laid to protect swimming beaches from sharks are actually killing those animals when they get ensnared in them, along with dolphins, turtles, and porpoises.

  II. Overfishing, Hunting, and Gathering.

  As noted in the Declaration of Ocean Independence, humans have overfished the seas, catching untargeted species (i.e. dolphins in tuna nets), and carelessly killing wildlife in other ways. Factory fishing ships, aided by smaller launches, have harvested vast amounts of fish, keeping them in refrigeration units on the mother ship. Purse-seiners and vessels with even larger nets have also contributed to this problem. As a result, the stocks of many fish have been drastically depleted, and species have gone extinct.

  Some of the abuses have been committed by suppliers of aquariums and tourist gift shops, who strip coral reefs and other regions of the ocean of angelfish, pufferfish, jellyfish, conch shells and shellfish, pieces of living coral, and various other living organisms, along with shells removed from shallow waters and beaches for necklaces, bracelets, and other adornments. In an outrageous action, designed to draw fish out of their hiding places so that they can be captured, explosives have been set off underwater, destroying coral reefs. Sport fishermen catch marlins and sailfish, and stuff them as trophies to hang on the wall. In some third world countries, people kill large turtles to stuff them and offer them for sale.

  The demand by restaurants for wrasse and other reef fish, as well as red urchin eggs, eel, lobster, squid, abalone, shark fins, shark meat, and conch meat, has depleted those stocks dangerously. Crews are even raking sea floors for clams and scallops, not caring about the environmental damage they cause. Suppliers of agricultural feed have caused great harm by overharvesting the krill needed by whales, seriously disrupting the balance of the ocean’s food chain.