Reflective Piece

(Finn enters, swimming around in circles looking everywhere)

(Bubbles casually swimming)
(Finn taps Bubbles on the fin)
Finn: Excuse me where is the Atlantic Herrings Post Office?
Bubbles: It is in Eagle Rays Reef.
Finn: Thank you very much.
Bubbles: Youre welcome. Are you new around here? I havent seen you
before.
Finn: Yea. Im from the Pacific Ocean. I arrived at Kingfish City 2 days ago.
Bubbles (smiling): Nice to meet you. Im Bubbles.
Finn: Hi, Im Finn.
Bubbles: The Pacific Ocean? Thats a long way from here in the Atlantic.
What brings you to this Ocean?
Finn: Theres too much pollution where I live.
Bubbles(mystified expression): Too much pollution? What do you mean?
Finn: In the Pacific Ocean there is an island of garbage twice the size of
Texas. Its in the North Pacific Gyre off the coast of California which is the
largest oceanic garbage site in the world. There the number of floating
plastic pieces outnumbers total marine life six to one in the immediate
vicinity.
Bubbles(frowning): That doesnt sound good.
Finn: Its not. More pollution comes from the ships that sail on our waters
and dump their waste and cargo in our waters.
Bubbles: That happens here too!
Finn: Do you know that the Pacific Ocean is home to the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch. One of my friends heard some humans refer to it as Worlds
Largest Landfill. He also heard that an estimated 3.5 million tons of trash
reside in this landfill that are the result of whirling currents in the Pacific

Ocean that pull trash and pollution into the ocean. The landfills area is the
size of Europe.
Bubbles: Wow! Thats a lot of trash! Where did your friend hear this?
Finn: He was swimming on the shores of Andersons Bay where some
humans were. Do you want to know what else he heard?
Bubbles: Yes!
Finn: He also heard that in addition to the pollutants in the water, the Pacific
Ocean circulates pollutants in the air. They are known as persistent organic
pollutants or POPs, these toxic chemicals include aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor
and toxaphene. He also heard them say that the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has identified 12 POPs that are long-lasting in the
environment. Factories or chemicals used in industrial and agricultural
applications have produced these POPs. POPs can be moved through water
currents into southeast and central Asia into the Pacific Ocean.
Bubbles: Thats really awful. What about the animals where you live?
Finn: It is dangerous. Due to the high amount of plastic in the Pacific Ocean,
the fish species have been affected. The marine animals consider the plastic
as food and they ingest them and when they do, they die. Dolphins and
porpoises die each year because they become entangled in discarded fishing
nets. The chemicals that enter the water absorb all the oxygen and cause
the animals to suffocate and die. Some habitats are ruined because of water
pollution.
Bubbles: Thats really awful.
(Enter Captain Jack and Harley with their fins around each other)
(Captain Jack goes to Bubbles and puts his fin on her)
Captain Jack: Bubbles my fish. Wha yuh doin here? Yuh know how long we
waitin for yuh.
Harley: Yea Bubbles. Why you din call we and say yuh was comin late for?
Bubbles: Sorry guys. I was talking to someone.
Captain Jack: Who yuh talkin to?
Bubbles: Captain Jack, Harley, this is Finn.

Captain Jack: Hello Finn. Mi nevah see you before. Yuh new around here?
Harley: Yea mi nevah see yuh eider. Where yuh from?
Finn: Im from the Pacific Ocean. Where are you from?
Captain Jack: We come from de Caribbean Sea.
Finn (whispers to himself, wrinkling his eyebrow): That explains it.
Harley: The Pacific Ocean yuh say? Dat real far from here. Wha yuh doin so
far from yuh home?
Finn: I relocated because of the pollution.
Captain Jack: Man pollution everywhere.
Harley: We ha pollution inna de coral reef in Tobago.
Finn: What happened to the Coral Reef?
Captain Jack: Well corals need clean and clear water to survive. When
sediments and other pollutants are in the water, they prevent sunlight from
penetrating for the photosynthetic corals. They become smothered, speeds
up the growth of algae and lowers water quality.
Harley: Corals cannot survive in warm temperature waters because they are
very sensitive to changes in temperature. If water temperatures are high the
zooxanthellae they depend on for some of their food leave their tissue.
Without zooxanthellae, corals turn white because zooxanthellae give corals
their color. White, unhealthy corals are called bleached.
Captain Jack: More carbon dioxide in the water makes the ocean more
acidic. This coral's skeleton has been damaged by ocean acidification.
Bubbles: Thats awful. The humans are really being unfair with the marine
life.
Finn: They are. Im sorry but I have to leave now I am supposed to go mail
letter.
Bubbles: OK. See you around then Finn.
Harley: See yuh late Finn.
Captain Jack: Bye.

(Exit all the fishes with Bubbles, Haley and Captain Jack going together and
Finn separate)