Page 21 of Swimming With the Sharks
“That’s just bullshit!”Formaci snarled.
Foster continued speaking, ignoring Formaci’soutburst.“It’s really sad, and like I said there are groups tryingto do things to help.Right now they are really talking aboutenvironmental changes and a bunch of countries are doing their bestto come up with solutions to bring down pollution, but like I saidmoney is what drives the abuse to our planet to begin with and itwill take those big corporations to compromise and be willing togive some of that money up to help fix things.But like I saidthere are things that people are trying to do.For example, youhave people building marine parks.”
“What’s that?”someone asked, but Jabaricouldn’t tell who spoke.
“It’s places the humans can go and learn aboutmarine life.There are people who swim and use glass-bottom boatsto see the fish and stuff beneath the water surface and no one canfish there at all.I know it sounds stupid, but it’s helping keepthe fish population up and the water clean.Then you have thepeople doing things to help save the coral reefs all around theglobe.Planting trees so the run off isn’t so bad and using allnatural fertilizers for plants...things like that.Now one of thebest things is they’re starting to take the trash off the oceanbeds and hoping this will reduce pollutants and stuff.I know itdoesn’t sound like a lot, but trust me, ten years ago people wereblowing this shit off and now they are at least paying attentionand trying to do something about it.”Foster said, then looked atFormaci, “So you see, Poseidon wasn’t trying to hurt you.Maybe hewent about things the wrong way, but trust me when I say, theoutside world is not all it’s cracked up to be.”
Formaci asked, “How do I know what you say istrue?”
Foster thought a moment then turned to Jabari,“How close are we to Louisiana?”
“With the rate of speed we swim, it wouldn’ttake long to get there, why?”Jabari asked.
Instead of answering him, he looked at Formaci,“If I prove to you what I’m saying will you promise to stop all ofthis and leave the Atlanteans alone?”
Formaci nodded, “Yes, but if this is atrap...”
“It isn’t a trap.I want us to go a few placesbut it’s outside the Atlantean walls.Will that be alright?”Fosterasked.
“Foster, once you leave the safety of Atlantisyou cannot breathe under water.”Jabari argued.
His mate turned to him, saying, “You didsomething that helped me get to Atlantis surely you can do the samething to get me to where we need to go?”
Polaris swam forward, “If he is on my back, mymagic can protect him.The hippocampus is the magic Atlantis ismade of.”
Jabari sighed, “Fine, but at the first sign ofproblems we return.”
Foster clapped his hands and went to Polaris,“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 9
“What is this place?It smells of chemicals anddeath.”Formaci asked, sounding kind of ill.
“This is what’s left of the Deepwater Horizon.It was what they call an ultra-deep-water oil rig.There was whatthey called a blow out and it exploded, killing eleven men andcausing millions and millions of gallons of oil to spill into theocean.It took what seemed like forever to get the drill areaplugged up and they are still trying to clean this mess up.Itkilled tons of fish and birds and fucked up the beach areas...itwas a serious disaster, and when all was said and done and aninvestigation was completed, they discovered that it was a simplecase of a multibillion dollar company wanting to save a few bucks.”Foster explained.
Formaci snarled, “I hope they paid with theirlives.”
There was no way Foster could hold back hisscoff.“Are you kidding me?Originally the government was goingafter the people responsible with a vengeance, but it was all justa diversion.They were giving the people time to move on and… Idon’t want to say forget, but not feel the outrage as much.Soinstead of people going to jail they were let off and the companieshad to pay out about five billion dollars, which might sound like alot, but to a company that’s worth hundreds of billions of dollarsthat’s not even a drop in a bucket.”
“But...but that’s insane!”Formaci said,looking around, “Look at this destruction!Look at the wasted seabed.”
“I know, but like I said it’s all about themoney.Politicians and oil go hand in hand.It sucks, but that’show it is.”Foster explained.
After Formaci looked around, he said, “I wouldlike to see more.”
Foster told Polaris where he wanted to go and itdidn’t take long before Formaci rasped, “Stop!For the love of allthe gods, stop!”
Everyone did as Formaci asked, and Forest lookedat the squid, “Is there a problem?”
“Is there a...are you fucking with me?What isthat obnoxious smell?”Formaci rasped, “I’m struggling to evenbreathe.”
“Ahhh.That is what they call toxic algaeblooms.We’re in Florida waters.Scientists believe it’s because acompany was allowed to dump their crap into a lake as well as allthe runoff from farm fertilizers causing a serious increase innitrogen and phosphorus.Add to that the rise in temperaturesbecause of global warming and this is what you get.”Fosterexplained.
Formaci gasped, “Surely these people were heldaccountable?”
Shaking his head, Foster responded with, “Whatdid they do wrong?No one did anything illegal...at least, notaccording to the government standards.Companies have tried tooffer assistance, but have been turned down because the governmentdoesn’t want to release more chemicals into the water.”
“Humans are barbaric!’Formaci snarled.