| Scene opens: Sea anemone is already out waving its tentacles.
Blemy already on stage behind "barnacle shell" rises |
| Blemy |
Oh good, no
rainbow wrasse around - now's my chance to eat some plankton! There's a
delicious-looking morsel. |
| Blemy continues to dart up and down collecting plankton. Starfish move slowly onto stage from the left.Parrot fish already on stage behind "coral" moves into view sideways |
| Parrot fish |
If the Blemy is out it must be safe for
Parrot fish too. I'll just nibble away at this mound of coral. |
| Parrot fish continues to nibble at coral |
| Sea anemone |
Plenty of shrimps
in the plankton today - my tentacles are full of them. |
| Hermit crab enters from right and starts to move slowly across the stage |
| Starfish |
It's alright for
you! I can't find any mussels in the coral today and us starfish need to
eat a lot. I'll have to make do with clams. |
Sea anemone and starfish continue searching for food - starfish moves
slowly across the stage
Ghost shrimp moves onto stage from the left |
| Hermit crab |
Are there any
octopuses around? Oh good - there aren't. Lets see what there is to eat in
the coral. |
| Ghost shrimp |
Why should a
hermit crab worry about an octopus? It can hide in its shell. Its harder
for us ghost shrimps to escape. |
| Starfish |
Stop moaning and
eat the plankton while the tide is coming in. |
| Manta ray and Whale shark enter from right |
| Ghost shrimp |
You had better be
careful, starfish, there's a manta ray and a whale shark overhead. |
| Starfish |
Its Ok - they
only eat plankton. |
| Whale shark
|
The tide always
brings plenty of plankton with it. There's enough here to keep us all
happy. |
| Manta ray
|
Happy? That's a
joke. I am so itchy today. Blast these parasites. Where are those lazy
cleaner fish? |
| Cleaner fish enter from right |
| Cleaner fish |
Cleaning service!
Cleaning service! Who wants to be cleaned today? |
| Manta ray |
Oh it's you - and
about time. You should have been here half an hour ago. |
| Cleaner fish starts to clean the manta ray |
| Whale shark |
I need cleaning
too. |
| Cleaner fish |
OK! OK! I'll be
with you in a minute. Give me a chance! |
|
Whale shark |
Well hurry up! I cannot waste time. I need
to eat tons of plankton every day. |
| Cleaner fish finishes cleaning the manta ray and moves to the whale shark.
Manta ray moves off stage |
|
Blemy (alarmed)
|
Watch out
everybody! Rainbow wrasse above. |
| Rainbow wrasse enter from right. Blemy ducks behind "shell".
Sea anemone hides. Shrimp quickly moves behind "coral" where the parrot fish lives.
Hermit crab moves down and keeps still. |
| Rainbow wrasse |
I wonder what's
on the menu today. Blenny perhaps, or shrimp. |
| Cleaner fish stops cleaning but stays on stage. Whale shark moves slowly off stage |
| Cleaner fish |
Cleaning service!
Any more fish to be cleaned today? |
| Rainbow wrasse |
I can clean fish
too - I enjoy a few tasty parasites. |
| Cleaner fish |
This is my patch,
wrasse. |
| Parrot fish |
Watch out! I can
see a sting ray coming. |
| Sting ray moves in from left. Cleaner fish and Rainbow wrasse stay on stage.
Parrot fish moves behind "coral". All animals at ground level keep a low profile |
| Sting ray |
I thought there
were some anemones around here. Where are they (moves around) I wonder
what is hiding under the coral. There's got to be something to eat. A blenny,
perhaps, or a few shrimp. |
| Cleaner fish and Rainbow wrasse move off stage. Shrimp moves out from behind the "coral" |
| Sting Ray |
A ghost shrimp! I
thought so - come here breakfast! |
| Shrimp is chased off stage by Sting Ray. All animals come out from their hiding places |
| Sea anemone |
Wow! That was a
close thing! |
| Manta ray, whale shark and cleaner fish back on stage, behind and high up |
| Starfish |
It certainly was. That sting ray has put me
right off my food. |
| Octopus enters from left. Rainbow wrasse return, behind and up high.
Blemy moves down and out of sight |
| Hermit crab: |
Oh help! The octopus is on the prowl.
Goodbye. (moves down in its shell) |
| Octopus |
(approaching the hermit crab) Come
out little hermit crab - I won't hurt you. There's no need to hide from me. |
| Sea anemone, Starfish, Blemy, Parrot fish |
together (just looking out of their hiding places) Don't fall for it/ Some joke/
Rubbish (hide again immediately) |
| Scorpion fish enters from behind the octopus |
|
Octopus |
Who said that! |
| Scorpion fish |
Who said
what, octopus? |
|
Octopus |
A scorpion fish! I'm out of here. I'm looking
for a meal, I don't want to be one. |
| Octopus moves off stage quickly. Squid moves on stage from the other side. |
| Scorpion fish |
What a shame, I am particularly fond of
octopus. Such a nice flavour. |
| Squid |
Exactly what I was
going to say about you, scorpion fish. |
| They chase each other around the stage for a few minutes. Other animals
take it in turns to look out of their hiding places. Manta Ray and Whale shark move off stage |
| Squid |
There's no escape - I have eight tentacles to
catch you with. |
| Scorpion fish |
You have to get close enough to use
them! (moves off stage) |
| Squid |
Just watch me. (follows scorpion fish) |
| Rest of the animals come out from their hiding places. Blemy moves down every now and again since the rainbow wrasse are above |
|
Sea anemone |
Thank goodness! All quiet again. |
| Blemy |
As long as those rainbow wrasse stay up there. I
have to keep both eyes on them all the time. |
| Sea slug moves in |
|
Hermit crab |
Hello, a sea slug. What's it looking for,
I wonder. |
|
Sea anemone |
Oh disaster!
A sea slug! It's me it's looking for. Oh my poor tentacles. |
| Anemone moves down |
| Sea slug |
What a lovely
day! And look, there's an anemone - what luck. (moves towards the anemone) This
anemone tastes so good. Its stinging cells don't hurt me at all. |
| Rainbow wrasse and cleaner fish move down. Blemy hides |
|
Rainbow wrasse |
(agitated) Hide
everyone. Here come the seals and sailfish. |
|
Cleaner fish |
There's a pelican about to dive, too. |
| Parrot fish |
And I can see a dolphin! I'm getting out
of the way. |
| Sailfish and sealion come on stage. Manta ray and whale shark come back behind and high.
Hammer head shark moves in. |
|
Others |
/me too/hide quickly/ |
| Sea slug |
They won't
bother me - I don't taste very nice. (Continues to eat the anemone) |
| Hammerhead shark |
Where
are the cleaner fish? I only come here to be cleaned. |
| Manta ray |
They're never
around when you need them. |
| Hammerhead shark |
Cleaner fish! Come on we can't wait
here all day. I am covered in parasites and they must be taken off before I
return to the ocean. I have a long journey ahead of me. |
| Cleaner fish move towards hammerhead shark. |
| Sealion |
It feels great to
play in the water. I love chasing fish. (starts to chase wrasse) |
|
Sailfish |
Yes, it is good fun especially when there are
so many fish to chase. |
|
Dolphin |
I bet I can catch more fish than either of
you. |
|
Sealion |
Don't be so sure, dolphin. I can stay under
water longer than you can. |
|
Sailfish |
And I don't have to go up for air at all. |
| Starts chasing the smaller fish |
| Pelican |
Why waste time
chasing fish when you can just dive in and catch them? |
| Dolphin |
Because its fun
to chase the fish. You are too serious, pelican. |
| Sealion |
We always find lots to eat around the coral
reefs. Fish, octopuses, crabs and shrimp. |
|
Sailfish |
I prefer the
wrasse and the cleaner fish. Squid are good too. |
| Pelican |
There is so much to choose from in the Sea of
Cortez. |
All animals move around and look for food. Cleaner fish also cleans larger fish.
Smaller animals come out for food when they can.
Suddenly there is a loud noise - all the animals stop, as if listening. The lights go out - animals quietly leave the stage on both sides.
Lights go on - nothing on the stageAnimals return to stage, facing forward and still.
|
| Blemy |
The trawl nets take everything from the coral on
the sea bed. |
|
Manta ray |
The fishermen are only fishing for shrimp. |
|
Hammerhead shark |
By the time they have picked out all
the shrimp, all the other animals are dead. |
|
Sealion |
The fishermen throw the dead fish back into
the sea and the seagulls eat the dead bodies. |
| Sea slug |
There is no more
life in the coral. |
|
Sting ray |
No animals to eat the plankton. |
|
Whale shark |
No small animals for the large animals to
eat. |
|
Cleaner fish |
The food chain is broken. |
|
Rainbow wrasse |
Life disappears from the Sea of Cortez. |