So I've finally joined the world of bloggers... welcome to the new age hahaha. I thought I'd start it all off with a cute (but not 100% oceans-related) folk tale that I found whilst trawling the net. The site it comes from gave me a little something to think about.
'In the night sky there is a constellation called the Great Bear. It is round and long and has a lengthy line of stars. Because in the early days of the world, bears had long tails.
One winter, when the ground was covered in snow and the rivers were frozen, there was not much to eat and the bears went hungry. One bear decided to use his long tail as a fishing rod. He cut a hole in the ice with his sharp claws and sat down letting his long tail dip into the icy water below. Bear waited until a fish bit his tail. Then, he pulled up his tail and gobbled it down. Still hungry, the bear sat back down on the ice.
Bear sat with his tail in the cold water fishing hour after hour after hour. He couldn't get enough fish to eat. He hardly noticed the weather change. The Russian winter grew colder as the snow fell without cease. And, the ice froze around bear's tail.
Then a fish bit and bear pulled. But bear's tail did not come loose. Bear's bottom was stuck to the ice. Bear tugged and pulled with all of his strength. He growled and groaned, and at last he broke free. But, bear's long tail snapped off near the top. A small stump was all that was left on his bottom. Ever since that time, earth bears have had short tails.
But the Great Bear constellation that appeared in the sky a long time before still had a long tail. As a result, Bear in the sky doesn't fish. He is practical with his tail, and pays attention to the weather. In the winter, Great Bear points his star tail north to warn us that it is growing cold. In the summer, Great Bear points his star tail south to warn us that is getting warmer. He swings his tail slightly to the east when the sun is bright and wiggles it ever so little to the west when it is about to rain. If you look in the sky regularly you will see Great Bear keeping his tail on the weather.'
This story made me smile :> If this kind of thing interests you, check out http://www.seed.slb.com/en/things_to_do/projects/ocean_of_stories/index.htm
