The sea is such a wondrous place with forests, reefs and caves. There are countless creatures living in a world beneath the waves. The water is their haven; it’s the only home they know, While ‘The Up’ is somewhere unexplored, where most will never go.
One evening, Blub the octopus was sleeping in her bed When a stranger came and woke her up by landing on her head. But the fish refused to answer her – it didn’t make a sound. “Oh, hi,” said Blub. “You must be new. I’ve not seen you around.”
As days went by, more strangers came who also didn’t talk. They were drifting down but didn’t seem to scuttle, swim or walk. It wasn’t long before they started getting in the way, Causing harm to all the creatures as they tried to swim and play.
Blub wanted to be friendly so she greeted those she found, But a manta ray called Manti swam up next to her and frowned. “Whoever are you talking to?” she asked. “There’s no one there.” “It’s these fish,” said Blub. “They’re new here but they only sit and stare.”
They are human things with silly names like ‘bottle’, ‘bag’ and ‘cup’.” “These things aren’t fish,” said Manti. “They’ve just fallen from The Up. And they hatched a plan to send them back to where they could be used. “But don’t the humans need them?” wondered Blub, a bit confused,
The Up was quite a scary place but Blub was feeling brave, So she swam towards the surface, where she bobbed upon a wave. She then began to throw things, first with one arm, then with eight. Having lots of arms for throwing was a really useful trait!
So they gathered lots of objects and returned them to the shore. It wasn’t long till other creatures started cleaning too, From across the seas and oceans; from the Arctic to Peru. “Let’s dive back down,” said Manti, “and collect up even more.”
The creatures threw some items… The humans moaned and grumbled as the clutter clogged their space. “We should throw it out to sea,” said one. “This mess is a disgrace!” ...then some others… ...then some more, And created many massive piles of rubbish on the shore.
A little boy saw Blub and all the creatures in the bay. He stood upon a rock and then began to make a speech: “It’s not fair,” he said. “If we don’t want this rubbish, why would they ?” “We should really find a better way to tidy up the beach!”
The people soon took action as his plea was understood, And they sorted all the rubbish to reuse the bits they could. They quickly worked together till the beach was litter-free, So the things no longer needed wouldn’t end up in the sea.
When all the waste had gone, the humans gathered by the shore, And they promised that the things they used would harm the sea no more. They tried to use less plastic and, instead, did all they could To use eco-friendly objects made from glass, bamboo and wood.
The creatures smiled and cheered because the ocean was now clean. It was safer and much nicer when their home was so pristine. The water is their haven; it’s the only home they know, And The Up’s now full of people who protect what’s down below.
Read the story ‘The Undersea Cleaning Spree’ and look at the illustrations. To see a question about the story, click this button: The Undersea Cleaning Spree ?
Manti the boy Blub Who is the main character in this story? ?
What do you think this story is about? What is a ‘spree’? ? ? Where does this story take place? ?
Can you name any of these animals? ? What do you think ‘The Up’ is? ?
Who or what is the ‘stranger’? ? Why doesn’t it answer Blub? ?
Are these things drifting down really fish? ? What is happening to the sea creatures? ?
What does ‘greeted’ mean? ? What do you think Manti is thinking? ?
How have these things ended up in the ocean? ? What do you think Blub and Manti’s plan is? ?
Where are Blub and Manti now? ? Where do you think Blub is throwing the objects? ?
What is the ‘shore’? ? Do you know where the Arctic is? Do you know where Peru is? ?
What is happening to the rubbish? ? What do the humans think of the piles of rubbish? ?
Who can see Blub and the other creatures in the bay? ? What do you think the humans can do to tidy the beach? ?
What are the humans doing? ?
What does ‘eco-friendly’ mean? ?
How do the animals feel now? ? What does ‘protect’ mean? ?
Have you ever seen this symbol before? Where did you see it? What does it mean? ?
Do you think the humans learnt a lesson? What was it? ?
What else do you think people can do to protect sea creatures? ?
Did you enjoy this story? What was your favourite part? Do you think this is a good title for this story? Can you think of a different one? ? ?
