Tides of Change
by Ami Bogin
SOFIA:
Papi! Come look!
DON MIQUEL:
Pura vida! That’s the biggest one we’ve seen today.
DON MIQUEL:
If it wasn’t for you we’d wouldn’t have almost nothing to bring back to Ma!
SOFIA:
Don’t worry Papi, you’ll get a bite soon.
It’s true, there have been less and less fish each week…
DON MIQUEL:
Don’t worry, my love, we will always have each other and our community.
We’ll find a way!
MATEO:
I’ve scoured the tides from Sevegre and then north from Olocuita…
Where could they be?
DON MIQUEL: Well there’s always tomorrow…
MATEO:
These coasts are ba–
SOFIA:
Whatcha’ looking for?
MATEO:
Ah! Nina local!
SOFIA:
I’m Sofia. It sounded like you lost something?
I’m Mateo…
MATEO: (MUMBLING)
Don’t you have parents or something?
SOFIA:
Dad n’ I just got back from fishing. I practically live on these waters.
SOFIA:
But you’re new here. What’re you looking for?
MATEO:
Well Sofia, I’m looking for fish!
SOFIA:
You and me both then.
MATEO:
You can see from my data, the fish are disappearing from the ocean here.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-futurearcticlives/
SOFIA:
“We don’t fish from the oceans… We fish from the mountains.” That’s what we always say here.
MATEO:
OK, I’m not a fisher but even I know that you fish from the ocean-
SOFIA:
No, it’s true!
The sea feeds off the land, the land off the sea.
SOFIA:
In the mountains is where you’ll find where our fish have gone.
MATEO:
The mountains…
SOFIA:
But come on ‘Teo.
Papi~! There’s a new fisher in town!
MATEO:
No, no I’m a marine ecologist not a fisher. . . I’m studying these coasts.
DON MIQUEL:
Ah, welcome! So, what have you found?
MATEO:
Your daughter claims you fish from the mountains but I can see you’re seafolk.
DON MIQUEL:
Ah, but she’s right! The lands and waters are all connected … but city hall, they don’t believe us.
DON MIQUEL:
Sit with us, let’s talk.
I’ve been coming out here to the shore every day this month.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Isla! Come back to momma, please!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
I was raised here on the Baltic Sea and wanted only the same for her.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
Back then, I played in the sand and the surf, carefree. But…
KAIJA:
Honey, that’s not a toy!
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Come on kiddo, let’s go wash up.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
Am I overreacting?
ISLA:
*koff koff*
KAIJA: (THINKING)
There is something wrong with these waters.
A sharp increase in vibrio virus here, same as in Finland, Oh god.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
That means Isla is in danger of vibriosis–
https://nbscomics.com/tides-baltvib/
ISLA:
Waaaaah!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
With the rising temperatures, it’s easier for these pathogens to grow in our waters.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
I’m coming, my love!
ISLA:
Waaaaaah!!!
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Shh. It’s okay. This should help with the pain.
ISLA:
Wuhhh….
RADIO REPORTER:
And next, straight to you from the sunny shores of Costa Rica, we have a song from…
LEO:
My name is Leo.
LEO:
I’m travelling through and this song is inspired by this lovely town I find myself in today.
We fish from the mountains…
LEO:
If the land isn’t safe nor is the sea.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
I knew then what I had to do.
LEO:
The streams run down and the raindrops…
KAIJA: (THINKING)
I was raised by the sea, I’m a marine biologist.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
But we live in a world of complex problems.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
And I would need much more help to bring about change.
Change to save the sea I love and share it with my little Isla.
This, plus the samples from the quadrant on the north ridge…
SOFIA:
Buenos días Teo! I brought a snack from Papi. Have you found our fish yet?
MATEO:
Oh Sofia, you were right.
SOFIA:
Was there ever a doubt?
MATEO:
I tested the soil samples near the rivers in eight of the upland farms…
MATEO:
You can see here, the nutrient runoff has sharply increased in the past years. It used to be offset by mangroves but there weren’t any laws to protect them so they were cut down some years past.
MATEO:
Something the farmers are using nowadays has thrown the whole balance —
Whoa, this is delicious!
The vegetables in these empanadas are fresh from my Momma’s farm up here!
MATEO:
You are a surprising kid, Sofia.
SOFIA:
Hola, Mami!
CARMEN:
Hola, Sofia. So, is this the chap with big ideas?
MATEO:
What have you been telling-
SOFIA:
Exactly: Mateo here has noticed there’s a lot of nutrients running away from the farms!
MATEO:
That’s not quite-
SOFIA
Hey, that’s exactly what you said!
CARMEN:
(To Mateo)
You know…
CARMEN:
It’s not easy being a farmer! But…
I know it’s not easy being a fisher either these days.
CARMEN:
Tell me, what can we do? I’m a farmer but I need the fish too.
You’re a family of action, aren’t you?
CARMEN:
We are a community, we work together.
CARMEN:
Us and our politicians may have let the place down in the past, but we’re not going to now, not if I can help it.
SOFIA:
Yeah!
MATEO:
Well it’s not going to be easy but… There are studies showing that agroforestry techniques already developed by cocoa systems can help us here.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-sustain-cocoa/
MATEO:
For example, planting Guanacaste here would not only relieve heat stress but also recover soil nutrients.
SOFIA:
Oh, that’s our national tree too, Mami!
MATEO:
Do you think you and the other farmers are up to the task?
CARMEN:
You bet we are!
MATEO:
And as for us, we’ve got work to do down by the water’s edge.
SOFIA:
Let’s go!
Leo’s song from thousands of kilometres away changed my life.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
We are all connected, land and sea on our planet.
RESEARCHER:
So, it’s the same here as in Finland…
KAIJA (SPEAKING):
Yes.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Yes, we too have noticed a significant shift in range across many species as temperatures rise.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-rangex/
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
These invasive species are simply moving to where they thrive best.
RESEARCHER:
As they do so, they smoother out local wildlife. Some of the herders in my community have had to change our ancient ways of life to compensate.
The Saami Council took part in research last year and our findings are incontrovertible.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-futurearcticlives/
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Now we know for certain what your people have been trying to warn us about for years.
RESEARCHER:
The climate crisis will affect everything in complex ways.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
But with complex problems come complex solutions!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
We knew what we had to do.
RESEARCHER:
This alpine ecosystem is as important to the sea as the sea to it.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
We just needed the world to listen to us.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
We’ve got to protect indigenous voices and indigenous flora.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
For the land, the water, and for my Isla.
We fish from the mountains…
MATEO:
If the land isn’t safe- Oh dear!
https://nbscomics.com/tides-easmo/
MATEO:
Hey, what’s wrong kiddo?
SOFIA:
Mateo, you said we’d build a forest here to save our fish and our waters.
SOFIA:
You told me there were gonna be huge beautiful trees that suck up the salt and give home to all kinds of creatures.
But only a little tadpole could live here.
MATEO:
Oh, Sofia!
You’re right, this little sapling might not look like the mighty mangrove that once towered over these wetlands.
MATEO:
But this pilot program gives us a real chance and the science is behind us too!
MATEO:
These are seeds of hope and they’re going to change the world.
MATEO:
We just need a bit more funding and then ten years for them to grow, give or take.
SOFIA:
Ten years!?
SOFIA:
We’ll all be grandmas by then!
MATEO:
Ahahaha I know, to you it seems like a long time.
I didn’t say it would be easy to get your fish back.
MATEO:
But, as your mom said, we’re a community and we rely on one another.
MATEO:
Including these little mangroves.
They were once a part of this community too.
MATEO:
They’ll be big one day, but right now they’re only saplings so they’re counting on you, Sofia!
SOFIA:
My mangroves!
Listen up: you are all my little siblings, you’re going to grow healthy and strong!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
We knew what we needed to do.
PRESENTER:
And now presenting Dr. Kaija Lind, marine biologist from Sweden.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Thank you, thank you!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
But the question was, would they listen?
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
It’s an honour to speak to you all today.
I’ll be presenting the results of my past year of research into the massive algal blooms of the Baltic Sea.
All our research pointed to this unseen web that connects land and sea.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
But I want to show you that beyond these unprecedented blooms…
KAIJA (THINKING):
The interconnected system that the Sámi knew of long ago…
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
…and the fascinating “ecosystem engineers” might offer a solution…
KAIJA (THINKING):
…Needs all hands on deck to heal the damage.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
I want to impart toon you that the solution to our problems is multidisciplinary.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-princess/
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
Collective action now won’t just stop global warming but will benefit all life on Earth.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
What is the value for a child to play in the sea?
My daughter now suffers from vibriosis.
I would give anything to let her have the pristine sea of my youth. So I ask you now: What is our pristine sea worth, to you?
Dr. Lind! Do you have a moment?
SCIENTIST:
I was so touched by your story today, thank you.
SCIENTIST:
Is it possible for you to lend your expertise to our project in Hamburg?
SCIENTIST:
We’re looking at the biodiversity of our coastal salt marshes and we could really use your help.
https://nbscomics.com/tides-nordsalt/
SCIENTIST:
It’s all connected, after all.
KAIJA: (SPEAKING)
You can count on me.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
For my Isla’s future, I’ll go to the ends of the ocean!
Vote today!
Protect our mangroves!
PROTESTERS:
They protect us!
Vote for mangroves!
REPORTER:
We’re outside the Puntarenas City Hall now as lawmakers are set to decide whether to continue funding the innovative new mangrove restoration project in local wetlands.
REPORTER:
Young lady, can you tell us what your sign is all about?
SOFIA:
Sure!
SOFIA:
I wanted to show that it’s all connected, land and sea.
SOFIA:
If we don’t protect the land, we won’t be able to fish!
LAWMAKER 1:
That’s the protest outside huh?
LAWMAKER 2:
Mmm…
-act as a filtration system for runoff. And not only that but they sequester huge amounts of carbon too!
LAWMAKER 2:
I didn’t know it was really like that.
LAWMAKER 1:
I mean there’s no budget right —
LAWMAKER 2:
You know, I used to play in the mangroves when I was a kid.
LAWMAKER 1:
Yeah?
LAWMAKER 2:
We were like little tree frogs. But now the mangroves are all gone…
LAWMAKER 1:
Yeah….
PROTESTERS:
Fund our mangroves! Fund our mangroves!
PROTESTERS:
Vote for mangroves!
KAIJA: (THINKING)
The salt marsh restoration project in Hamburg was the first of many that I oversaw.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
Me, a marine biologist propagating shore plants on the other side of the Baltic! Who’d have guessed?
I raced across the globe, spreading the message of protecting our biodiversity.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
Every new place, I wished you could be with me, dear Isla.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
This little mangrove shoot? It’s for you, my love.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
And these protected mussels. They sing your name, Isla.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
I was set into motion by that song and by your illness.
KAIJA: (THINKING)
And one day I promise…
You will see our pristine seas!
We fish from the mountains, where roots breathe the rain.
My line hums soft through stone,
a river borne, an ocean known.
Streams run down and raindrops fall,
and fish in the sea depend on us all.
ISLA:
Hmm….
SOFIA:
Whatcha looking for?
You look like you lost something.
ISLA:
Oh! Hello there!
ISLA:
I’m looking for … there’s a uhm marine coastal conservation corridor somewhere that my mother helped-
SOFIA:
Ah, the Marine Connectivity Center?
It’s got our mangrove forest.
ISLA:
Yes! I’m Isla Lind, the new research assistant.
SOFIA:
Ah, then we’ll be working together!
I’m Sofia. You’re so close, I’ll take you!
SOFIA:
Welcome!
SOFIA:
Things have changed a lot around here.
SOFIA:
And we’re so glad to have you!
