© 2012 Alejandra Planet Sepúlveda

All rights reserved

Santiago, Chile.

alejandraplanets@hotmail.com

The e-book on CD will be distributed to organizations that perform environmental

cleanups of beaches from June 2012.The delivery information and photographs

will be on the blog www.ocean-of-trash.blogspot.com

This book will be distributed in printed form, with input from little patrons in poor

communities who do not have internet access in coastal areas and river edges

where pollution from urban waste is a terrible reality. The book will be delivered

from September. Countries with their reception sites will be posted on the blog:

www.ocean-of-trash.blogspot.com

Illustration: Valeria Paredes

Translation: Dan Morgan

danmorgan47@gmail.com

Index

Acknowledgements

The Great Mermaid

The Friends

The Lost Sock

The Baby Whale

The Frightened Oyster

Mrs. Kettle and the Tires

The Heroes

~ 1 ~

Acknowledgements

My thanks go to those who, aware of the collections of garbage

in the oceans, have helped to make this book a reality. We

hope it may educate and entertain about the power of

recycling, love for the ocean, the values and the seven essential

principles of the influence of the ocean on our lives.

Thank you very much for these wonderful letters of support that I

will treasure forever, for the help in the dissemination and / or

grants that transmit the concern you have with the care of our

planet and future generations.

Aldo Goia (Italy)

Alejandro Dragón Soto (Chile-

Spain)

Alessandra Silvestri (New York,

United States)

Alfonso Romón Fernández (Spain)

Andrés Munevar (Colombia)

Ange C (Chile)

Ayudando al Planeta (Saltillo,

Mexico)

Blue Profondo (Italy)

Carla Gandolfo (Chile)

Cecil Muñoz (Chile)

Claudio Antonio Sepúlveda Alfaro

(Chile)

Cluster Cultural (Chile)

Cristian Leiva Ruiz (Chile)

Javier “Beno” Gómez (Spain)

Jessica Curaqueo (Chile- Spain)

Jesús Cáceres (Spain)

Jorge Carbonell García (Spain)

Jorge Planet San Martín (Chile)

Julio Pino Miyar (Cuba)

Laura Cremades García (Spain)

~ 2 ~

Loreto Muñoz Schick (Chile)

Madelón Lánchez (Spain)

Marcelo de Laurentis (Argentina)

María de los Angeles Lewin

Etcheverry (Chile)

Eliana Schick (Chile)

Familia Leiva Ruiz (Chile-

Venezuela)

Fresia Salazar Campos (Costa

Rica)

Gloria Isabel Sepúlveda Ruiz

(Chile)

GPS Buceo (Spain)

Gustavo Becerra Muzzio (Chile)

Hugo Mejías (Chile)

Ignacio Gutiérrez Lezaca (Chile)

Isabel López Garcés (Spain)

Javier Zapata (Chile)

Javiera Alday (Chile)

Lucía Sepúlveda Ruiz (Chile)

María Soledad Ramírez (Chile)

Mauricio Fondato (Italy)

Michael Crawford- Hick (Reino

Unido)

Miguel Alejandro Sepúlveda Alfaro

(Chile)

Mónica González (Spain)

Nicolás Gutiérrez Lezaca (Chile)

Óscar Sepúlveda Alfaro (Chile)

Patricio Paredes Genskowski

(Chile)

Patricio Paredes Planet (Chile)

Pedro Martínez (Spain)

Rodrigo Planet Sepúlveda (Chile)

Ramón Venegas Watson (Chile-

Australia)

Sachi T. Buisson (Philippine)

Tamara Mehsas Torrents (Chile)

Valeria Paredes Planet (Chile)

And every day more people join

this cause and organizations to be

considered in printed books.

~ 1 ~

The Great Mermaid

In a tiny corner of the ocean, in an underground cave, lived

an octopus called Adrian. He was a very special animal as,

though he was an octopus like all the others, with eight

tentacles and a long head, Adrian was purple, like the

violets in a garden, he had splashes of different colors on

his tentacles, and wore a hat woven from green and sky-

blue seaweed.

Despite being only eight years old, he was a strong, hard-

working octopus. From morning till night he worked,

picking up the objects that humans lazily threw into the

sea, or the things that the waves carried off from the

beaches. There were plastic bags and bottles, glass jars,

batteries, tires, broken toys and everything you imagine,

my little friend. Adrian took them all into his cave.

However, one day the cave was full of garbage. There was

no room to put anything else, and if he left it all in the

ocean, the jellyfish and all the animals in the sea would eat

it, thinking it was food. Also, Adrian had seen turtles

caught up in plastic bags, seals wounded by the nets left

by fishermen in the sea, and so many fish sick from the

garbage they ate.

~ 2 ~

~ 3 ~

“If all human beings knew that the oceans and everything

in them give life to the world, they would take more care

of them, and wouldn't throw more garbage into them.

What can I do with so much garbage? Heavens! All my

friends will get sick! If only there were a solution...”

Adrian thought.

While he was thinking about how to get rid of all the

garbage, or where to put it, the dark blue sea around him

lit up, as if the moon had exploded, and a sea fairy

appeared before him, the Great Mermaid. Looking him

straight in the eyes, she said:

“Adrian, I am the Great Mermaid, and I have seen your

great efforts to keep the ocean clean. The time has come

for you to learn that the answer is not to store garbage in

your cave, but to recycle it.”

“What is recycling?” asked Adrian, excited by the

presence of the Great Mermaid.

“Recycling is using, over and over, material from garbage

or waste, to make new products,” the Great Mermaid

answered.

~ 4 ~

~ 5 ~

“So how can I recycle? Where?” asked the little octopus,

wide-eyed. He couldn't understand what he could do with

all the garbage in his cave, and everything that was

floating in the ocean.

“On land, there are containers of different colors, with

signs telling you what kind of garbage goes in each one,”

explained the Great Mermaid, “all the trash should be put

into those containers.”

“And what can I do? I live in the ocean. I can't go on to

the land, I can't breathe there,” responded Adrian, very

sad.

“I will mark your chest with the recycling sign, and from

thence on, you will be the Recycling Octopus. You will look

for your friends, in the sea and on land, and you will ask

them for help,” the Great Mermaid said.

“Why did you choose me, Great Mermaid?” asked Adrian,

very intrigued.

“You were chosen from the day you were born with your

bright colors. Every one of them represents the color of a

container that humans use to recycle. I have come,

because it is time for you to teach others to protect the

oceans and the whole planet, because the oceans make the

earth habitable. Without oceans, there would be no life on

~ 6 ~

Earth,” the Great Mermaid explained, as she swam off,

disappearing into the immense ocean.

Adrian looked up, but the Great Mermaid was already out

of sight.

At that very moment, a talkative Cockatoo, who had

camouflaged herself in the sand, lifted up her head and

said to Adrian:

“I heard everything! Now, tell me Adrian – What are you

going to do?”

“The same as ever, but this time I will look for friends to

help me, because if this task is to succeed it needs many

helpers,” exclaimed the octopus.

So saying, he swam off, laughing with glee, filled with joy

at the hope of a cleaner ocean. He swam on his back to

show the recycling sign on his chest; now everyone would

know that he was the Recycling Octopus.

~ 7 ~

The Friends

Some crabs ran here and there on the bottom of the sea,

disturbing the sleep of the sea slugs and the baby

octopuses whose lay on the sand. The fish and jellyfish

swam around, meeting the sharks and dolphins who swam

up and down.

“What’s that row?” shouted a turtle, passing by.

“The currents have brought a huge amount of garbage

right here. Some sinks, and others float on the surface,”

said a shark.

“And we’re afraid it might squash us!” added a frightened

sea horse.

“I’ll go and tell Adrian the Recycling Octopus. He’ll know

what to do!” said the turtle.

Adrian was in his cave, resting after a hard day's work,

when the turtle arrived and told him what had happened.

“This is very serious! I have to go and find my friends, to

help me get rid of the garbage from the ocean,” Adrian

said.

~ 8 ~

~ 9 ~

And, that very afternoon, Adrian the Recycling Octopus

went to look for his friend Julius the Crab, in the beautiful

white coral where he lived. He found Julius the Crab who

was cooking some food he had collected in his perfect

pincers. Yes, although you might not believe it, Julius the

Crab had sharp pincers like no other crab, and was a

marvelous chef.

“How are you, Julius?” asked Adrian, twirling his tentacles

in time with the swishing of the waves.

“Very well! I found some bananas on the beach and I am

cooking a delicious recipe. How about you, are you OK?”

Julius the Crab asked.

“Not as well as you. I am worried about all the things that

people throw away and end up in the sea. It's a big worry

for me, I am the Recycling Octopus,” Adrian answered.

“Recycli what?” Julius the Crab asked.

“Recycling Octopus, the octopus who recycles, and teaches

how to recycle; that is, to make the things people throw

away as trash, useful again,” Adrian answered.

“Hey, I've never heard of anything like that...” said Julius

the Crab, thoughtfully.

~ 10 ~

~ 11 ~

“The only problem, there is a lot of garbage on the bottom

of the sea, and I don't know what to do with all this

trash,” said Adrian.

“That's simple! Keep on collecting it! You have a lot of

hands. You are ideal for the job, you can grab a lot of

things at the same time,” said Julius the Crab, while

cutting up the banana with his pincers.

“You're right, but it has to be collected, taken up to the

surface, and then put in the recycling containers. I need a

lot of friends to help me, and I thought you could be one

of them,” Adrian said.

“Oh, no! Not me! I'm too busy preparing my meal. I don't

have time!” replied the crab, very serious.

“But Julius … if you don't help me, those little pieces of

plastic and glass will get mixed up with your food, and we

will all get sick – those in the ocean and out of it. Just

look at the water for a moment, see how it looks,” insisted

Adrian.

Julius the Crab looked up and saw a thick, dirty gray mass.

So much garbage in the water! Then he understood how

important it was to help Adrian in his great task.

“You can count on me, Adrian!” shouted Julius at last.

~ 12 ~

~ 13 ~

In the evening rush, both friends went to see Sara, the

Starfish, and invite her to help with the recycling. She

knew everything that went on in the sea. She knew every

seaweed that went floating by!

As soon as she saw Adrian she said:

“This is a disaster! Have you seen all the garbage there is

on the sea bed?”

“Yes, and that's why I'm here,” Adrian managed to say.

“What have you got on your chest? Tell me, tell me!” Sara

the Starfish interrupted.

“That's just what I want to talk to you about. That green

sign on my chest is the recycling symbol. It means that old

stuff can be used again. That way there'll be less garbage

on land and in the sea. Now you can call me Recycling

Octopus,” Adrian said.

“I have to tell my friends about this! Goodbye!” said Sara

the Starfish quickly.

“Don't go, Sara! I have to tell you something!” shouted

Adrian.

“Yes, stay, stay...” muttered Julius the Crab, in an ironic

tone, who was still not sure about the commitment he had

just taken on.

~ 14 ~

~ 15 ~

“Tell me, Adrian, tell me everything. What do you want to

tell me?” begged the starfish.

“I need you to help me get the garbage out of the ocean,”

said Adrian.

“But how can I do that? I can't catch anything with my

feet,” said Sara the Starfish, now very curious.

“Just look in the sand of the sea bed, and if you find

trash, tell me,” explained Adrian.

“OK, Adrian, you can count on me!” said Sara the Starfish,

“I'll tell the news to all the starfish in the sea!”

Adrian and Julius the Crab continued on their way, looking

for other friends who might want to help. They found

Silvio the Blowfish, and asked him to take charge of taking

all the stuff that didn't belong in the ocean, up to the

surface.

“Count on me, Adrian!” said Silvio the Blowfish.

Then they found Tim the shark, and Tom the dolphin,

where the waters were roughest. Adrian asked them to

look out for any garbage that fell into the ocean, and to

tell him at once. And again, Adrian heard the same thing:

“Count on me, Adrian!”

~ 16 ~

~ 17 ~

As they went along, Adrian and Julius the Crab found many

friends who wanted to help them, like the jellyfish,

swordfish, hammerhead sharks and the whales, among

many others.

However, they still had to find some friend who would take

the garbage to the containers on dry land.

“A bird would be ideal!” thought Adrian and asked Julius

the Crab to rise to the surface with him, to look for Felisa

the Seagull.

They swam up, and stuck their heads out of the water.

Once there, they saw Felisa the Seagull flying over the

ocean, as she had done for many years. She was a wise old

seagull. She knew the problem of the garbage in the sea

very well. She had also seen how little importance humans

gave to this tremendous problem.

And once more Adrian heard:

“Count on me, Adrian!”

From that day onward, Adrian and his friends worked

ceaselessly, but very happily, as they knew how important

it was to live in a clean ocean.

~ 18 ~

~ 19 ~

The lost Sock

Down a great river, Maria the bad-tempered Eel swam,

moving her long, thin body in waves. She crossed the

ocean, as she had to find her way to the Sargasso Sea, to

see her friends. She had a certain arrogance, as she knew

that the other fish, great and small, steered clear of her,

knowing of her bad temper. No-one liked getting a swipe

from that long tail of hers.

It happened that one day, while on her journey, she found

a shape, as long and thin as her, floating in the water

despite a big hole in its body. This scared Maria the Eel a

lot. With a terrific swipe of her tail, she hit out - but the

shape didn't move.

Eh! Eh! The shape shouted at Maria the Eel. But Maria,

very frightened, was no longer there. She had swum off,

shamed by the laughter from all the other fish nearby.

A starfish who saw this told Sara the Starfish what had

happened.

~ 20 ~

~ 21 ~

Sara, moving her legs as fast as she could, rushed to Julius

the Crab, and told him the story of the strange shape

floating in the ocean, and its meeting with Maria the bad-

tempered Eel.

“Ha! It must be something that humans threw into the

sea,” said Julius the Crab.

“I don't think so. I think it's a foreign eel, because

nothing happened to it when Maria hit it. Also, they are

very similar – long and thin,” replied Sara the Starfish.

“Tell me, Sara – which animal with a hole in its side can

survive in the ocean?” asked Julius the Crab.

“You're right, Julius. No-one! So we have to go to Adrian,

the Recycling Octopus. He'll know what to do!” Sara the

Starfish answered.

“Adrian! Adrian!” shouted Julius the Crab, outside the

little octopus's cave. “There's a strange object in the

water!”

“Coming!” said Adrian, putting on his hat.

Adrian came out of his cave and, with Julius the Crab and

Sara the Starfish, they all went to see the strange object.

“It's a sock!” cried Adrian, very serious.

~ 22 ~

~ 23 ~

“What's a sock?” asked Sara the Starfish.

“It is an item of clothing that humans use to keep their

feet warm,” explained Adrian.

Adrian went up to the sock that was feeling very bad, and

asked: “Why are you here, in the middle of the ocean?”

“They left me on the beach, they forgot all about me, and

a wave came and dragged me off,” said the sock.

“And why are you sad?” asked Julius the Crab.

“Because I'm wet and cold. I don't belong in the sea, like

you,” said the sock, miserably.

“Maybe the human that lost you will come along, because

now he has only one sock and he needs you to keep both his

feet warm,” interrupted Julius the Crab.

“Julius, the ocean is still unexplored. Humans know very

little about our home. Also, even if the owner of the sock

wanted to, he wouldn't find it,” added Adrian.

“Yes Adrian, the ocean is immense. It's the biggest thing

on the planet and humans know only a tiny fraction of it,”

said the sock.

“Don't worry!” said Adrian to the sock “we'll find Silvio the

Blowfish and he will take you back to the beach. From

there, Felisa the Seagull will carry you back home.”

~ 24 ~

~ 25 ~

“But I don't have anywhere to go, I have a hole and I'm no

good for keeping feet warm. I don't know what will

become of me!” the sock wept.

“Everyone, absolutely everyone, is good for something and

somebody, sock. Never lose hope. You'll see that you will

have a place to go and you'll be useful again,” said Adrian.

So saying, he went off to look for Silvio the Blowfish.

While Sara the Starfish, at the bottom of the sea, was

telling the clams and the other starfish what had

happened to the sock, Silvio the Blowfish was taking him

up to the surface, where Felisa the Seagull was waiting for

him, to take him far away from the sea.

The following week, Adrian went to find his friends and

told them:

“Today's the day! Let's go and see how the sock is, on dry

land.”

Adrian, Julius the Crab and Sara the Starfish swam to the

beach. From there they could see the sock, who was very

happy. He was a very important actor in a puppet theater.

The seagull had taken the sock to a girl who recycled old

socks, and turned them into beautiful actors, to delight

boys and girls.

~ 26 ~

~ 27 ~

“The Sock is happy!” cried Adrian.

And together with Julius the Crab and Sara the Starfish,

they went back to the depths of the ocean, where the

oysters, clams and mussels applauded the good deed of

Adrian the Recycling Octopus and his friends.

~ 28 ~

~ 29 ~

The Baby Whale

Once a hoarse cry alarmed the animals of the ocean. The

fish and the shellfish hid amongst the dense, beautiful

corals. Only the starfish crawled along the sand, to see

where this horrendous sound came from. As always, the

first one to be heard giving the news of what happened

was Sara the Starfish.

“Something terrible has happened!”

“Terrible! Horrible!” cried another of the starfish.

“What could be more terrible than walking through all this

garbage?” growled Julius the Crab, as he used his sharp

pincers to pick up plastic bottle caps from the sea bed.

“Eating it!” answered Sara the Starfish “The baby whale

has eaten all the trash it found in its path!”

“Go on! And where's its Mom?” asked Julius the Crab in an

ironic tone.

“Oh, Julius! Don't say that, this is very serious. Also, the

jellyfish have said that its Mom is fleeing from some

people in a big ship, who want to hunt it down,” said Sara

the Starfish.

~ 30 ~

~ 31 ~

“Don't you just know it all!” said Julius the Crab.

Near the corals where these sea animals were hiding, was

Adrian the Recycling Octopus. He had heard what had

happened to the baby whale, and was thinking up a solution.

“Adrian! The baby whale is crying. It has a bellyache,”

Julius the Crab told him.

“I know. I think the best thing is to call the sardines.

They will help us,” said Adrian.

“How? This is a job for big folk. Sardines are very small,

they are useless. They'll get a tail lashing, for sure!”

replied Julius the Crab.

“Often, Julius, the smallest can save the biggest. Don't

forget we are all necessary in this world. Without

exception,” answered Adrian.

“And just how will they help?” asked Julius the Crab.

“That's what I would like to know, too!” muttered Sara the

Starfish.

“I'll tell the sardines to get inside the baby whale and

tickle his insides. Then he'll throw up the garbage he has

inside,” said Adrian.

“Ugh! As well as getting a tail lashing, they'll get eaten by

the baby whale!” grumbled Julius the Crab.

~ 32 ~

~ 33 ~

When the sardines arrived, Adrian explained to them what

they had to do. They lined up and swam into the baby

whale's mouth.

“I don't want to watch!” said Julius the Crab, covering his

eyes.

“I do, I don't want to miss a thing!” exclaimed Sara the

Starfish.

From the sea bed, the clams and sponges saw the sardines

swim into the enormous jaws of the baby whale, to tickle

him with their tiny tails.

Suddenly, the baby whale began to shake its huge body.

The sardines were shot out, and everyone around sped off,

as far away as possible.

The baby whale sneezed, and threw up all the garbage it

had swallowed. There was a tremendous commotion, but

the baby whale began to smile. It was better.

The fish, and all the sea creatures, came up to the baby

whale again. Some of them stroked its belly, others

danced for it – up, down and sideways, like a baby's mobile,

and the baby whale laughed and laughed.

~ 34 ~

~ 35 ~

At the same time, Adrian and his friends picked up the

garbage and took it up to the surface, for Felisa the

Seagull to take to the containers on dry land. They came

and went until they had taken away all the trash near the

baby whale.

At that moment mommy whale arrived. She was exhausted

from her efforts to escape from the humans who wanted

to catch her.

~ 36 ~

“How good you have been to my baby! Thank-you!” said

mommy whale, as she swam up to the surface with him.

Adrian and Julius the Crab lay down on the yellow sand,

tired after the agitation of the day.

“Oh Julius! If only humans knew what damage they are

doing to the ocean, they wouldn't throw garbage on the

beaches. The earth has only one huge ocean, and they

don't look after it. While they chase mommy whale, her

baby gets sick from all the trash,” complained Adrian.

“You're right, Adrian! Humans know nothing about life!”

Julius the Crab, worn out, barely whispered.

“You see, Julius, how good it feels when you have done a

good deed?” asked Adrian. But Julius the Crab did not

answer. He was sleeping like a baby.

~ 37 ~

The Frightened Oyster

Clarita was a beautiful oyster, young and happy, a real joy

in the ocean. Her white shell, shiny and smooth, opened

and closed again and again, applauding the colorful fish who

swam around her every morning. How Clarita loved to see

the fish, like colorful lamps! However, my dear friends,

one day Clarita the Oyster did not want to open.

“Adrian! Adrian! Clarita the Oyster doesn't want to open.

Nobody knows what has happened to her. The starfish say

she is very frightened. Some say this, some say that, but

everyone is worried,” shouted Julius the Crab.

“Maybe Clarita ate some trash?” asked Adrian, very

puzzled.

“What a bother!” said Sara the Starfish, “I was asleep and

I didn't see anything.”

Adrian swam quickly over to Clarita, who was hiding among

some seaweed.

“Clarita! Clarita! It's me, Adrian the Recycling Octopus!”

“I'm not going to open. I don't want to see that black rain.

It makes me really scared,” said the oyster.

~ 38 ~

~ 39 ~

“What black rain?” asked Adrian.

“The rain that falls on to the ocean. I saw it. It's really

black, and has very big, thick drops,” stated Clarita.

“The ocean influences the weather of the world, but it has

nothing to do with that rain,” replied Julius the Crab.

“It's true what Julius says. It's not rain, but it is

something bad, Clarita. It is crude oil, which falls into the

sea from ships. But the currents, and the blowfish have

carried it away. Open up and show us your hidden beauty,”

begged Adrian.

“No, never. I'll stay closed up. I don't want to see how

humans are destroying my home. Also, have you seen the

black stain on my shell? I'm so ashamed,” said Clarita.

“Don't be ashamed, the most beautiful thing about you is

your inner being, the beauty of your feelings, turned into a

beautiful pearl,” said Adrian.

“You really think that?” asked Clarita.

“Indeed I do. Also, if you open you can help to get rid of

the trash that falls into the sea,” said Adrian, as he

arranged his hat.

“How can I do that?” asked Clarita.

~ 40 ~

“You can keep watch, and tell me when the water turns

black, or when you see garbage on the sea bed,” continued

Adrian.

“You're right, Adrian! Closed up, I'm of no use. You can

count on me,” said Clarita, enthusiastically.

And Clarita opened up. She shone as never before. She

had understood that her beauty was interior, and that

showing it to the marine world, she could help her friends.

~ 41 ~

Mrs. Kettle and the Tires

It was six o'clock in the evening. The sun's bright rays

gradually dimmed and darkness began to reign. In the

ocean, only a few fluorescent animals shone a little light in

the darkness of the deep.

Alone in this cold, alien and hopeless world, there was an

old, rusty kettle.

“Oh! How sad I am!” the kettle sighed.

Beneath the dull tin of the kettle, some tires piled up on

the sea bed heard her sigh. They, as old and abandoned as

her, lay there in silence. But one of them, taking pity on

their mutual misfortune, raised his voice:

“Eh! Mrs. Kettle! We're down here!”

The kettle, who was crying at that moment, looked down

and saw not one, but hundreds of tires piled up.

She wiped her tears and asked:

“How long have you been here?”

“Oohhh! A long time. I don't know how long we've been

here, but no-one has ever come to rescue us,” said a gray

tire.

~ 42 ~

~ 43 ~

“So, I've got no hope...” lamented the kettle even more.

“And what would you do if you were taken out of the sea?

Neither you nor we are useful for anything. We'd be left

to rot in some field, just as abandoned as we are here,”

said a black tire.

“I don't know what I would do, but I'd be dry,” answered

Mrs. Kettle.

“And how did you get here?” asked a small tire.

“In the past, I was beautiful, elegant and very useful. I

was used to boil water, to make the best tea. Men and

women rushed, when they heard my whistle. Oh, such a

wonderful time! Then along came electric kettles, they

made less noise, they were faster, and everyone forgot

about me. They threw me into the garbage, then I got to a

river and the river brought me to the sea. That is my sad

story!” answered Mrs. Kettle very sadly.

“We were thrown into the sea from a truck. We always

arrive in groups,” said the gray tire.

“The ocean is so beautiful, it has so many different plants

and animals. The bad thing for us is that we are not from

here, and we don't know how to get out,” said the oldest

tire.

~ 44 ~

“That tells me everything! We'll never get out of here!”

cried Mrs. Kettle, giving way to great sorrow.

“There is hope! I have heard the fish talking about Adrian,

the Recycling Octopus. An octopus that takes garbage out

of the ocean, and takes it to a dry place for recycling,”said

the black tire.

“But no-one knows we are here. The fish don't see us,

because it's so dark down here,” continued another one.

“Maybe you, Mrs. Kettle, could call Recycling Octopus with

your whistle?” said the smallest.

“No, I can't. I'm full of water! It's impossible!” Mrs.

Kettle complained.

~ 45 ~

“The impossible is possible, if we really want it. Try it,

Mrs. Kettle. Don't you want to get out of here?” the

biggest one insisted.

Mrs. Kettle tried and failed. Then again and nothing. She

tried for a long time, until a whistle was heard by the

whole sea bed. The shrillest and most desperate whistle in

the whole ocean.

Piiii! Piiii! Piiii! Piiii!

In one of the underwater caves, Adrian and his friends

were picking up the trash that did not belong in the ocean.

“What's that sound?” asked Adrian, when he heard Mrs.

Kettle's whistle.

“I don't know, let's go and see. The sound is coming from

the west,” exclaimed Julius the Crab.

Adrian and Julius set off, and found Mrs. Kettle and the

tires.

“Don't worry!” said Adrian, “I've taken many friends like

you out of the ocean.”

“I'll go find Felisa the Seagull and her friends the

pelicans, so they will wait for us on the surface,” added

Julius the Crab, running with his fat little legs along the

dark sand of the ocean bed.

~ 46 ~

Mrs. Kettle was excited, and the tires rolled around a

little, very happy.

Soon the gulls and pelicans had taken them all to a garden,

where a happy old woman was waiting for them.

This old lady recycled old tires and kettles, and made them

into lovely planters for her plants. She painted Mrs.

Kettle and made a beautiful flowerpot of her. All the tires

were made into handsome (and happy) planters, the best in

the garden.

~ 47 ~

The Heroes

That first day of spring was warm and bright but Adrian,

pensive and sad, sat on a rock that stuck out of the water.

He had one of his tentacles on his face, and he was

thinking, remembering and longing for the sweetness of

days past, when the ocean was a clean, healthy place. It

was dark blue, and all the sea creatures swam and crawled

around, free and happy. Now, though, they were

surrounded by an enormous garbage heap, and his big, dark

eyes had to look at all the objects there. Saddened by the

look of the dirty ocean, full of waste, he wondered to

himself, in a low voice:

“How is it possible that humans don't understand that

they are connected with the ocean? How is it possible

that they don't worry about this garbage?”

That day the work had been hard and long and Julius the

Crab was also sitting on another rock, looking in wonder at

all the trash in the water. Sara the Starfish was talking

with a limpet, under the same rock.

“What are you thinking about, Adrian?” asked Julius the

Crab, seeing him so deep in thought.

~ 48 ~

~ 49 ~

“I think that the ocean could go back to being like it was

before, healthy and with no trash, only if we got help from

the humans,” answered Adrian.

“But it's the humans who fill us with garbage!” cried Sara

the Starfish.

“Yes, I know, but sometimes you hear boats that come

along, and people take out the floating garbage. If only we

could find them! Those are the humans we need!”

explained Adrian, looking at the trash all around him.

“Oh Adrian! We've enough to do collecting all this

garbage. And now you want to look for kind-hearted

humans. Ha, ha! They are hard to find!” Julius the Crab,

laughing, said.

“But we have to try!” exclaimed Adrian, getting ready to

swim to the beach.

“To the beach?” asked Felisa the Seagull, who was flying

by.

“Yes, there are humans there,” said Adrian “And we have

to talk to the kindest ones of them. They will understand

our language, because they see and listen with their

hearts. The Great Mermaid, our Fairy Godmother, told me

this in dreams, a few days ago.”

~ 50 ~

“OK, Adrian. We have to try it!” said Julius the Crab.

So Adrian and his friends went to the beach. Once there,

they saw several humans having fun on the sand. Some

were playing ball, and some were making sand-castles, with

buckets and spades. There were bright sunshades, and

towels with colorful pictures on. Seeing them, Julius the

Crab asked:

“Why are the humans so small?”

~ 51 ~

“Because they are boys and girls, they are human

children,”answered Felisa the Seagull.

“Let's go and talk to them!” said Adrian.

“Are you crazy? They will eat me!” exclaimed Julius the

Crab, startled.

“Don't be afraid, Julius!” replied Adrian.

The boys and girls there saw Adrian the Recycling Octopus

and his friends in a corner of the beach, behind a rock.

They ran up to them, happy, excited and curious. The boys

and girls stood in front of them and listened with

attention to what Adrian the Recycling Octopus had to say.

“Every day we lose more sea friends, because humans are

filling the ocean with garbage. They leave trash on the

beaches, and the waves take it, and currents concentrate

it in the center of the ocean,” said Adrian.

“And the ships throw their trash into the water!” cried

Felisa the Seagull from the sky.

“Other people throw their trash into the rivers, and the

rivers take it to the sea,” added Sara the Starfish.

~ 52 ~

~ 53 ~

“And fishermen leave their broken nets in the water,”

explained Julius the Crab.

“Many humans simply treat the ocean like a huge garbage

dump. To solve these problems we need the help of many

boys and girls. We need them to recycle waste, and to

teach their families how to do it,” continued Adrian.

One of the children at the back shouted, very loud:

“Let's Recycle!”

And then they all began to collect the trash lying on the

beach, and took it to recycling containers.

With real commitment, they quickly ran about, bending

down again and again to pick up plastic bottles, empty

yogurt pots, and all the garbage that lay on the sand.

“It's incredible how good and kind the little humans are!”

exclaimed Julius the Crab.

“And one day they will be big, and good adult humans!” said

Adrian.

“So, they are our friends?” asked Sara the Starfish, as

she inspected the sands with her tiny but expert eyes.

~ 54 ~

~ 55 ~

“Yes, and they are friends of the ocean and of the whole

earth. They are the real heroes of the planet!” shouted

Adrian. Then he turned and went back to the sea, as the

jelly fish rushed towards him like flashes.

“What has happened?” asked one of them.

“We have found the heroes of the planet!” answered

Adrian, very happy.

“And that's us!” shouted a little girl.

“See you soon, little friends!” Adrian shouted, as a

goodbye.

Very happy with his new friends, Adrian the Recycling

Octopus swam off, to the depths of the ocean.

The next morning, Sara the Starfish told Adrian that the

sea echo had told her that all the girls and boys on the

earth were recycling.

“So, it's real! Between all of us, we can save the sea!”

yelled Adrian.

“And the whole earth!” added Julius the Crab.

~ 56 ~

~ 57 ~

Alejandra Planet

Born in Santiago de Chile, is a journalist with studies of philology. She has published

the poetry collection "The Silence of Blackbirds", "Dictionary of Rhymes" and "The

Adventures of a Curious Ladybug." She has received numerous awards in various

countries, and her poems and stories are published in anthologies of Spain,

Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

Valeria Paredes Planet

Born in Santiago de Chile, is the daughter of the author and a student. Her

drawings have won awards in Spain and Taiwan. The drawings in this book are part

of a contribution to the care of the ocean and her love for nature.

~ 58 ~

¡Salvemos el Mar! Las Aventuras de PulpireciclaKKKKK

The various types of pollution caused by substances

and energies that do not belong to the marine

environment have made the ocean the largest

landfill in the world and has caused the extinction of

thousands of species. This book originates from the

urgent need to show children in an entertaining

way the reality of the sea on our planet, teach the

essential principles of ocean literacy, to teach us

the importance of the ocean on Earth and

stimulate awareness as to how recycling is a viable

solution for the care of the environment.

"The ocean makes Earth habitable"