Rising seas, coral bleaching, and her friendship with an intelligent octopus shaped Samantha's world. Now, while traveling to Australia Disturbing events at home leave her isolated from her research team. She grapples with a pressing question: Can humanity repair the damage they've done? Is a viable future for life on land and sea still possible?
Rising seas, coral bleaching, and her friendship with an intelligent octopus shaped Samantha's world. Now, while traveling to Australia Disturbing events at home leave her isolated from her research team. She grapples with a pressing question: Can humanity repair the damage they've done? Is a viable future for life on land and sea still possible?
Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef Australia, 2046
The blue octopus nestled in the finger coral, his tentacles wrapped around the base as he watched divers move along the reef slope. His colors matched the surroundings so well that he was invisible. It was early morning, and the reef was coming to life. Purple sea fans swayed with the pulsing water, and schools of fish moved around and through coral canyons. The octopus wasn’t concerned; divers were frequent visitors on the reef and seemed harmless.
One diver paused, looking at the finger coral. Something had caught her attention, but it took a while for her to see him. It was the octopus’s large expressive eyes and pulsating head ridges that caused her to draw a deep breath and hold her position. Today, her team was checking the slope for coral bleaching and assessing coral health, a constant concern in warmer seas. However, Alana had a special interest in octopuses, her primary field of research back in the United States. She signaled her team to pause, moved to a patch of sand, and settled in to watch the creature.
The octopus looked at Alana and wondered if he had seen this diver before. He thought so. Some divers brought treats, and this could be one. Releasing his hold on the coral, he jetted into the water and floated down, spreading his arms like a net, and settled onto the sand. He was still a safe distance but near enough for Alana to see him clearly. She reached into her bag to retrieve a small crab for her visitor.
He released his hold on the coral and rose into the open water. Using a pulsing motion, he moved close to Alana, then settled onto the sand before her. He reached for the crab with a tentacle. After eating, he moved toward Alana, walking across the sand on his tentacles.
He gazed into her mask for one still moment, making eye contact. Then he reached and embraced her with all eight arms, gave a squeeze, then released and jetted away.
Alana looked at the space where the blue octopus had been, now a wispy cloud of black ink. She shook her head, and a burst of bubbles came from her regulator. With her subject gone, she packed up her camera, swam over to her dive partner, signaling her excitement with her hands, and motioned for him to follow her back to their boat.
Dave gave her a thumbs-up and wrote “Wow” on his slate. Then he added, “That was wild.”
“Yes, it was,” Alana replied, pointing toward the boat. They were on the reef slope at a depth of fifteen meters and had been underwater for almost forty-five minutes. It was time to surface.
At that depth, all colors other than blue were gone. The reef was majestic. A grouper eyed Alana from beneath a ledge while large schools of surgeonfish and snappers darted between coral heads and filled the reef with motion.
Reaching the boat, Alana handed the camera gear to Jim, the team member charged with monitoring the two of them while they were below.
He took the equipment and helped her into the boat. “Anything unusual?”
Alana tossed her gear under the bench. “Yes, wait until you see the video. I just got a hug from an octopus!”
Her dive partner, Dave, climbed onboard. “I got it on camera, too. That was amazing.”
Jim looked at the sky, with dark clouds marching toward them.
“It’s good you guys came back a bit early. I’ve been watching the sky, and I think we are in for some nasty weather. Unless you guys really need to go back down, we should skip a second dive and head in.” Jim didn’t mention the shark he had been watching. Alana, like many Americans, seemed skittish around sharks.
Alana nodded. “I agree. As much as I’d like another dive, this is my last day on the island, and I wouldn’t like it to end with an uncomfortable trip back in a thunderstorm.”
“When do you head back to the States?” Jim asked.
“I leave for Brisbane tomorrow and have three days to finish my lab work, write my final reports, and pack up. I leave for the States on Friday.”
As she dried her hair with a towel, a fin appeared just off the back of the boat. They all watched as a sizable tiger shark swam by.
“Just our luck,” Dave said.
“What luck?” Alana asked.
“If he’d come earlier, we could’ve gotten some great shots.”
Alana laughed. “I can live without taking pictures of a tiger shark. I’d rather watch from up here.”
She looked thoughtful and added, “I hope our octopus friend is okay.”
“Me too, Dave said.
When I agreed to read and review Cyanea by Ann McNicol and then realized it was the fourth book in a series, I quickly immersed myself in the world of these books—and I am so grateful I did!
The books in the series are Charlie's Story, The Nest, Tentacles, and now Cyanea. The story begins in 2044 when our main character, Samantha, is fourteen. Living in a home that sits back against a tumultuous, unpredictable ocean, it's no surprise that the intelligent and witty teen is fascinated with marine life and marine ecosystems. At this point in the story, Samantha spends every spare moment exploring the shallow reef near her home, the beachline, and independently studying marine biology.
In this world, the seas are rising and threatening the coastline, and like in our world, the health of the sea coral is questionable at best. To amend both of these problems, scientists deploy genetically modified coral to restore the reefs and to protect the coastline—but what results is far beyond unexpected.
While exploring the beach one day, Samantha is surprised to come upon an octopus who not only impresses her as more curious about her than usual, but she also realizes that he is assembling images in the sand. Realizing that he is trying to communicate, Samantha realizes that the genetically modified coral must have advanced the evolutionary process and wonders what other sealife might be experiencing as a result of the newly planted corals.
Samantha and Charlie the octopus become fast friends, and their friendship continues into the second book, The Nest, where Samantha not only is introduced to a complicated worldly system ("The Nest") developed by Charlie and his fellow octopi but begins to understand just how advanced their species has become as a result of the coral. This was reminiscent for me of the 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes film, in which Caesar demonstrates advanced intellectual, psychological, and sociological traits after being injected with a serum, which eventually leads to the rise of his fellow apes (though Charlie's world does not escalate to the point of inter-species war). The rest of The Nest and Tentacles largely deal with Samantha's relationship with Charlie and her personal connection with The Nest, as well as her helping their community through a variety of obstacles, by sea, by land, and by sky.
Finally, turning to Cyanea, Samantha is now a promising young marine biologist in her early twenties, whose personality, worldview, and approach to her marine studies have been shaped by her experiences on her home reef with Charlie as her constant companion.
To continue her studies, Samantha travels to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, specifically to study a large blue octopus, named Cyanea, who lives there. Through Cyanea, Samantha realizes how much bigger the world is than she originally thought, but also how interconnected we are, despite our geographic distances. With a variety of issues that test Samantha's relationships with her research teammates and leave her longing for home, Samantha must put to the test not only her knowledge and experience but also her loyalty to all sea life.
This entire book series is a call to action for us to consider our understanding and appreciation of marine life, their intellectual and purposeful nature, their ecological rights, and the obstacles they face due to human involvement, activities, and history of pollution. Cyanea especially pressures readers to think about their own contributions to these issues as Samantha realizes that no matter the size, color, or location of the octopi who occupy coral reefs, they all face the same plunders and deserve equal treatment.
I strongly recommend this series to all readers, though especially to those who have dreamed of either being a marine biologist or having more involvement with marine life, coastal cleanup, and more. The author also provides enough context in each of these books that they could be read independently, but I found these to be so impactful together, I decided to speak to all of them in this review.