Terra 2: A Second Tree Of Life

10 Million Years PE: The Oceans

10 Million Years Post Establishment: The Oceans

The relatively warm waters of Terra 2 have changed much since their artificial introduction to the planet 10 million years ago. The oceans sea level has decreased world wide due to the changing climate and approach of the ice age, dropping by about 134 inches or 11 feet. This process of water being locked in a solid ice form near the poles has taken many millions of years, initially beggining all the way back in 1 MYPE, the official starting point of the ice age (Terra 2 is technically currently in the ice age as of 10 MYPE, though its affects are relatively mild). The shores of all three continents have extended, even if by only a little, and revealed new rock formations and created a great many new tidal pool-like enviroments. These rock pools will serve as a haven for species of crustaceans such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish and even molluscs such as small sea slugs and jellyfish. These areas may serve as a place for semi-aquatic species to transition from sea to land, giving rise to the first independantly terrestrial creatures. However, no such thing has happened thus far. The ocean is seperated into many different seas, 4 to be exact. Each one holds their own enviroments and conditions with their own ecosystems largely independant of each other but still interconnected. These 4 seas are the Darsinium Sea (located within the crescent shaped landmass of Darsi), the Subcontinental Gulf (The most expansive of the seas, covering a large percentage of the southern hemisphere), The North Sea (situated above Okiina and Almara, hugging the coast of the northern ice cap) and finally the Median Sea (Situated south east of Almara and south west of Okiina, inbetween all the other seas). There are also a lot of rivers and lakes on Terra 2, from the largest lakes to the most shallow estuaries, there is no shortage of land-locked aquatic ecosystems, especially in Okiina.

The goldfish and guppies of the first seeded marine animals on Terra 2 have diversified greatly since their arrival, speciating into thousands of lineages, tens of thousands of species and millions of individuals. Though their evolution was slow at first, it has now ramped up to create a brilliant variety of organisms, each with their own niche and role in the larger ecosystems of their native seas. Some have grown immensely large while others have shrunk. The simple species of algae and sea grass have gone on to dominate the marine flora of the Archi Epoch with no competitors whatsoever, evolving many different vibrant pigments. These plants have sprung to life in recent millenia, covering the shallow seas with colour and vibrancy. Now, let us explore the 4 seas and their native flora and fauna! (PS: This chapter will not follow the structure of one species per paragraph and not all entries will have art. Some seas just have more to write about than others :) )

The Darsinium Sea

The Darsinium Sea is the smallest of the open water enviroments on Terra 2, covering about two eighths of the planets surface and being largely isolated from the other habitats. It sits right on the equator and therefore has the highest average temperature of all the seas, making it an ideal underwater tropical paradise for all sorts of marine life to thrive in. As well as this, the Darsinium Sea sits right on the edge of a continental plate, its boarder being said plate's rift. Since the deepest sea floor in this body of water reaches a maximum of 11,000 feet the indiginous life rarely exceeds any grand scale, instead leaving that for the larger seas. However, despite the Darsinium Sea's underwhelming size, it is home to a myriad of exotic species thanks to its tropical temperatures. This water body also has a suprisingly complex system of currents too, a total of 16 to be exact, likely due to the influence of Terra 2's double moon situation. Thanks to the moons, the sea is not only lit up in the day (light penetrates the waters surface and reaches quite deep in this area) but also dimly alluminated in the night by reflected sunlight. This has enabled many sea grass and algae species to abandon their roots in the sand and "float" for the majority of their lifespans. On the rippled surface can be spotted huge mats of green and multicolored algae, feeding off of the sun. Some of these mats can reach on for hundreds of meters, occasionally eclipsing a thousand, stretching off and creating a rich underwater floating network of planty tissue for all sorts of marine life to flurish in. Consequently, hundreds of varicoloured guppy and goldfish descendants use these floating mats as a perfect living space to avoid the newly evolved piscine predators that feed on them. While most fish feed on the sea grass and algae, now called floating-grass and prism-algae, of the floating forests, a small specialized selection have begun to actively hunt. With their slender bodies, long under-bite jaws and rudder-like tails, the Guppicuda is a supreme predator in these parts. Hiding in the shade of the marine floral sheets, these diurnal hunters use their unusually clear vision to spot small shoals of colourful and, unfortunately, very noticeable prey. Within less than a second the Guppicuda can achieve speeds of 7 miles per hour, a very fast fish indeed (by this seas standards). However, their prey is not completely hopeless. Although their bright neon scales often give the shoal away from a distance, when up close it is hard to distinguish between individuals. They use this to their advantage, seeking safety in numbers and strategic maneuvering to avoid the relatively large 8-9 centimeter guppicudas. Other species of goldfish have instead opted for numbers not in population but in weight, growing absurdly large so that no predator, yet, can attempt to bring them to harm. Some of these ginormous goldfish, or elephish, can be as large as a man and as heavy as an earth tiger. To upkeep this absurd bodywieght they must consume 10-15kg of sea grass a day, sustaining their insatiable apetite. When an elephish dies, normally of old age at around 30, it is the closest thing to a whalefall this part of the ocean has. It slowly falls to the not so far away seabed where it is feasted upon by crustacean scavengers like lobsters, cray fish and sometimes even other oppurtunistic fish. They gather in groups and within 2-3 hours their is nothing but bones left in the hoards wake. Fortunately, the Darsinium Sea is the only sea free of jellyfish, or at least any of significance. The only ones that do visit are tiny, harmless box descendants of only a couple millimeters to an inch in size and the occasional floating corpse of a desceased Towering Jellyfish.