The Flocean, a brand new world
By Emma Hancock
Flowers + Ocean = New World?
We have been taking a look at our sea for a very long time searching for hidden things that have been keeping us wondering, is this actually true? Well turns out some of those myths are in fact real! We are very excited to announce that the, Flocean is officially a new ecosystem in small parts of the ocean. It seems weird to think that a flowers could survive in the ocean without tearing apart, well these flowers aren't regular flowers, they are what we call water-withstand flowers. This means they can make an air bubble around them to preserve their petals, stems, etc. The marine biologists we've been working with are studying how they are able to do this. Floceans are located near the Great Barrier Reef, The Pacific ocean, and by Hawaii.
The Marvelous Merswose
Seahorses, roses, and mermaids are all magnificent things, and have been put together by nature. This new ecosystem contains a new species called a merswose. Like seahorses a merswose migrates, changes color, and the male is the one that becomes pregnant. Although the merswose does not have a snake-like tail, we have come to know. It has a tail similar to a mermaid. Of course mermaids aren't real, but it's tail sure does look like a mermaid one. Now where does the rose come in? Technically there isn't any rose characteristics in the merswose, but it's ears look like roses and it eats pollen too. Baby merswoses are just like fry (baby seahorses) because they are left on their own when they are born. Less then one in a thousand survive due to predators, such as wolf dragons or shaisys. There is no need to worry about the merswose because there are thousands and thousands currently living in the flocean.
Other Things too?
A very amazing thing about the flocean is big or small, all the animals eat pollen. Some of the new species we've found are the shaisy, a shark and a daisy, a sunphin, a sunflower and a dolphin, and the orchirdle, a turtle and a orchid. Those are all the ones we've found now but, I'm sure there are many more animals to be found. The Shaisy basically acts like a shark, but it is a little more friendly. They aren't completely nice though, so watch out. Sunphins are the best creature to be around because they are fully friendly, much like dolphins. Sunphins are actually so similar that they could be another breed of dolphins. We don't know much about the orchirdle yet, but it looks like a majestic creature to study. There are so many fish in the flocean that have not been explored, but we did notice that the fish seem to be racing each other. There is such a variety of plants in the flocean, such as the main plant "Oceaniiam" it makes it to where all of the fish can swim fast for the day. Other plants include, the tulipater, an underwater tulip, roses, daisies, and orchids. The only difference between the regular flowers and underwater flowers is that the underwater flowers are water-withstand
Finding Food
Unfortunately, not all of the animals are herbivores. Which means that the merswose is prey to most of the carnivores in the area. The shaisy is one of those carnvivores that eat merswoses. Luckily for merswoses, sunphins protect them from shaisys . Sunphins are omnivores that eat seaweed and small fish. The sunphin doesn’t do all the work though, merswoses camouflage themselves to hide from shaisys. Merswoses are also very fast swimmers, compared to the seahorse. Merswoses are also omnivores that eat mostly tiny flowers, algae, and shrimp.
Threats
Problems in the flocean include, Pollution, carnivores, and weeds. The flocean is polluted the same way as the regular ocean, but the flocean is more harmed by it because when sharp things come down, such as coke cans, will pop the flowers air bubbles if they press hard on the bubbles. Another problem is carnivores. Carnivores are a huge problem in floceans because except for carnivores, the flocean is an extremely calm place. The fish are friendly to each other and most of the organisms are herbivores. Weeds are something that are a problem on the outside too. Seaweed isn't really a problem, most of the animals in the flocean eat it, but there are other weeds too. Weeds spread throughout the flocean and can possibly choke some of the fish. Fish can also get stuck in the weeds and not be able to swim out. This is why weeds are a gigantic threat to the flocean. The biggest problem is the wolf dragon. They are the only animal who can pull out the water-withstand flowers from the ground. The good thing is they rarely come to the flocean.
The big question
The main question is, Will this affect other creatures of the sea? Some people are concerned that other animals will come and destroy these flowers. Unless a lion comes down and claws through the sand to get a flower, I don't think that will happen. The flowers are incredibly strong unlike normal flowers. The flocean is a great thing that has changed our sea forever. We will continue studying and keep you updated on new things.