A Sea of Red

The world is changing. The ozone layer is depleting; leaving the planet open for attack from the sun’s harmful rays. Temperatures are soaring. Polar ice caps are melting, and water levels are rising.

Humans may not have noticed the changes right away but I did. There are many names for me. Mother Nature. Mother Earth. I am an entity of the universe. One that sees and knows all. I am not alive. I am not dead. I am just here; balancing life.

Yet, Earth is a different story. The main life forms that have dominated the planet, humans, have caused the balance to shift. Their naïve minds have created pollutants that are destroying their world but they have yet to see the true impact they have caused. They will not grasp the consequences until it is too late. The damage has been done.

I watch from above, looking down at the relaxing beach scene. People gathered around the water, swimming, tanning, having fun. Business meetings took place at the seaside restaurants; the men dressed in their best suits and discussing contracts.

The people of Florida have no idea what lies ahead of them.

Off the shoreline, a red layer of algae floated, looking like a swirl of dye mixing with the deep blue seawater. From above, the Red Tide is mesmerizing; its vibrant color contrasting with the mellow seascape. But, the closer I looked, the more haunting it became.

The Red Tide is a killer in disguise.  No sea life can survive its harmful toxins. Fish float in the water; the smell of their rotting corpses lingering in the air. The coral below the waves is pure white and brittle; both the color and life sucked out of it. This is a place of death. A place where marine life can no longer thrive.

In low quantities, the Red Tide is a quiet, sparse inhabitant of the water. It is a form of microscopic life. Living. Breeding. Surviving.

But, in large numbers it is dangerous. Humans created the perfect storm. With the rising temperatures and sea levels, the Red Tide has been given the ideal environment to grow at exceeding rates. There have been more and more cases of Red Tide around the world. It invades the oceans, absorbing itself into the oysters laying on the ocean floor. It incubates inside of the hard shell, waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Before anyone can explain what is happening, the algae infests the human’s food supply; mixing with other fish carcasses and seafood. The fish are distributed from restaurant to restaurant. Country to country.

I watch in horror as the deadly algae spreads; my heart aching for the poor humans who will surely be blindsided by the catastrophic turn of events.

People began getting sick. Some a simple stomach ache while others dying in a hospital bed. Red Tide poisoning is on the rise and the humans are thrown for a loop.

I want to bring the events unfolding to a sharp halt. Want to help the humans overcome the sickness. Want to use my power to correct the wrongs they have done. To set the Earth back on course. I am a creator of planets. Of life, not death.

Yet, I can’t bare to intervene. This is their own fault. Their unappreciative behavior towards their planet, their one and only home, makes my blood boil.

I sit back and watch the petty humans struggle to figure out what went wrong. What was making their kind so sick. After all, the algae wasn’t visible to the naked eye unless it was found in large clusters. They were scrambling for the cause; some praying for help while others turning over every stone for answers.

As the poisoning spread from one coast to another, more and more people fall ill under its wake. Who would have thought such a tiny, microscopic lifeform could cause so much damage? Yet, it buried countries in fear. A cloud of death hung over the humans, even as they figured out the algae was the cause of this preventable pandemic.

There is no stopping what has begun. No quick fix. The humans have, themselves, turned an innocent lifeform into their own killer.

The coastlines continue to turn red as the algae grows and multiplies. The food chain is impacted. Seafood becomes scarce. Fish swim deeper; away from the poisonous Red Tide. The people that live, work and hunt on the sea are not only dying from the algae but from starvation as well. Some have lost the sacred food supply that they thrive on while others can no longer afford to put a meal on the table.

I clench my aching heart, the feeling of pity and regret overcoming me; a creation of mine is dying before my eyes. Yet, there is nothing I can do. The humans have made their bed and now I must let them lay in it. They have brought this upon themselves. They have damaged the planet. I have observed both the beauties and atrocities of life and now, I fear, I will observe another mass extinction.

Soon, it will not just be the Red Tide. There will be worse to come if they do not begin to clean the mess they have made. More diseases. More death. Epidemics will easily turn to pandemics. The way of life will change.

Humans blame me for their dying race. It is Mother Nature’s fault. She is seeking revenge. But, in the end, they are killing themselves. The wide spread of the Red Tide is their own creation. The millions of deaths that resulted from the algae is on their heads, not mine.

Now, I can only wait until they destroy both themselves and their home. Only then will I get the opportunity to start fresh. To recreate a world where the inhabiting creatures will not make the same mistakes as their predecessors.

I may have an influence over the Earth, but it is the inhabitants that decide on their own fate. In the end, I hope, the Red Tide pandemic opens up the human’s eyes and will make them rethink their actions or I fear, it will be too late. There will be nothing anyone can do to correct their wrongs. A disease of their own creation will be their undoing.