Jill the Jellyfish

SPROINGG!!!

"Ouch!" came a voice from out of the blue. Victor was startled. He looked around, but he didn't see anything. "I'm here, you pointy-headed goofus!" Victor looked closely. He saw a glob that looked something like an umbrella with strings hanging down from it. "What are you?" he asked. "I can see the ocean through you." "I am a jellyfish. They call me Jill the Jellyfish. What's it to you? You almost punched a hole in me!!" "I'm sorry," replied Victor. "What do you do, Jill?" "I float with the currents, and pump water." "I am a current." giggled Victor. "Well! You should be more careful," said Jill. "How would you like to be pumped through my canals?" "Ooooooh, I don't know. They're awfully skinny."

"If you entered my canals, I would digest you. Look here, you can see my stomach."
Victor jumped back a little. He didn't like this at all. "What are those strings hanging down?" he asked.
"Curious little vector aren't you? Those..........," smiled Jill, "are my tentacles. I use them to capture food. See. I have stingers on them. Ha, ha! When I'm close to the beach, I frighten humans because I can sting them."
"Why would you want to frighten anyone?" asked Victor curiously. "That's an awfully mean thing to do!"
"I have to protect myself, you skinny little stick."
"Well, you should be ashamed of yourself," he scolded. "I must get along with my current."
"Wait!" said Jill, as she pumped water to keep up with the little vector. "I'm sorry. I have to defend myself because I'm a soft and mushy animal. I am afraid of being crushed....or eaten!!"
Victor giggled, "You sure are a funny looking animal."

"Oh, oh!" Jill looked around. "The waves are getting higher." "Yes," responded Victor "I seem to be going up and down. What's happening?" "Don't you know anything, you arrowhead!? A storm is coming..........OH MY, OH MY! I need to get away from the surface!" "Why?" asked Victor a bit frightened. "I get seasick and my tentacles will get torn in the waves. I'll just relax my muscles and settle below the waves...........Aaaaah," she cooed. "That's better." Victor could look down and see Jill the Jellyfish just below him trying to keep in one place. "But wait! What about me?" cried Victor. "Quit pumping water." yelled Jill. "I can't pump water. I'm a current!" "Oh yeah," she said.

The waves were getting bigger, and the water started to swirl. Jill thought for a moment. "If you want to be protected, I can pump you into my canals."
Well! Victor didn't have to think about that idea too long. "I think I'll take my chances with the storm."
"What!! Well, SUIT YOURSELF!"
"Oh, please don't be upset, Jill. I think this is a part of my cycle of life.........."

Victor's voice trailed off in the raging storm as he was swept away from Jill. The old porpoise was swimming nearby when he saw Victor and Jill. He had listened to their conversation. He came closer to Victor. "Wise decision, Victor. This storm is very rough, but better than being in her canals. You must ride the storm out, but when you feel very confused, let the waves control your movements. If you try to fight them, you will surely break up. The storm, like the eddy, is temporary. It will lose its power and energy and a peaceful calm will follow. Don't worry to much. The waves will carry you away from the storm. I must go and protect myself now. I will also ride under the waves. Good luck, little vector!"

The Wind Waves

The storm raged on through the night and Victor was afraid. He quivered and shook and his arrow pointed everywhere.

"Ohhhhhhhh......." he wailed. "This is awful. I'm going in all directions at the same time. What will I do? What will I do??" He called for his mother, and just when Victor felt like he was going to break into a million pieces, a thought arose. From deep inside his mind he could hear the old porpoise say, "Relax, let the waves carry you....let the waves carry you...." Victor could not tell how long he was being tossed about, but at some point he looked to the sky and through the spray of water he saw vectors passing overhead. He listened and could hear them echoing. "We are the wind.....We are the wind......" When he saw these arrows pass by something clicked in his head. They had somehow given him hope. With the winds blowing and the waves

crashing, it was all he could do to stay afloat. Gradually, Victor was swept away from the storm by the waves. The wind was not as strong anymore, and he gently bobbed up and down.
"My goodness!" he thought. "These waves are very big, and they seem to travel under me."
The waves, sensing his thoughts, decided to help him.
"We are wind waves, caused by the storm winds blowing on the water. When we are given enough energy we start to move faster and away from the storm. Do you remember when you were in the storm, the waves seemed to go in all directions and you became very confused?"

"Ooooh, do I!" moaned Victor. "Well," said the waves, "when we are in the storm and the ocean seems so muddled, we are called sea. Now do you notice how smooth and gentle you are riding us, and your little stick body curves as we go up and down?" "Aaaah, yes," smiled the little Vector. "When we leave the storm, we become more gentle and even. We are now called a swell and the whole group of us are called a wave train. Our size depends on how hard the wind blows." "I see," said Victor. "You guys are fun now. I like going down the wave. Wheeeee!!" "We waves travel through the water, but the water only moves up and down."

"What's going to happen to you?" Victor asked. "We are going wherever the winds send us. We will either break on a distant shore or our energy will be used up and we'll become one with the ocean again. When we are large, little vector, we are very powerful. We can change the shape of a beach or knock down trees and buildings. When we break on the shore, lots of humans like to play in us. It's lots of fun." "What are trees and buildings?" he asked. "Trees are plants that grow on land, and buildings are things that humans build." "Oh!" replied Victor. "I think I have seen a tree before. I was on a beach once." "As you grow, little vector, and travel around the world, you will see all these things. You will even meet other kinds of waves. For now, just relax and enjoy the ride while we last."

The Happy Herring

Victor went rolling along. After a while he noticed he was no longer in the North Atlantic Drift. Victor floated in the vast ocean, wondering where he could be. He noticed the water was becoming colder and he was slowing down.

His body became very thin. His little arrow pointed northeast. After a while he saw land in the distance. He also saw large structures floating on the ocean surface which appeared to be going against the flow. There seemed to be a lot of activity on the water. The wind was brisk and the sea was choppy. His little stick body kept changing as he moved with the little waves. It looked like he was moving through a water passage, because he could see land on both sides. Victor didn't know he was in the English Channel, heading for the North Sea. He looked up and saw lots of clouds. They looked down on him and smiled. "Ah, a little vector," they mused. "We must keep him out of trouble and away from the ships."

Just then, Victor floated close to one of the large structures and saw humans on it.
He trembled a little, because he remembered when he was captured and put in a bottle.
Luckily, nobody noticed him, and he was glad.

But he was floating too close to a ship and was going to get caught in its wake.The clouds were watching him and quickly made the wind blow on Victor. He felt a spurt of energy and a sudden change in direction. It tickled him and he giggled. As soon as the ship was safely passed, the winds stopped, and Victor continued to flow to the northeast. Soon he came out of the passage and found himself in the vast ocean again. Victor was quietly drifting along when -all of a sudden- the water seemed to boil with activity. Things were flapping all around him. "What is this?" he asked himself. Nothing seemed to pay any attention to him, so he asked out loud. Everything stopped and looked at him.

Victor realized he was surrounded by thousands of little fish!
"We are herring and we always travel in a school," they said.
"Who are you?" they echoed.

"My name is Victor the Vector. I am a current and I go with the flow". "We are born as eggs and we float with the currents. Then we hatch out and we're called larvae. At first we look like tiny eels, but after a while we grow scales and become little fish. We are still very young. What about you?" "I have always been a vector. I lost my my mother and drifted into another direction. I am trying to find her. My size depends on how fast I go and my color depends on how cold the water is. I am also very young." "Oh goody!" responded the herring. "We can play together and make you go places." So play they did, all through the spring and the summer. The herring ate and grew.

They splashed in the water and Victor grew big and small.
The herring were delighted to have such a fun playmate and Victor had a wonderful time with his new friends. But...the time was near for the herring to move on. Winter was coming and the herring instinctively knew it was time to go.

The school of little fish gathered together and said good bye to Victor. "Where are you guys going?" asked Victor. "It is time for us to migrate. Bye bye Victor! Good luck in finding your mother!" And with that the little fish swam off. Victor was all alone and he felt sad. The north wind blew and he drifted. He was very lonely and the cold water made him feel worse. As the water got colder, it became heavier and began to sink. Victor sank with it. This was new to him; he had never been under the water before and he was a little scared. He remembered he had to go with the flow. He thought of the old porpoise and wished he was here with him now. He became fascinated with his surroundings and saw many kinds of fish swimming by.

The Iron Fish

Off in the distance he noticed something very large and dark.
"What could that be?" he thought.
As he drifted closer, it got bigger.

And as it got bigger, so did Victor's eyes. He was heading right to it. "Oh oh.." he chattered. Closer and closer he got.... Until...... CLUNK !! His little arrow was all bent! He was so dizzy, he didn't know what was happening! He slid down the side of the monstrous thing and was out of control. He screamed for help. He found out he was in a turbulent wake and he realized that it was the IRON FISH! He was about to be sucked into a tube! Poor little Victor!

There were men inside of this Iron Fish.
They heard the CLUNK and feared they were being attacked by another Iron Fish.

Up went the periscope! In the meantime, the old porpoise heard Victor's cry for help and in the nick of time he swooped down and bumped Victor out of the wake. Victor was one happy little Vector! He couldn't thank the old porpoise enough. The old porpoise said he would stay with him until Victor was safe. They both spied on the periscope from a distance. The old porpoise called it the Eye of the Iron Fish. Victor was a curious little vector and asked the porpoise to push him by it so he could look in. The old porpoise did not think this was a good idea, but Victor insisted. So they floated by the eye.

Inside the Iron Fish the captain looked out and saw the little arrow.

"This is a very strange fish," he thought. It just so happened that aboard this Iron Fish an oceanographer from navy was present. The captain called him. When the oceanographer looked through the eyepiece, he saw the little vector float by. He became very excited, "Captain, this is a vector! We use these to study ocean currents. We must capture it!" "Well, that should not be too much trouble," replied the Captain. "I will get the crew ready." The old porpoise was uneasy about all this nosing around. He pushed Victor out of the way. "Come, little Victor, I'm going to take you away from this Iron Fish to a safer place."

So off they went. The water became very cold now, for Victor was in the Arctic Ocean. With Victor safely out of the turbulent water and away from the Iron Fish, the old porpoise let him drift merrily on his way.

Sir Winston

As Victor drifted, he felt the water becoming hard around him. Ice was forming and soon Victor was frozen solid and stuck in an ice floe. He didn't know what to do. Suddenly he saw a very large thing wiggling around on top of the ice floe.
"Who is up there?" Victor asked muffled.
"Up where, old chap?" answered the thing in a British accent.
"On top of me!" yelled Victor."
"Hmmm. Let me see who's down there." The thing looked down through the ice. "Oh, a very tiny vector. Whatever are you doing in the ice, young fellow?"
"I don't know. I just got stuck. Where am I anyway? And who are you?!"
"Young vector, don't be so rude! You are stuck in an ice floe in the Arctic Ocean. And my name is Winston the Walrus!"
"Pleased to meet you, sir. Hi, hi, hi", giggled Victor. "I'm really going with the FLOE now. Go with the floe, go with the floe. I know I go..."

TO EPISODE 3