As the final event of the ASE, the official handing over of Skull Island to the Aquatic Dinotopians was held. It was indeed something to watch, and it was a good thing that Sophie and Roland got passes to come in to school late and cover the ceremony.
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First the Heredero de Fernando pulled into the old dock to a fanfare of the press (limited by the PR-MD). Next, Irena, in one of her ancestors' dresses, disembarked with the deed to the land and ceremonially handed it over to Andrew. Then the real celebration began.
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As was originally planned, the old Spanish plantation had been restored as a kind of museum to explain what the Spanish used the Island for. Everyone was rather surprised that the Spanish would use convict labor to grow essential crops to restock ships heading back to Europe. The fact that most of them were dangerous convicts also seemed to explain why they rebelled when the Spanish Empire collapsed.
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Sophie and Roland were able to reunite with Mr. Hakimoto, who had directed a new 3d Documentary on the original Fernando, what the ship was, the top reasons why it never arrived, and now the truth behind it's loss. Each theory was shown with both live acting and CGI similar to other, similar movies.
For the "Foul Play" theory (which was also a tip of the hat to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag), the ship was attacked and looted by pirates lead by Captain Edward Kenway, who was looking for one of the Apples of Eden. This theory was debunked because both the Assassin's Creed series was definitely fiction, and pirate ships were just at risk as ordinary merchant ships for the area.
For the "Bermuda Triangle" theory, the ship was sailing through the Bermuda Triangle when it was attacked by a sea serpent, which was one of the theories of why ships and planes were disappearing in the Bermuda Triangle for years. This theory was debunked with what was now known about the area of the Bermuda Triangle.
The final theory, which had only now been confirmed, showed that the Fernando lost its rudder in a hurricane and didn't have enough scuppers to deal with the storm waters. After a certain point, the water filling up the deck began allowing water in through the gun ports, which accelerated the sinking.
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Another thing that was shown was the other museum on the Island, which was converted from the old prison building. Most of the old prison's rooms were converted to showcase the treasures and weapons of the first Fernando, but there were also displays on when Skull Island was a pirate stronghold. The most interesting thing was one of the cannons of the Fernando being demonstrated on the roof of one of the towers. While there was no cannonballs used, the firing of the cannon again showed why Animalians wouldn't make good soldiers.
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There was also a documentary made by the History Channel that showcased the most important parts of Skull Island's history, from the collapse of the Spanish Empire, to its capture by Andrew Jackson, to its part in the American Civil War, to today. It was something to learn that, when Abraham Lincoln learned about the Confederate army combing Skull Island for the Golden Skull Hoard, he directed Ulysses S. Grant to send some of his best Sharpshooters there to take out the Confederate soldiers and whittle down their forces to guarantee Union victory.
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One of the more surprising things there were replicas of some of the more famous fossils of aquatic creatures as both decoration and information. But there were also some reconstructions of aquatic creatures like a feral dunkleosteus, a cameroceras, and a jaekelopterus that would "ambush" boat tours of the island, similar to rides that were inspired by the Jaws movies at Universal Studios. It also seemed to explain why we should be glad that these creatures are extinct.
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It was indeed a fun time for everyone, especially Sophie and Roland, but Texas was still working on the land Dinotopian colony. It was planned to officially give it to the land Dinotopians by next Summer at the latest.