Mieni was a spot where things like "winter" was something that was only mentioned in passing. The atoll was still warm and had plenty of gorgeous weather. It did provide the conditions for perfect year round tourism, and in some cases that might even be desirable. Many in the northern hemisphere might want to come to get away from winter's potentially icy grip and those in the southern hemisphere might wish to do so as they enjoyed their summer. However the approaching Christmas holiday season slowed down a lot of the traffic as people generally tended to be with their families during that timeframe.
That gave many of the Atoll's full time residents some time off to relax since things wouldn't be too hectic. This was good for Ray Manta, an uplifted Manta Ray who was adjusting to life as an Animalian. In many ways he was very different from the other Fish Animalians on Mieni, for as a ray species, his body had been arranged in a way very different from theirs. In this when he was uplifted, his pectoral fins, which normally would shape into the arms of the new Animalian actually remained on his back, as if they were wings and his arms simply grew out from the bottom front of those fins. In a way it gave Ray an appearance that was more like one of the flying Animalians rather than like fish Animalians, but again, Rays were built very different from even their Shark cousins.
"You doing well?" came a soft voice from a little ways up the beach.
Ray looked up to see Topanga standing over him in a pair of shorts and a white shirt with the head of a sea turtle inside a pink heart on its upper chest area. It was something that helped with Mieni's tourist department that helped when people did come to the atoll, which allowed her to speak out as voice for the Leatherback Sea Turtle in the Pacific Ocean and explain on how Mieni was critical for the preservation of that species. But with few people visiting the island at the time, she like everyone else had some extra free time to enjoy, which was to apparently speak with the recently uplifted Manta Ray.
"Yeah... enjoying some of the peace and quiet," Ray commented, "though it does surprise me that a place this beautiful would also be this quiet."
"A lot of it relates to the time of year," Topanga commented, "People tend to travel this time of year, but most of those that do often only go to see family for the Christmas holiday. Some of our winter season will likely pick up a bit in January... though it is still much lower than what the normal tourist season is in the summer."
"There are times when I'd think it might be easier as I was before I was uplifted," Ray said slowly and then looked out over the central lagoon, "all this talk of money and things..."
"Yeah... the economic systems man has devised over the centuries can be complex, but at the same time humanity can be quite good and will listen to calls to a greater cause," Topanga commented, "which I do to help with my species, the Leatherback and you offering to help with Manta Ray tours..."
Both quietly thought over some things as they thought over events that happened a bit before...
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The "quiet" part of Mieni's year after the May to August tourist season was often welcomed, and Topanga did enjoy the lighter work schedules as there were fewer people around. Some did ask questions on the beaches that had been set aside to give the Leatherbacks a place to lay their eggs, but for the most part it often meant that she'd have some time on lifeguard duty or with the hotel's front desk. This was often needed as Susan, Chipper, Brazen, and Tzan having times where the they were off filming the TV series that was loosely based on the web show that Susan and Tzan had thought up. Topanga wasn't sure how or why a television company thought Susan and Tzan's web show could become a good sitcom, but it worked and that was one of the mysteries that Topanga wasn't going to question into. It did give her some things to do.
And there were some tourists that were there along with some of Horizon's scientists that often spent their time during this time of year checking on the biological processes and life around the atoll. It was something that made sense as the atoll did provide for an abundance of sea life. Some of it was rare, like the Leatherbacks and their nesting season while others were quite common. Some others were fascinating, such as some of the bioluminescent animals that frequented certain parts of the atoll and were likely the result of the nuclear tests back in the fifties at nearby Kwajalein and the fact that the USS Pennsylvania, which had been a target ship for those tests, was scuttled and sunk just west of Mieni, which at the time had been attached geographically to the Kwajalein. All of it was worth study.
Topanga had just finished fluffing the pillow she'd set onto one of the lifeguard chairs when she heard a flurry of footsteps coming up the beach with the drone of an outboard engine running. She turned to see one of the Horizon scientists coming up the beach with a small boat bobbing in the surf at the shore. It was inside the lagoon, so it wasn't too big, but there was enough that the boat's movement could be noticed. The scientist came right up to the lifeguard tower.
"Topanga! We're going to need your help!" the scientist spoke.
"What is it?" Topanga asked, "Is someone in danger?"
"No, it's a giant Manta Ray!" the scientist answered sounding excited.
"A giant Manta Ray?" Topanga asked.
Manta Rays were pretty common across the Pacific, and around Mieni, they were largely Manta Alfredi, or specifically the Reef Manta Ray which was the second largest Manta Ray behind the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray, Manta Birostris. Some tourists actually swam out to swim with the rays, since Mantas didn't have the stingers that stingrays had and since they ate plankton and other tiny animals, they didn't have the fears associated with them that sharks did. Topanga remembered the story on what happened when Brazen swam into the lagoon.
"Yes, a Giant Oceanic Manta!" the scientist said with some excitement, "we'll need your help to uplift him before he decides to leave."
"Wouldn't Ran, Gaz, Rapier, or Gladys be better? They're faster than me," Topanga commented.
"They might frighten him!" the scientist answered, "We don't want to startle him. You come out with us and then administer the shot. From there... things will go from there."
Topanga sighed and shrugged. For the moment the beach was quiet and she made her way forward. She typically wasn't there for a lot of the uplifting of new marine life, as a lot of that was mostly with Harold and Kirana, but Mieni had its focus on oceanic research and how Animalia could contribute to it. She supposed that a Giant Oceanic Manta Ray would be part of that and part of seeing how large of an Animalian they could work with. Of course, in pure theory they could probably uplift even the biggest animals, like the Sperm Whales and the large baleen whales as well, though there would be a major size issue.
She remembered seeing Andrew and Jen when they'd visited Mieni in the summer. While Brachiosaurus wasn't the largest dinosaur, and in terms of weight might be smaller than some of the largest whales, it was still of great length and height. Even Jeremy and Heather stood about as tall as the Giraffe Animalians and Andrew and Jen towered over them. In this it wasn't so much that the Animalia Virus couldn't uplift the larger whales and the question of their health being negatively affected based on the reports on Project Dinotopia producing four Sauropod Dinotopians, but they would still be big as Animalians. Even if reduced from their normal size, a Sperm Whale Animalian would still need a massively tall home to live in, which Mieni didn't have the geographical room for on land. That was pretty much a given by the fact that the Dinotopians were having their own colony built in Texas that would be big enough to suit them comfortably. If Animalia were to do something similar with the large whales at some point, they would need to establish a colony with housing and amenities built for them from the beginning, if it was done at all.
The Manta Ray, however, wasn't in that category. It was largest ray, with the Giant Oceanic Manta Ray being the largest specific species, but even their its size was actually closer to Ran and Gaz's size, which Animalia had already uplifted. In this, things were probably more with regard to the fact the way rays were built, their method of swimming was very different from other fish and this was especially true for Manta Rays. In fact they swam in way not too different from sea turtles with their pectoral fins going up and down. That thought left Topanga interested as she joined the scientist on the beach and joined him in pushing the boat back out into the water.
"This will be so amazing," the scientist spoke with affirming nods from the boat's pilot. Topanga nodded as well as they made the quick trip across the lagoon.
They reached the point, and true to their word, there was a large ray slowly swimming in some slow circles, quietly feeding on plankton as it swam along. Its back was largely black, though there were patches behind the eyes and at the edges of its wings that were of a much lighter color. It looked sort of a grayish white to Topanga as she looked at it through the surface of the water. In this she agreed with the Horizon scientists, this was a lone Giant Oceanic Manta Ray, the largest species of Manta Ray calmly swimming in the lagoon. The Reef Manta Rays were more common, but they had different markings on their dorsal side. And their markings were not as distinct as this one, which showed it was a Giant Oceanic Manta Ray.
Topanga calmly slipped into the water and eventually too the syringe from the scientist in her webbed hand. She bobbed at the surface for a moment before she looked back to the scientist, "He appears to be feeding now... so things should be fine. But you're right... this is a Giant Oceanic Manta Ray. Not full size... but definitely bigger than a Reef Manta."
"Must be lost," the boat's pilot wondered.
"Maybe... maybe not," the scientist answered, "anyway... he'll be very helpful with both understanding Animalian sizes and seeing on how specific body types will effect Animalian form. As he clearly isn't built like a fish."
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"No... I clearly am not," Ray chuckled as he remembered being uplifted.
Topanga had been gentle with him and had been very helpful. The shot didn't hurt, and neither really was growing arms out of his chest while his pectoral fins stayed on his back like a set of wings, and as the tiny parts of his fins before his tail morphed, stretched, and lengthened into legs. Some of it was strange as that radical of a transformation would normally be quite painful, but he guessed that something in the Animalia Virus either killed pain sensors during the transformation or so triggered other sensors that they wouldn't notice the pain. And it had been during this that it was pretty clear that Ray was male, given his wide shoulders and narrow waist. The only thing that really didn't change was that his cephalic fins remained where they were on the sides of his mouth and he could still fold them over his mouth when he wasn't talking or anything like that. In this, he was VERY different from other fish Animalians.
"And I'm sorry the scientist got whimsical with your name," Topanga commented, "Ray Manta because you're a manta ray..."
"I actually don't mind that," Ray answered, "that's one of the things about humanity that is quite intriguing to me."
"You may see a lot of it when the tourist season picks up," Topanga warned.
"I look forward to it," Ray answered.