Charonia Research Children's Book

This book includes the four short stories: Don't Blame Me, What We Like To Eat, Dan The Diver Joins STEM Club, and Dan The Diver And SCUBA.

"Don't blame me," said the little boy. "The problem with our oceans is that they're huge.""That's what I've been telling them for 60 years," said Paddy the Starfish."I'm just a baby, so don't blame me" said Junior to Bubbles the slug. "The problem is up there"."Something must have changed, but what was it?" said Angel Fish. "I suspect lots of things"."I know that you're talking about me," said Thorny passing by quickly for good reason."I know that you're here somewhere, Thorny" said Dan the diver. "You can't outrun me"."You won't get away next time Thorny," said Triton. "Your days are numbered"."That's all right for you to say Triton," said Nudibranch. "You have a shell and lots of food"."And the more often Thorny gets away, the hungrier they are for me," said another starfish."I might only be a shrimp, but I can look after myself when it comes to Thorny,""I don't mind a Thorny or two," said the Wrasse. "It's really a question of what we like to eat.""What do you mean by that Wrasse?" said the diver. "It depends on what we like to eat!"."I would have thought that it was obvious," said Wrasse. "I'm not just a pretty face"."It's not just what we eat," said baby starfish. "As I keep saying the problem is up there"."We're so pretty and up there they think that the ocean is so huge," said baby Fish."Thank-you Wrasse and Baby Starfish, the problem certainly starts up there, not down here"."President, Dan the Diver tells me that we have a problem. The ocean needs these shells"."All of us creatures play a role, even if we are just slugs, shrimp or starfish," they all said."So, at the end of the day it depends on us all, even humans. We can't just blame Thorny"

Prey Preference

It all depends on what we like to eat or maybe not.

"I'm going to put all you starfish in a cage with Triton and see which species get eaten," said Dan the Diver. "That should tell us its prey preference. What could possibly go wrong?"

"It all depends on what we like to eat," said Triton "but remember that these starfish are poisonous, so leave them for me. One is even venomous, so don't touch them unless you know the difference."

"I don't mind eating you Elegant Starfish," said Triton "but you are not much of a feed". I know how to deal with your poisons and armor but unless I am very hungry, I wouldn't bother."

"You both know what to do," said Triton "you stay out of my way. You even hide under coral rubble in the shallows. Now-a-days, I stay away from there as divers and shell collectors love me for my shell."

"If I eat one of your arms, you will just grow another," said Triton "You can just cast them off and get away. You hide under rubble in the shallows as well."

"I know all about tritons," said the Starfish. "I luckily escaped from one about a month ago but my arms are now starting to regrow".

"I'm the Blue Starfish called Linckia," said another. "My skin is very tough but Triton still eats me. Luckily, I'm not one of its favorites and it has to be pretty hungry to eat me".

"Dan the Diver used to think that I was Triton's favorite food because they ate more of me," said Nardoa Starfish. "Then they discovered that I was just slow and didn't get away."

"I'm super-fast for a starfish," said Thorny. "I can often get away from Triton if I am bigger. I'm good tucker for Triton but in nature it's often not what you like to eat but what you can catch."

"So you can't just put things in a cage and expect it to be like the real world," said Dan the Diver. "When you watch Triton closely, you see that Thorny is good at escaping from Triton".