Based on a semi-true story of a Tuna recently caught off Brixham in Devon.
CHAPTER 1
Once upon a time there was a tiny fish, a baby Tuna, his name was “Bright”. His parents brought him up in the Far East. As he grew up, his parents, called “Funny” and “Tunny”, felt that the temperature of the Ocean was getting too warm for their liking, so they decided that they would all swim to cooler seas.
They headed west and north. “Bright” grew and grew, he was called Bright because his skin glistened in the sunlight as he swam. All through the Oceans, they tried to avoid big boats that were fishing so that they did not get caught.
Some of these boats had such big nets that were bigger than houses! They were so heavy that sometimes they snapped, and fish entangled in the mesh died. That is terrible.
As the family got to Europe, near England, something terrible happened. In the murky waters, Bright found himself entangled in a fishing net and could not escape! He thought that he was going to die. All of a sudden, the fisherman hauled up the net, and Bright found himself on the deck.
The fishermen, who were relatively poor, realised that such a handsome Tuna could fetch a lot of money in the fish markets of Japan if it was sold fresh and just about alive.
The next thing was that Bright found himself in an enormous freezing container in the hold of an aeroplane heading back East overnight to Japan (all the way that he and his parents had swam taking several years).
The following day at 5 am, Bright was found lying in the fish market in Tokyo, and people wanted to buy him to eat! He was terrified; when all of a sudden a little voice of a young girl piped up above the crowd. She put up her hand and bought Bright!
What next?
CHAPTER 2
Everyone in the market stood in stunned silence. Never before had a young girl been to the auction and bid. They asked her name, to which she replied “Iona” as she walked over to Bright.
Tapping him, Bright woke up from his cold slumber and tiredness. “You and I are going to be friends,” she said.
So, off they set to the seashore only a few steps away. “Where shall we go?” asked Bright.
“We are going to England and you are going to show me all of the Oceans on the way and teach me to swim. First, I will ride on your back holding on to your fins until I can swim alone alongside you”.
So, off they set, streaming through the waves, smiling and laughing. No more airplanes, just the natural Oceans. Time went by and after about a year they saw the shores of Great Britain and entered into the little port of Brixham.
A day or two later, while swimming around, Bright noticed a fisherman and said, “Aren’t you the fisherman who caught me and sent me off to Japan in order to make some money?”
The fisherman was taken aback and wondered how it could be true that Bright was back!
“Well” piped up Iona “if you are the fisherman, I owe you a lot of money”! The fisherman could not believe his luck; now older and wiser, he said he could not accept it. So, wondering what to do, the three of them agreed to put the money to good use.
They talked to a lot of people including some farmers who said that they had a lot of bad potato harvests and had to dispose of their old potatoes.
Now, Iona had a younger brother called “Louis” who had studied science and biology. He had a new idea. He told them that if fishermen had to fish, they could make their nets out of the potato starch; if the nets broke, they would dissolve and release trapped fish, and there would be no more tragic incidents. The fish could swim free.
This new innovation has now increased in popularity thanks to this incredible true story. They all lived happily ever after.
An artistic illustration of a majestic tuna named Bright swimming through the deep blue ocean, its skin glistening under the sunlight. A young girl, Iona, is riding on Bright’s back, holding onto its fin as they journey across the sea. The background shows a vibrant ocean landscape with marine life, and in the distance, the outline of a fishing boat, symbolizing their past struggle.
