“THERE’S a jellyfish called the immortal jellyfish and it stays true to its name,” begins the bespectacled Max Tong Chang Zing, enlightening me with an interesting fact about this marine creature.
“Once it reaches the end of its life cycle, it will reset and start back out as a polyp and this polyp will grow over time and slowly become a jellyfish again.”
I look at him with genuine fascination at the thought that such an unusual jellyfish existed.
This bright spark, along with Dominic Vinesh Thanabalasingam seated beside him, has been talking to me in a bustling Bangsar café not just about sea creatures but also about marine conservation, a topic that has been close to their hearts and minds since joining the Junior Rangers programme under SEA LIFE Malaysia.
Max, who’s very excited to be turning 12 next month, and Dominic, who pretends (unconvincingly) to be unexcited about turning 10 in July, became fast friends when they met during the Junior Rangers programme.
These lively boys are among 18 kids, mostly Malaysian, chosen to become brand ambassadors for SEA LIFE Malaysia, a brand new attraction at LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, which just opened its doors to the public last week.
This global aquarium brand has been working towards offering a unique “edutainment” experience where visitors can learn about the beauty and mysteries of the marine world with a fun-filled approach.
Unlike SEA LIFE in other countries, Malaysia has the only one with LEGO elements built into its concept, meaning that LEGO creations can be found inside and outside the aquariums.
A RANGER’S ROLE
SEA LIFE’s Junior Ranger programme already reaches out to kids in other parts of the world but for Southeast Asia, this is a first.
Scores of video submissions were sent in by young hopefuls to the team in Malaysia.
Max’s video was shot during a visit to a fish market in South Korea where he talked about overfishing.
Meanwhile, Dominic showcased his home-made “ocean tank” inhabited by his sea animal toys in addition to giving tips for protecting marine life.
Bemused, I watch the younger of the two take delight in noisily slurping up the last dregs of his drink through a straw.
The older, more conscientious one takes a paper napkin to wipe the table.
When I ask them why they wanted to be a Junior Ranger, Max is the first to reply, telling me that he thought “… it would be a great experience to meet new people, help educate people about plastic, why we shouldn’t use plastic and educate people to learn more about the ocean!”
Meanwhile, Dominic’s reply is spurted out in classic 9-year-old fashion.
Beaming, he shares: “Because it sounded cool and it was associated with fish. And I like fish. And I don’t want them to die like dinosaurs.”
The job is pretty cool indeed for any child enthralled by the underwater world. For the past year or so, the Junior Rangers have been part of every SEA LIFE Malaysia milestone, from learning how the attraction was constructed, to witnessing the arrival of various marine species as they take residence in the huge tanks.
Each milestone involved a trip to Johor where they participated in activities such as a community beach clean-up in Desaru, which incidentally was Max’s most memorable experience.
The youngster confides: “It was the first time I met Dominic and our other friend Nathaniel. I got to meet all these super nice people and we got to bond for the first time.”
Beside him, the animated Dominic, an only child just like Max, blurts out his favourite experience.
“Fish arrival! Because it was cool. I got to see the fish swim in their habitat and get used to it.” The Junior Rangers were also privy to a behind-the-scenes water filling session which taught them the importance of filling the tanks with proper water at the right temperature and how to ensure that the tanks have no leakages.
Visitors can marvel at the huge tanks and step through a tunnel feature as sea creatures swim around them. At the touch pools, the bold can try a hands-on encounter with a live creature. There are also other interactive attractions such as creating your own digital marine animal and releasing it into a digital tank.
“There’s like 16 tanks and 11 different zones,” reveals Max, before Dominic chips in, as if demonstrating that he had also been paying attention to the experts at the aquarium.
He adds: “Eleven different habitats… over 13,000 fish… there’s a Malaysia rainforest habitat, exclusive to Malaysia. It has over 23 species of Malaysian fish.”
With their open, inquisitive minds, these Malaysian Junior Rangers easily soak up knowledge and experiences; hopefully more of the kind that can equip them to become better custodians of our land and seas one day.
MARINE LEGACY AND RESPONSIBILITY
It may surprise some Malaysians to know that our country has more sea territory under its control than land. Anyone who ever paid attention during Geography class would recall that Malaysia borders four large bodies of water: Straits of Malacca, South China Sea, Sulu Sea and Sulawesi Sea.
With all these waters around us, it makes marine conservation and sustainable management of marine resources highly important.
On its website, WWF Malaysia underscores the point by highlighting that our conservation efforts are globally critical as “… some of Malaysia’s seas lie within one of the most biodiverse regions of the world”.
SEA LIFE Malaysia wants to play its part by inspiring and nurturing the younger generation in this region to care for the seas and oceans, hence the introduction of initiatives such as Junior Rangers which is an annual programme.
Each batch undergoes different experiences, depending on the partnerships secured.
For example, thanks to a collaboration with the non-profit group Shark Savers, the current group of Junior Rangers was able to gain a better understanding of sharks, learning about the different types and how to protect them, while doing so in fun, engaging ways.
One can just imagine the kids watching and listening wide-eyed — even the restless Dominic, whose favourite sea creature, he tells me gleefully, is the mosasaurus.
“It’s like a 60-metre shark! It’s extinct now though,” he adds, disappointment lacing his voice at the thought that this huge carnivorous aquatic reptile from the dinosaur era is no longer roaming the depths of our seas. I shudder to think.
On the other hand, the more composed Max likes octopuses, most probably for their intelligence and versatility. “Some of them can change shape and colour. I saw this video online. It was smart enough to open a jar, go inside the jar, open the jar from inside and come back out.”
Grinning, Dominic pipes up: “An octopus can solve Rubik cubes.”
A bewildered expression on his face, Max retorts: “Can meh?” to which his friend replies gleefully: “Cannn! I saw on YouTube.”
My curiosity piqued, I add that to my mental list of things to learn about later, in addition to mosasaurus and immortal jellyfish.
SMALL STEPS, BIG OPPORTUNITIES
Talking to Max and Dominic about fascinating animals can probably go on forever and definitely veer off tangent.
But I know that their minds aren’t just filled with fantasy, trivia and prehistoric aquatic creatures. It’s amazing how much kids their age can understand about the critical issue of marine conservation.
When asked how they would advise other children who are interested to help look after our underwater life, their answers would make their parents and their mentors at SEA LIFE Malaysia proud.
“You start small. You learn a little bit and decide what part you want to help with,” replies Max before adding: “For example, you can learn by going to SEA LIFE and visiting their education room and asking the staff questions. Then to protect the ocean, you can cut down on plastic, recycle and all that — the 3 R’s.”
Smiling, he goes on to recite that familiar phrase, ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ before I chime in: “Because plastic will eventually harm the sea, right?” He nods, before answering: “And it will come back to haunt us too.”
Turning to Dominic, I wait for him to offer me his “pearls of wisdom”. A pause ensues before he exclaims: “Do small things like don’t use plastic cutlery or plastic straws. And don’t eat the sharks!”
Nodding his agreement, Max chips in: “Don’t support things like shark fins soup,” before Dominic takes over the thread again, saying: “Don’t support underwater creature products and try to do community stuff like beach clean-ups.”
The pioneer batch of Junior Rangers will be concluding their stint in a couple of months, sparking SEA LIFE Malaysia to begin their search for the next group of brand ambassadors to take on the programme.
They may not possess the mighty superpowers and abilities of the Power Rangers or Aquaman, but even children can be junior heroes with little conservation steps and plenty of awareness.
For details, go to www.legoland.com.my