How Lennie, The Leafy Sea Dragon, Became Brave - I

Did you know leafy sea dragons are found in the waters off the western/southern Australian coast only? They live close to the reefs, seaweeds (no surprise as they camouflage perfectly in seaweed), and seagrass.

They are 12 – 14 inches in length. They do not have a stomach nor teeth. They have a thin snout through which they suck up their prey (mostly krill).

They live alone except when it is time to breed. A male leafy sea dragon’s tail turns yellow when he is ready to become a papa. The female leafy sea dragon produces 250 – 300 bright pink eggs which she deposits on the male’s tail.

Leafy sea dragons can bring as much as 10,000$ per head because they are so rare and hard to capture. They are considered threatened. Read about leafy sea dragons here.

We wrote this bedtime story because the leafy sea dragons looked so gentle and fragile and beautiful. We wanted to make him strong and brave.

Lennie IS a 'lion-heart'. We love him.

---

One morning, Lennie, the leafy sea dragon, found that his tail had turned yellow. “Oh my god,” Lennie said in a panic. “What’s wrong with my tail? Why is it yellow? It’s never been yellow. Am I sick? Will I die?”

“IT'S GOING TO FALL OFF!” someone shouted from nearby. “Enjoy it while you can!”

“What?” Lennie jumped. “Who said that?”

He heard snickers and giggles from around him. Lennie glared at every creature in the tangle of seaweed where he lived. They laughed at him and scared him every chance they got. No wonder he was always in a state.

He was always flapping around, he didn’t know why. He was always worried and in perpetual anxiety. He had been born tense. Even as a baby, he had been unable to relax.

“Someone is messing with my head,” he said, feeling his usual nervous tremor begin again.

The best thing to do about his tail was to talk to his cousin, a sea horse named Greta.

Lennie set off to find Greta, who lived a couple of seaweed tangles away. He was on his way when a pretty female leafy sea dragon sided up next to him. Lennie had seen her before. She lived near the seaweed branch behind him. Lennie had always thought she was pretty, but never had the courage to talk to her.

Today, she came up close. Bumped him playfully. Looked as though she wanted to talk.

Lennie wondered if he should smile at her. But he was too tense to be social. Especially to a pretty leafy sea dragon. It was not the right time. And what female leafy sea dragon would be interested in a male whose tail had turned yellow?

“Why is my tail yellow?” he whispered, swimming away from her. “Why, why, why?”

“It’s alright, Lennie!” his cousin, Greta, said, when he reached her. “Calm down!"

“My tail!” Lennie said, shaking all over. "Look! It's YELLOW!" Then, as he was about to point his tail color to his cousin, he froze. For his tail was no longer yellow. It was a bright shade of pink. With tiny bubbles. Lennie couldn’t believe it. When had it turned pink? WHY?

“It’s going to fall off, isn’t it?” Lennie asked. “Tell me the truth, Greta. I can handle it.”

“Lennie,” Greta said. “Have any female leafy sea dragons come up to you lately?”

“Why, yes,” Lennie said. “That one did. She bumped into me. On purpose.”

“That explains it,” Greta said, smiling. “Congratulations! In eight weeks, you're going to be a papa. See those bright pink bubble-like things on your tail? Those are eggs. When your tail turned yellow, it meant you were ready to be a papa. That female leafy sea dragon - the one you met on your way here - gave you her eggs. She liked you! Two hundred and fifty babies, Lennie! Maybe more. Isn't that exciting? Isn't it fabulous? Would you like me to count?"

Lennie stared at Greta, speechless. Then he closed his eyes and passed out.

“Oh, dear Lennie!” Greta said, fanning him using her fins. "Good grief. Oh, good heavens."

---

“Greta,” Lennie croaked. “How can this be? I can't be a papa. Males DO NOT hatch eggs!”

“Male leafy sea dragons do,” Greta said, calmly, in a reassuring voice. "So what if females normally hatch eggs? You are just as good as any female, Lennie. You can do it."

“I don’t know the first thing about it!"

“You will learn,” Greta said.

“If I had any idea, what she was about to do, I’d have said no! I... like my lifestyle.”

“What lifestyle?” Greta asked, with a sigh. “You lounge around the whole day, sucking sea lice, and hanging out with the rest of the critters in seaweed. Hatch those eggs, Lennie. It is fun. It will give you something fun to do. You’ll be fine. You'll do good.”

“No,” Lennie said. “I’m going to find the lady and give her eggs back to her.”

“You do that,” Greta said, in a voice that clearly implied he couldn't.

Lennie went in search of the female who had come up to him, even though he had a bad feeling Greta was right. He couldn’t, however, find her. She had bobbed off somewhere.

Scared and worried, Lennie went back to his seaweed and snuggled into his tangle of leaves. It was so scary. It was not fair, he thought. It was all he could think day and night. When he moved, he went out to eat sea lice, else remained in his tangle of weeds. He would never be able to take care of two hundred and fifty leafy sea dragons.

Eight weeks later, one day, as the day of hatching came close and Lennie was going around searching for the best sea lice to eat, he saw a human underwater, with a net in hand. “Who is that?” Lennie whispered to Greta, who was nearby.

“It’s a human, collecting leafy sea dragons,” Greta said. "Quick. We should hide."

Greta was right. Lennie saw the human go after two leafy sea dragons. He scooped them up in his net and went away for a while. When he came back, Lennie saw he had an empty net.

Then the worst happened.

The human turned toward Lennie.

“Ah," the human said. “This has eggs. I’ll get hundreds of leafy sea dragons and sell them for thousands of dollars apiece. This is the one I want. The male with hundreds of eggs."

“WHAT!” Lennie said, horrified.

“Lennie!” Greta squeaked. “Come on. Let's get out of here. Fast.”

“How dare he!” Lennie said, as he paddled his fins as fast as he could. “He better not come after me and my eggs, the nasty little net-carrier! The leafy sea dragon murderer! The leafy sea dragon egg killer! The block-eyed, block-headed, block-minded boor!”

“That’s not a block,” Greta said, shrieking. “That’s diving gear. Hurry!”

Greta paddled away, but Lennie couldn’t. His tail was heavy with eggs.

The human came closer and closer.

“THESE ARE MY BABIES!” Lennie shouted. “GRETA! STOP ME BEFORE I KILL THIS MAN!”

He dived into the first jungle of seaweed he could find, tucking his tail in, shuddering. The human, however, had seen him. He swam, net in hand, toward Lennie. Lennie moved from his camouflaged spot to the next one in another strand of seaweed below the first tangle. He stayed in the branches, his heart thudding, hoping and praying he was safe, when he saw something. One of his pink eggs hatched! One leafy sea dragon - his firstborn - his first child popped out of the egg and swam up!

Which meant, it was time. For ALL the babies to hatch.

And an idea came to him.

It was a good one. It was also terrible.

Lennie thought for a second and then... began to flap his tail.

“Why are you moving?” Greta hissed. “If you move, you will give away your hiding spot."

But Lennie continued to slap his tail against the leaves. He flapped fast and slow, hitting his tail against the seaweed. As he did so, the eggs popped. Tiny leafy sea dragons swam out. The waves propelled the baby leafy sea dragons away. They rose and Lennie had one view, then they scattered away with the waves. One. Two. Ten. Fifty. Hundred. Two hundred fifty.

The human saw him because of the popping eggs. He swung his net, in one big swoop.

“NO!” Greta shouted.

"Got you," the human said, with an evil smile. "Your eggs hatched, but I got YOU."

“Well,” Lennie said, calm for the first time in his life. “It doesn’t matter now. You did not get my eggs!” Then Lennie looked up at the tiny leafy sea dragons swimming away. “Hi there, kids. I’m your Papa. I'm going away for a while, but don’t worry, I’ll be back!”

TO BE CONTINUED.