Euroclub Schools - Feeding the fish in Sicily

A Very Exciting Underwater Experience
Una Storia Vera - A True Story
By Claudia

Last summer in Sicilia, I visited the island of Favignana.
The sea is very beautiful there. I had great fun, swimming with my mask and flippers.
sicily Il mare è bellissimo!

'"È fantastico!"' I thought, whilst pretending to be a deep-sea action-girl.
Every now and then, I spotted an interesting shell lying on the sea bed.

Che bella conchiglia!

But where were all the fish?
"Dove sono i pesci?" I asked myself.
This seemed very strange. "Molto strano!"
Shouldn't the sea be full of fish?

Some underwater investigating was required.
'"Uno, due, tre!"' I dived down a few metres and looked around.

There was not even one fish! All that I could see was
white sand, rocks, sea-weed and a
jellyfish. We call a jellyfish 'una medusa' in Italian.

It was time for a snack. I came out of the water and sat on a rock to eat a sandwich.

Everyone knows that you should not throw rubbish into the sea. Well, here is a secret. I did something naughty: I secretly threw a big piece of my sandwich into the sea.

A few moments later, I couldn't believe my eyes!
The floating sandwich was whizzing around like a mini speed boat. There was splashing all around.

Molto strano!' Very strange! Sandwiches should NOT move on their own. What was causing this mysterious event?

"Let's investigate!" I put on my mask and flippers and jumped back into the water.

The mystery was solved! Hundreds and thousands of fish
were attacking the floating sandwich. I was totally surrounded by hungry fish.

It was a worrying situation. Would they bite me? Would they think that I was a giant sandwich?

I decided to conduct some experiments!
Experiment 1: Would the fish eat from my hand?
Result: Sì! Yes!
When I held a piece of bread, the fish nibbled away until the bread was gone and their little teeth tickled my fingers.

Experiment 2: Is there anything that fish do not eat?
Result: They eat EVERYTHING.
My big sister threw in some pieces of melon, pasta, pizza, cheese and salad. The fish arrived in thousands. It was a feast for fish! No food was ignored.

The water bubbled furiously as the fish jumped around, especially when we threw in the slice of pizza. It was definitely their favourite food. You could even hear a munching sound as they came to the surface to bite
off the pieces!

(Hungry, Sicilian fish. Photo by Claudia.)

Hundreds of seagulls arrived too. They floated on top of the water and pecked each other as they fought for the food. I was trapped between nibbling fish and pecking birds.

'Aiuto!' Help!

The fluffy seagulls were the young ones. I felt sorry for them because the older seagulls bullied them and didn't let them have any of the food.

(A young, fluffy, Sicilian seagull. Photo taken by Claudia.)

When all the food was gone, the fish and the seagulls disappeared.
Once again, the sea became a quiet place with not one fish to be seen.

Now that I am back at home, I often think of my friends the Sicilian fish. I really enjoyed visiting their world.

One day, I will return with more food. I am going to discover what they think of chocolate, crisps and Brussels sprouts. I will let you know the results.

The sea is a very beautiful and interesting place and it belongs to the fish and partly to the seagulls.
That is why it is so important that we all help
to look after the sea.

La Fine
The End

Claudia's Italian Vocabulary Book
il pesce - the fish      il mare - the sea
la sabbia - the sand       la barca - the boat
la medusa - the jelly fish         la maschera - the mask

le pinne - the flippers       l' acqua - the water
la conchiglia - the shell    sotto - under
il gabbiano - the seagull         affamato - hungry
il panino - the sandwich       nuotare - to swim
mangiare - to eat      Mi piace - I like