“Fascinating.”
Data had his wheelchair tight to the desk in his room and was working on his laptop computer. He and Fahd had spent hours on the Internet ever since the kids had returned from their diving trip with their incredible tale of the dead seadragons and Nish’s attacker.
Data had checked out Web sites all over the world. He had sent off e-mails and already had a couple of answers. Now he had compiled his own file and was scrolling down the screen, telling the rest of the Screech Owls the essentials of what he and Fahd had found out.
“No wonder people are fascinated by seahorses,” Data said.
“The only males in the world who have babies,” Fahd added unnecessarily.
“There’s one – they even have a name for him, James – who gave birth to 1,572 babies at once.”
“Another world record for you to go after, eh, Nish?” said Sam, giggling.
“There’s a huge world trade in seahorses,” Data said. “They dry them out and grind them into powder to feed to people. They’re used in traditional Chinese medicine for everything from curing asthma to restoring energy to old people.
“Says here that forty-five tonnes of seahorses are consumed each year in Asia – that’s sixteen million of them!”
“Impossible!” Sarah gasped.
“It’s true,” said Data. “There’s all kinds of myths about them, mostly to do with the males giving birth, which some people take as proof of male superiority. Some also believe that the seahorse can heal itself spontaneously. That’s probably because they can grow back their tails if an attacker snaps it off, but not instantly.”
“Anyway,” Fahd added, jumping in, “you can see why so many might be eaten and why they’re so valuable. A little bowl of seahorse soup will cost you four hundred and fifty dollars in a restaurant in Taiwan.”
“A bowl of soup?” Sam said. “You can’t be serious?”
“I am,” said Fahd. “In some places, a kilogram of seahorse powder can go for as high as fifteen thousand dollars.”
“They must be nearly extinct!” said Jesse.
“No,” said Data. “There are thirty-two different species, and they’re found all around the world. Only one is on the endangered species list.”
“What about seadragons?” Sarah asked. “That’s what he had. Seadragons, not seahorses.”
Fahd nodded. “We know that.”
Data cleared his throat. “There’s almost nothing on the Web about them. Apparently they’re found only in Australia. There are two different species in the world and both exist right here. Even in Sydney Harbour. But they’re quite rare, apparently, especially the Leafy Seadragon.”
“That’s what we saw!” Travis interrupted.
“Well, there’s not much we can tell you about them. The Threatened Species Network is trying to have them put on the protected list, but so far they’ve had no luck.”
“What about Chinese medicine?” Andy asked.
“Hardly even mentioned,” said Data, scrolling down to the bottom. “One article says they’re considered to have even more power than the seahorse. Ten times the power. Supposed to cure all the same things, but also give a person incredible courage.”
“Hardly seemed a courageous thing to me,” Sarah sniffed. “Grabbing them and stuffing them into a bag so they die.”
“I know,” Fahd agreed. “But that must have been what he was up to. Collecting them to sell on the black market.”
“But why attack Nish?” Travis asked. “What did he think Nish was – a cop?”
“We’ll never know,” said Sarah, shaking her head. “I guess we’ll just never know.”