The island was split in the middle by a long, deep water channel, which ran up from the sea for about 300 miles. Within a few hundred metres, the depth dropped from 50 metres to almost a mile deep. Coral reefs decorated the rim, but at the bottom of the abyss, there was nothing but a thick layer of mud full of creatures which survived on the rain of dead of animals from the sea above. A bipedal dinosaur was stalking the spray, looking for dead animals that the tide had churned up. The dinosaur stopped to sniff at a smashed ammonite and had made a grave mistake; it had turned its back on the ocean.
Suddenly, a bow wave swept through the water towards it. As it explodes, a pair of crocodilian jaws, almost two metres long, erupted out of the water and clamped onto the dinosaur's leg. The smaller dinosaur flailed around screaming, but its fate was sealed. Effortlessly, the top predator of the Jurassic ocean slid back into the water, dragging the dinosaur to its doom.
(Intro theme)
Leon sighed, "Drew, can I not go on the mission today?" Drew looked at him, confused, "Why?". Leon breathed out; he couldn't tell his friend his plan, in fear that Drew would veto it. It was a risky plan; but if it was successful, it would be a great benefit for the future of the park. It hurt him to keep the secret, but he had to. "All I can say is that I believe it's important for the park's future". Drew gave him a puzzled look and said "Fine. You can stay at the park and do whatever your big plan is". Leon grinned ear to ear and said "Thanks!", before heading off.
As Leon left, Cynthia Night, Adrian Sky and Jack and Alice Denham entered the room, looking curiously at Leon as he skipped away. "Oh, you're here. Good. Leon's not coming on this mission; he said he had something to do." The other four members of the team looked at each other; what exactly did Leon have planned?
Drew looked at them and cleared his throat, ""The Late Jurassic oceans were home to a great diversity of marine animals," Drew explained, flicking through pages of the file. "The best fossils of the time have been found in a place in the United Kingdom called the Oxford Clay, which happens to be one of the best marine fossil sites in the world. That's where we're going today. The Mariner's ready; we're ready to set off."
At the veterinary pens, Linda Eberhart was looking at the injured female Postosuchus, who had recovered greatly since her operation. The time had now come to put her in the Postosuchus paddock; however, they had to introduce her to the male, to acclimate them to each other. That was why she was talking to Nikolai. "Can I please have some security personnel on standby; just in case something goes wrong?", she said to Nikolai, who was standing in front of her. Nikolai rolled his eyes and said "I will be able to send a few people, but I can't spare many personnel. My team are going to be busy with the Coelophysis; they have proven to be quite the escapologists ever since the initial escape". Linda nodded at the memory; on the mission two weeks prior, about 30 of the Coelophysis had escaped, due to some error in the locking system. Cynthia, who had been at the paddock at the time, had been asked about any hints of the accident; she had told them that she had simply not noticed any system error.
As Nikolai walked away, Leon walked up to him, grinning ear to ear. "Nikolai!", he said, "I might need a few security personnel for a… private project involving the Allosaurus". Nikolai sighed; "Most of my team are going to be busy with the Coelophysis and I've already sent some personnel watching the Postosuchus introduction; there aren't many people available… what is the project, exactly?" Leon looked around, nervously, "I can't tell you because… it's a bit outside-the-box…" Nikolai gave him a stare and said bluntly, "That sounds like it's going to turn out to be a wild goose chase and I can't spare any personnel for that". Nikolai walked off, and Leon looked crestfallen. Back to square one, then. Who could he ask for help?
Meanwhile, Drew, Cynthia, Adrian, Jack and Alice boarded the Ancient Mariner and were ready to head off. everyone was at the portal. The portal was calibrated, it opened and the Ancient Mariner sailed through.
The Mariner emerged from the portal . Alice looked out of the window; they'd landed in a bay. The sea was calm, the tide was low and the waves lapped gently on a nearby beach; she could see the indistinct forms of dinosaurs prowling the shoreline. There was no sound, aside from the lapping of the waves and the harsh calls of a distant pterosaur. It looked, for all in the world, like the Bahamas; far from what it would look like over 149 million years in the future. It was a tranquil image of peace and serenity; Alice stared out and sighed at the beautiful vista before her. Through their binoculars, they saw something lying on a coral shelf like a reptilian seal. It had dark brown, leathery skin, a long neck and a small head and large flippers. Drew grabbed his binoculars to take a look. "According to the info-packs, it's Cryptoclidus; a kind of plesiosaur", he told Alice. "Largely a fish-eater; not too dangerous, but it shouldn't be taken too lightly." Another Cryptoclidus was basking on the shelf nearby; the two animals ignored each other. The Cryptoclidus closest to the sea suddenly moved forward and, with a couple of cumbersome movements, launched itself of the shelf and into the sea. Another soon joined it. Drew turned to Alice and said "Alice, can you go down in the water and see if you can catch some? Seeing as you were the one who brought back the Nothosaurus; Cryptoclidus is kind of similar. We'll tell you if anything else is coming your way." Alice nodded, turned on her heels and headed off to put on her diving suit.
After donning her diving suit, Alice dove into the water. Like she had done with the Nothosaurus, had taken a cattle prod with her, in order to keep the reptiles from getting too close for comfort. It didn't take long for some to appear, most likely curious of the new creature. Up close, Alice could see details that she hadn't been able to discern before. Their skin was brown and leathery, and they had a long neck and a small, broad, flattened head, with long jaws equipped with hundreds of small, sharp interlocking teeth (some in the form of paired fangs). Their limbs were large flippers; they were perfectly adapted to the life aquatic. It seemed that the plesiosaurs had instantly noticed the cattle prod she had and approached with caution, not wanting to be on the receiving end of what (to them) was a large, extendable claw.
The Crypoclidus may have looked reptilian, but they had the playfulness and inquisitive nature of sea lions. They were swimming close, but keeping their distance; some of them allowed themselves to be petted, curious at this new creature. When the time came to use the portal, Alice turned it on. They briefly stared, transfixed at this strange, shining orb, before heading through the portal into the park. Once they had all gone through, Alice noticed something in the reefs. She activated the communicator in the diving suit and asked, "Guys, are there any other animals in the area?" Adrian looked at the radar and responded. "There are a lot of animals showing up on the radar right next to you; we can't tell anything else. Tell me what you see."
Alice nodded and went to see what was over the coral. What she saw was a shoal of large, fish-like creatures swimming into the reef; however, their lack of gills told her they were, indeed reptiles. They had long, fish like bodies, sleek fins and powerful, crescent-shaped tails. The tail's easy side to side beat allowed them to cruise effortlessly through the water. Each animal had greyish black backs and off-white underbellies. As Alice described them to the boat crew, they turned through the journal and thought for a bit before hitting on a possible match. "Opthalmosaurus", Drew told her, "They're ichthyosaurs; the oldest of marine reptiles, related to the Cymbospondylus back at the park. However, these only eat fish. They're one of our targets."
