For a listing of characters, places, Oonock terms and more, go to https://www.prgarcia1.com
DEDICATION
Dedicated to Sharron and Darlene for their reassurance to pursue my love of whale watching, their support to write this trilogy and their encouragement to pursue my dreams.
To the San Diego Natural History Museum Whalers for their love of the incredible cetaceans and other marine life that call the Pacific Ocean their home. And for their dedication to the people of San Diego and the world to see the wonder and importance of these creatures through knowledge, sharing and guidance.
And to London, a most precious gift who always brings a smile to my face.
ACKNOWLEGEMENT
I would like to acknowledge the extraordinary volunteers of the San Diego Natural History Museum Whalers and the San Diego Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for their dedication to the cetaceans and other marine life residing in the waters off southern California and northern Mexico. Both organizations have a dedicated group of volunteers who work as naturalists on the whale boats during the gray whale migration season in San Diego from late December through mid-April. The knowledge they have passed on to me was invaluable in writing this book.
The legend of Atlantis, as described in the writings of Plato from 360 BC, was the basis for the first Oonock city. Their third city is based upon legends and the ruins of Puma Punku in Bolivia, South America. The saltwater lake is modeled after Lake Titicaca, which resides on the borders of Peru and Bolivia. The Message of Holes Enok bored into the rock can be seen near Pisco Valley, Peru on a plain known as Cajamarquilla. It is known as the “Band of Holes” and consists of 6900 holes dug in a row of eight holes uniformly spread over a mile radius. Archeologists have no idea why they were made or by whom.
On October 18, 1989, NASA launched the spacecraft Galileo to study Saturn. In February of 1997, on its way to Saturn, Galileo briefly orbited Jupiter and sent back pictures of several of her larger moons, including IO, Ganymede and Europa. The images sent back confirmed the analysis that Europa was covered by a layer of ice possibly sixty miles thick under which may exist a subsurface ocean. Many scientists believe Europa’s waters contain the three primary ingredients for life (water, heat, and organic compounds) and believe her waters have the best chance for containing alien life in our solar system. NASA had proposed a mission to determine if life does exist there, known as JIMO (Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter) but the project was cancelled in 2005. However, in May of 2012, ESA (European Space Agency) announced the selection of a new mission known as JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer) and hopes to launch in 2022
I would like to thank D. Williams, W. Cooley and M. Sixtus for their help in editing this book.