Danau Baikal

Polly terbangun pada pagi kelima. Dunia telah berubah menjadi air.

Polly woke on the fifth morning. The world had become water.

Kereta api sedang berjalan di sepanjang Danau Baikal. Danau itu memenuhi seluruh jendela. Airnya berwarna biru tua yang sempurna.

The train was running along Lake Baikal. The lake filled the whole window. The water was a deep, perfect blue.

Igor, si nelayan, berada di jendela dengan sebuah buku catatan.

Igor, the fisherman, was at the window with a notebook.

"Baikal," katanya. "Ini adalah danau terdalam di dunia. Kedalamannya 1.642 meter. Ini juga danau tertua. Usianya 25 juta tahun."

"Baikal," he said. "It is the deepest lake in the world. 1,642 metres deep. It is also the oldest lake. 25 million years old."

Airnya begitu jernih sehingga Polly bisa melihat batu-batu di dasar danau di tempat-tempat yang dangkal.

The water was so clear that Polly could see rocks on the lake floor in the shallow places.

"Danau ini menyimpan 23 persen dari seluruh air tawar di Bumi yang tidak membeku," kata Igor. "Lebih banyak dari semua Danau Besar di Amerika Utara jika digabungkan."

"It holds 23 percent of all the fresh water on Earth that is not frozen," Igor said. "More than all the Great Lakes in North America together."

Kereta berhenti di stasiun Slyudyanka. Igor turun. Dia menjabat ujung sayap Polly dengan dua jari. "Tiga hari memancing. Lalu pulang." Dia melambaikan tangan dan pergi.

The train stopped at Slyudyanka station. Igor got off. He shook Polly's wing tip with two fingers. "Three days fishing. Then home." He waved and was gone.

Kereta berjalan di sepanjang danau selama tiga jam lagi. Sekelompok anjing laut Baikal muncul ke permukaan. Mereka adalah satu-satunya anjing laut air tawar di dunia.

The train ran along the lake for three more hours. A group of Baikal seals came up to the surface. They are the only freshwater seals in the world.

Polly memikirkan betapa banyak air di bawahnya. Seekor udang kecil berwarna merah muda hidup di Baikal. Udang ini menjaga air tetap bersih. Sudah melakukan pekerjaan ini selama 20 juta tahun.

Polly thought about how much water was below her. A tiny pink shrimp lives in Baikal. It keeps the water clean. It has been doing this job for 20 million years.