Manta -

She could never stop moving, or the oxygen would cease to flow over her gills.

On the fifth day of her migration, the water turned thick and bitter. A net, discarded by a trawler miles away, drifted through the water column like a translucent spiderweb. She could never stop moving, or the oxygen

Every beat of her wings was a calculated leverage against the water. She could never stop moving

The mesh bit into her skin. Instinct told her to bolt, to flap harder. But panic was a luxury the deep did not afford. Thrashing would only tighten the web. She slowed her heart rate. She tilted her giant body, feeling the tension of the lines. discarded by a trawler miles away