Bolian Birthdays

Bolians do not calculate their ages based on a star calendar. The first immersion of a Bolian baby in the water on their first Ocean Day at high tide is counted as the moment of their birth. The number of tides since then, at that location, is how age is determined. In the Bolian language, there is a different word used to denote the day a baby emerges from the Mother's body as opposed to the first Ocean Day.

Because of this construction, Bolian birthdays consist not only of a day, but the exact local time as well. Note that this means that even though two Bolians might be born on the same Earth Day or Stardate, they would not be considered to have the same birthday in Bolian culture unless their first swim hours were very close together, in the local time in each location where they had their respective ceremonies.

Bolian Age Calculations

Bolians do not calculate ages based on birth but on the number of high tides in the location of their first swim since their first Ocean Day. They then round it off by thousands.

Each body of water may have some variations. But on average, there are 6441 high tides on Bolarus IX in a human solar year. As an example, a 25 solar year old Bolian might be 161,024 tides old and would give his Bolian age as “161.” Note that because of the tide calculations, Bolians would not have an “annual” birthday in a solar calendar, they would have 6 or 7 birthdays each calendar year and those dates would change each successive year.

Accordingly to calculate a Bolian's age accurately, three pieces of data are required:

1. The exact body of water used for the ceremony. For large bodies of water, precise coordinates might be needed. This data is not usually part of a Starfleet service record. Even knowing a given city where a Bolian is from tells nothing, since there could be hundreds of possible water locations that could have been used for a first Ocean Day in that city and a small lake might have different characteristics than a large river.
2. The tide tables for the location above.
3. Which high tide was used for the ceremony, since there can be multiple high tides on a given day.

Adaptations

As Bolians moved into space, several adaptation were required. If the first Ocean Day took place in space, or off-world, some families use the high tide from their place of origin on the home world. Another option would be to use a favored spot by the family near the capital city. There is also a reference counter that the Bolian Government publishes for those who tend to be more practical.

Ocean Day Anniversaries

Due to the frequent nature of Bolian birthdays, most go unremarked. Families and friends tend to commemorate those in multiples of 15 such as the 15000th, 30000th, and so on. The event may take whatever form is mutually agreed upon. If there was a Water Sculpture that was commissioned by the parents on the occasion of the first Ocean Day, it would usually be brought out and admired. This may not be done if the party has more casual acquaintances present.

References