Helping a sick whale
After finding a sick whale that had been pushed back into the water after being beached, Roger and I escorted it back to the area where we’d left Paulie and Alex. Whales usually prey on smaller fish, so you can imagine how Paulie felt when he saw this. We were bringing a potential predator right to him!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!” screamed Paulie.
“Not so loud,” said the whale.
“I’m sorry,” whispered Paulie. “Don’t eat me. I’m Paulie. I’m your friend. Do you understand me, friend? Paulie is your friend!” Paulie was panicking.
“Relax, Paulie. He’s hurt and needs our help,” I said.
“Is he gonna eat us? If he gets better, is he gonna eat us then?” whispered Paulie.
“No,” said Roger.
I looked over at Alex and saw he was still watching a family of stingray swimming and playing nearby. I knew something had been bothering him for some time, but he hadn’t decided to share it with me. As his friend, I felt it was my duty to see if I could help him. I swam over to Alex.
“What’s wrong, Alex?” I asked.
Alex looked sad. “I miss my family,” he said.
I placed my flipper on my friend’s back. “If you want to return to your family, I totally understand.”
Alex looked up at me, “I know I said I’d go on this adventure with you, but I really do miss my family.” He looked down toward the sand. “I hope you’re not upset with me.”
I lifted his face with my flipper so he could look at me. “Alex, you are my friend. If you need to go, you go. We will always be friends.” I smiled at him. “Who knows, ” I said. “Maybe we will see each other again someday.”
Alex smiled, and I gave him a hug. He then swam over to Paulie.
“Paulie, I’m leaving,” he said.
Paulie was upset. “Was it something I said? Is it something I did? Whatever it is, I won’t do it again. Unless it’s something I didn’t do, then I’ll make sure I don’t not do it again.”
Alex hugged Paulie. “It was not something you did or didn’t do. I just really want to be with my family.” Paulie hugged him back. “I’ll miss you,” said Alex.
Alex nodded at Roger, and Roger nodded back, knowing that Alex was grateful for his hospitality.
Alex swam off toward the coral reef. It made me sad to see him go, but I knew he was doing what he felt was best.
I then turned my attention to the whale and to Roger.
I asked Roger quietly, “Do you know what is wrong with him?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Clyde is suffering from a common illness that comes from polluted waters.”
“Clyde?” I asked, not realizing that was the whale’s name.
“Yes, his name is Clyde.” Roger turned to Paulie. “Paulie, I need your help.”
“Me?” asked Paulie. “What can I do?”
“You can swim fast, can’t you?”
“Yes!” shouted Paulie. He knew he could swim fast—very fast. After all, he outran two barracudas. “Yes, I can!”
“Okay, I need you to find some seaweed. It’s special seaweed that can help cure Clyde.”
“Who’s Clyde?” asked Paulie.
“Right over here,” shouted Clyde, as loud as he could, waving his fin at Paulie.
“The seaweed we need has clusters of three berries, and it grows about five feet tall,” explained Roger. “If you head in that direction, you should come across a field of it. I need you to bring me at least twelve pieces of seaweed that have those berries. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I can.” replied Paulie, saluting Roger.
“Oooohh!” moaned Clyde.
Paulie turned to leave, and Roger stopped him. “Paulie?”
“Yes?”
“Hurry!”
Tags: jolly roger, loggerhead, story, turtle, whale
Posted by Dan under From Eartha | Permalink