3 Make some noise

Chapter Three MAKE SOME NOISE. Now that he could see the humpback whales clearly, Connor was worried. They needed help, but what kind? He didn't like to think of these beautiful creatures being in danger. "Can we get closer?" Roshni asked excitedly. "Sure," Connor replied. "But not too close. We don't want to spook them."

He turned the engines down until they were coasting quietly through the water. As they drew closer to the pod, more and more whales emerged from the murk. He could clearly see the knobbly bumps on their heads and their wise little eyes. Roshni's own eyes widened and she gasped. "Look, they've got babies!" Connor looked where she was pointing. Sure enough, among the large whales were some little ones. They were only a few yards long, and each was swimming close to an adult whale. Those had to be their mothers. "Calves," Connor said.

"Huh? Where?" "That's what you call a baby whale. This mission just got even more important, Roshni." Roshni nodded, her face serious. "We've got to protect these guys. So what's the danger? Predators?" "I can't tell yet," Connor said. "But I know one thing. These whales give birth in Pacific waters, where it's warm. So now they must be migrating south to Antarctica. The water there is cold, but it's full of krill for them to eat." The Beagle, which had been quiet until now, let out a sudden beep! Red lights flashed on the console. Connor and Roshni stared at it. Connor asked "What's up, Beagle? Did I get something wrong?" Beep! the Beagle repeated.

"Wait." Roshni held up a hand. "You said the whales were swimming south. But the sun's right in front of us right now. And the whales are swimming toward it. And it's nearly sunset, and the sun sets in the west. So that means..." BLOO-BOOPOP, jabbered the Beagle encouragingly. It sounded like "keep talking." "…the whales are swimming west, not south!" Roshni exclaimed. Connor sat bolt upright in his seat. "You're right. They're swimming toward Australia, not Antarctica. The pod of whales is off course!"

The Beagle made a triumphant DING! noise like someone ringing a bell. "But how could the whales have gone the wrong way?" Roshni said. "They use the same migration route every year, don't they?" Connor thought he knew what had happened. "Remember that red tide we saw? Maybe the whales didn't want to swim through that stuff. They might have gotten lost trying to avoid it." They both looked out at the whales, who were all swimming powerfully in the wrong direction. Connor and Roshni understood now what their mission was—to get the whale pod back on track. But how? "You're the marine expert, Connor," Roshni said. "What do we do?" Connor thought hard. Those whales were huge, strong, and determined. Getting them

to change course wouldn't be easy. He tried to remember how other people had helped whales in the past. "I read about a whale that was trapped in a harbor," he said. "It didn't know which way to go. Whales don't like loud sounds, so people banged on pipes and all kinds of other things to drive her in the right direction, so she could swim away to safety." Roshni asked, "Could we do the same?"