8 Whale Rescue

Whale Rescue written by Pam Holden illustrated by Lamia Aziz

Baby Whale lived with his family far out in the deep sea. One morning, he swam away all by himself. Before long, he knew that he was lost. He felt frightened because he couldn't see any of the other whales. Baby Whale swam a long way as he tried to find his family. After a while, he swam too close to the beach. The water at the beach was not deep enough for a whale! First he tried to swim forwards and then he tried to swim backwards.

Soon Baby Whale knew he was stuck in the soft sand. He flapped his tail hard and he shook his flippers, but he couldn't swim at all because the water was too shallow. He felt very frightened and worried. "Who will save me?" he cried. "Please help me!" The big whales were trying to find their lost baby. When they heard his cries, they swam quickly through the waves to the beach to help him.

The two big whales swam closer and closer to the beach, but they were far too big to swim in such shallow water. Before long, they were both stuck in the soft sand, too. A family playing on the beach saw the whales splashing in the waves, flapping their tails and trying to swim. "Don't worry! We'll help you," the people shouted, as they ran quickly into the water.

"The water isn't deep enough here for the whales to swim away," the people said to each other. "We'll have to wait for the tide to come right in. The water will get deeper soon." While they waited, they put wet towels on the whales' backs to keep them cool. The children found pieces of seaweed in the waves. They put it on the whales' heads to keep the sun off their skin.

The people filled their buckets with cool sea water and they poured it gently all over the whales' backs to keep them wet. They patted the three whales and talked to them to make them feel better. "We'll look after you," they said. "Don't worry. The tide is coming back in now."