Activities Coloring Pages Word Puzzles Word Treasures Return to the Story
Read by Anita Rodgers
The first thing that Cody remembered was his grandfather singing a beautiful song.
Cody was a very curious calf. He always wanted to know more, and loved to listen to his grandfather’s stories.
Grandfather was a wise old whale. Cody liked stories about the places his grandfather had been. He would tell Cody about animals that lived in the sea. There were stories about people, boats, and faraway lands.
Cody would swim by his grandfather and say, “Tell me more! Tell me more!”
The whales were on their way to warm waters for the cold winter. It was a long swim.
Grandfather tried to keep an eye on Cody. He said, “Cody, don’t go off on your own. You may get lost and not find your way back to us. Please stay close by.” Cody always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sometimes Cody would see a big boat sitting on the bottom of the sea. He liked to swim around the boat to find what was left behind. Some boats had big holes in them.
Cody wondered, “What happened to the boat? Why did it go down? Did they get too close to sharp rocks by the shore?”
There was so much he wanted to know. Where was the boat going? When was it here?
Cody wondered, “Who was on the boat? Were they pirates looking for lost treasure?”
The whales made their way into the Sugar Sea. His grandfather thought, “This seems like a good time to tell Cody a fishing story.” Like most whales, Cody liked to catch and eat fish.
Grandfather asked Cody, “Would you like me to tell you a story?”
Cody hoped it would be a fish story. He swam next to his grandfather and asked, “What is the story about?”
Grandfather said, “Cody, I’m going to tell you about my best fishing day. Soon we will be going by Breakers Island. That is where a group of us went bubble net feeding.”
Cody asked, “What is that?”
Grandfather said, “It is when a small group of whales work together to catch fish. That day, we got in a circle under the fish. We started swimming and blowing bubbles. The fish tried to swim away from the bubbles. We made the circle under the fish smaller and smaller. We blew more and more bubbles. The fish were now caught in the middle of a much smaller circle. We went up into the circle with our mouths wide open. We each caught hundreds of fish that day.”
Cody liked the idea of catching so many fish at once. He asked, “Can I fish like that?”
Grandfather said, “Yes, Cody. You can swim in a circle on your own. But a group of whales working together is best. You can catch more fish with a group.” As he ended the story he said, “We are passing by our fishing spot right now.”
A young boy in the village of Red Haven saw the whales out in the Sugar Sea. He ran to tell his family. The news that the whales were back spread like wildfire.
People ran to the shore. They looked over the top of the water to find the whales. Then they saw the whales in the sea.
The people were so happy to see that the whales were back. They watched the whales come up for air. Then they saw the long black and white tails. The whale tails went up in the air and then down under the water.
“Look! Look over there! He’s back. The old whale has made it another year!”called a man to the people. Everyone turned to look where he pointed. A happy yell went up when they saw Cody’s grandfather.
Over time he had become a great legend in the Sugar Sea. People looked for him each year. The safe return of the old whale was seen as a sign of good things to come.
The old whale paid no attention to the people watching them from shore. They still had a long way to swim in the dark blue sea. He started to sing the song that Cody loved.
Activities Coloring Pages Word Puzzles Word Treasures Return to the Story
The news that the whales were back spread like wildfire.