Excerpt: Oil and Water

A’me changed into her wet suit and made her way to the bigger tank where the three whales were. It was breakfast time for them. Before breakfast though, A’me and her coworkers observed the whales to make sure they were okay. They measured respiration times and whether or not the whales looked lethargic. Then, it was feeding time.

All but A’me carried a bucket of fish. The whales came up to them immediately once they saw the buckets. They knew what was coming. On cue, as the trainers got handfuls of fish, the whales opened their mouths in order to receive the food. They talked to them in soothing voices and loved on them. The whales loved to be pet, hugged and kissed. Astor rolled over onto his belly for a scratch. Lava and Fire did not like that because he was in the way. Mark signaled for Astor to come to him. The whale obeyed begrudgingly. Mark smiled. The whales were given handfuls of fish until their buckets were empty. Then A’me got excited. It was time for her to go and feed the new whale!

A’me had done some research on names at home. The new whale was gentle. A’me found the name “Sala”, which meant “gentle” in African. “African” was such a general description for the origin of the name. A’me knew that there were many, many different kinds of languages in Africa. She was amused that the origin was “African”.

Sala was as close to the other whales as she could be when A’me and the other trainers came to see her. She probably was wondering what was going on. Or, she was smart and knew what was coming. A’me wondered why the other trainers never gave Sala a toy to play with. The poor whale looked so bored.

Joy was carrying a bucket of fish. Sala followed them over to the platform. She opened her mouth once Joy took handfuls of fish from the bucket. A’me was glad that Sala had learned that this was how she was going to be fed. A’me wondered if she missed hunting in the wild. She probably thought that being fed like this was a lot easier than hunting.

Once the bucket was empty, Sala merely waited. A’me was curious because normally Sala went back to making laps in the pool because she did not have anything else to do. A’me longed to go into the water with her. She wanted to show the whale that humans were nothing fear and in fact, they could be good playmates too! A’me knew that she would not be able to do that until the test results came back. They would take another couple days.

The other trainers began walking away. Sala was fed. They could not do anything else with her. A’me was sad. She felt bad for Sala because she looked so bored and lonely. A’me began to walk away too, at the same time, she was watching Sala. The whale still waited. A’me went around the corner and waited. When she looked again, she saw Sala spitting fish onto the platform on the other side of the pool. Then she waited. Eventually, a bird showed up! A’me smiled. Sala was a smart whale! The bird pecked at the food on the platform and ate it. Sala spit more fish onto the platform, but closer to her. She was trying to lure the bird closer to her. The bird took the bait and came closer to her. Sala launched herself onto the platform and snapped at the bird. The bird flew away quickly to safety. Sala laid on the platform for a while. Then she wiggled a bit and got back into the water. She spit more fish onto the platform, probably hoping the bird would try again. This bird was smart though. It waited until the pieces of fish came the furthest from Sala before it ate it. Sala did not try getting the bird again. Instead, she resumed her routine of making laps around the pool.

A’me’s heart ached for her. She wondered if she could ask Mark if she could play with her. She knew she could not though. Sala could have contaminated the water and if A’me went in the water and then went about with her regular work then she could contaminate the other animals in the park. Now A’me was sad. She could not wait until the test results came back. She hoped Sala was okay. A’me knew that she was physically fine from making observations. Oil spills can do unseen things to animals.