Ocean SOS

by J. Burchett

  The dolphin slowed a little way from where the island rose out of the sea. Ben and Zoe released his fin, and he disappeared, coming to the surface in an arcing dive a little way away. As the children swam towards the land, Ben peered down, marvelling at the wonderful colours of the coral beneath them.

  “I win!” called Zoe, as she reached the shore.

  She pulled off her flippers and stumbled out of the sea.

  “Paradise!” she declared, throwing herself down on the sand underneath a palm tree.

  “We’d better let Erika know where we are!” said Ben, getting out of the water and flopping down beside her. “Then she can contact Uncle Stephen and with luck the centre will come and get Fingal while he’s still around here. We’ll have to hide when they come, of course.” He took his BUG and hit a hot key.

  “Hello!” came Erika’s voice. “What news?” Ben told her everything that had happened. “Fingal’s here with us and he’s tagged,” he finished. “So if Uncle Stephen can call the Agua Clara Dolphin Sanctuary…”

  “Will do,” came Erika’s calm voice. “Your BUG’s giving me your location. I’ll come and get you. We can retrieve your sailing dinghy later.”

  Ben stretched out on the sand. “No need to hurry!”

  Erika laughed. “I’m afraid you can’t be there when the sanctuary people turn up. See you soon.” She rang off.

  Ben jumped up and gazed out to sea.

  “The pod’s back,” he cried. “Looks like they’ve seen off the shark.”

  The dolphins leapt and dived in the waves, which glittered in the sunshine.

  “I wish we could thank them,” said Zoe. “They saved our lives – with Fingal’s help.”

  Fingal gave a series of calls and began to swim towards the pod. But then he whipped round and headed back towards the island. He chirped and walked backwards on his tail, as if he was in one of his shows back at the marine park.

  “I’ve been thinking,” said Ben. “It does seem a shame to have him taken to a sanctuary, no matter how good it is. He’s getting used to the ocean and he seems to have found a pod without any help. I reckon the best thing for him would be to stay in the sea with them.”

  “But how will we be sure he does stay with them?” Zoe sounded worried. “He could go back to bothering the fishing boats and get into danger.”

  The children watched Fingal diving in and out of the waves, clicking and chirping playfully at them.

  “Maybe he is too used to people,” sighed Ben. “Let’s hope the sanctuary helps him change that behaviour.”

  Suddenly, the pod came closer to Fingal, calling and chirping. The young dolphin called back, nodding his snout.

  “Go on, boy,” said Zoe. “Go with them.”

  But Fingal swam closer to the island.

  The pod kept up their calls. Then one of the larger dolphins broke away from the group and swam slowly towards Fingal. The children saw the two grey bodies dance round each other under the water.

  “That’s it, boy,” urged Ben. “They won’t hurt you.”

  The older dolphin made its way back to the pod. But Fingal still didn’t follow. At last, the dolphins turned and headed off towards the deep ocean.

  Then Fingal slipped underwater.

  “Where’s he gone?” asked Zoe anxiously. “I can’t see him.”

  “There he is!” exclaimed Ben, pointing at a sleek shape moving like a torpedo towards the pod.

  Zoe shielded her eyes. “Fingal’s reached the other dolphins!” she cried. “Look, he’s playing with them.”

  They watched as Fingal and his new family swam off into the distance.

  “Better phone Erika again,” said Ben, with a grin. “We’re the only ones that need rescuing now.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Later that week, Zoe and Ben were lying in their garden, reading magazines. Gran was in the kitchen making one of her chocolate cakes to celebrate their successful mission.

  Zoe turned to face Ben. “There’s an article here about sailing,” she said, with a grin. “Fancy some lessons?”

  “Don’t need them,” declared Ben. “I could teach a class how to right a capsized dinghy. And how to bail it out!”

  “You did well,” said Zoe. “The boat hire woman had no idea what her dinghy had been through when we took it back.”

  Not long after Fingal had swum away with the pod, Erika had sped up to the coral island in a hired motorboat. They’d tracked down the capsized dinghy and Zoe had shown Ben how to stand on the keel to pull the vessel upright. The trusty bucket had proved very useful in bailing all the water out.

  “Erika was really pleased with the response to Uncle Stephen’s nets,” said Zoe. “Especially in San Miguel – they were really keen to give them a go there.”

  “Especially that fisherman who started telling everyone about his encounter with the super-dolphin in the bay.”

  “The one that had teeth like knives and cut its way through his net?” Zoe laughed. “He’ll be repeating that story for weeks. It was so funny I nearly forgot to pretend I didn’t understand a word.”

  They heard the phone ring in the house. After a few moments, Gran poked her head out of the window. “That was your Uncle Stephen,” she called. “He said it’s urgent.”

  “Another mission so soon?” said Zoe, jumping up in surprise.

  Gran shook her head. “No. He told me to turn the TV on right away!”

  They ran inside and crowded round the little television in the kitchen. A news programme was on.

  “And finally,” said the newsreader, “a strange turn of events in the Caribbean. A group of wild dolphins have been entertaining tourists with their tricks.”

  The camera cut from the studio and swept over an expanse of blue water to show a pod of dolphins leaping in the waves.

  Suddenly, two adult dolphins began to walk backwards on their tails.

  A reporter appeared on screen. “I have Monica Vasquez from the Agua Clara Dolphin Sanctuary with me,” he said. “Can you tell me what this is all about?”

  A pretty, dark-haired woman came into shot. “There was a bottlenose dolphin from a marine park dumped in the sea,” she told the camera. “We were alerted to his plight and were going to take him to the centre for rehabilitation. But very soon after that, we got a message saying that he’d been adopted by a local pod. They’re teaching him how to live in the wild and it seems he is teaching them something, too.”

  The camera zoomed in as another dolphin reared up on its tail and walked backwards.

  “See that scar under its eye!” cried Zoe, pointing to the screen. “It’s Fingal!”

  “He should have a better life now,” said Ben. “Lots of fish whenever he wants them and no whistles to perform to. And although we needed that ride, I hope he never has to tow a human again.”

  “One thing’s for certain,” said Zoe. “He’s found a home at last.”