have saved her calf,but I’m going to make damned sure that whatever needs to be done will be done for her. That calf is going to be the last whale buried in that graveyard over there.’
I didn’t say anything. I wanted to agree with him, but I knew from past experience that the odds were against him being right.
‘So, let’s do it,’ he said, brightening and setting off towards the water. ‘We can start by giving those women a rest.’
We found that their efforts had been more successful than mine. The cow was now in deeper water, beyond where the waves broke. She was slowly patrolling back and forth, like a caged lion waiting for the gate to open. The two women were standing up to their waists in water closer to the shore.
‘How’s the baby?’ asked Stephanie when we got out to them.
‘Dead,’ I said, gently.
I expected her to burst out crying. Instead, she said, ‘I thought so.’ Then she nodded towards the mother. ‘She knows.’
Vicky must have seen my disbelieving look, for she added, ‘She does. When we first came out here you could hear her making funny clicking noises all the time. And she wouldn’t move away from us. Then about quarter of an hour ago, the clicking stopped. That’s when she moved out into the deeper water. Is that about when the baby died?’
I shrugged: how could I know for sure?
‘I’ve told her to be brave,’ said Stephanie. ‘It might take a long time for the pain to go away, but it will—after a while.’
That’s when I remembered that she knew about death and grieving. Her father had died in horrible circumstances. She would know about the pain of grief. So would her mother. Suddenly, there were tears in my eyes. I turned and looked out to sea so that the others couldn’t see them.
Stephanie continued, ‘I told her that it would be silly to kill herself. If she goes and finds her mate, she’ll be able to have another baby. It’s better that way than both of them dying.’ After a while she added, ‘I think she heard me.’
While I hoped that’s what would happen, I also knew that it was unlikely. Both of the other strandings I’d helped with had been mothers and calves. In the first, the mother was already on the beach when we found her. She’d died first. With the other stranding, the mother had been well out to sea, and we’d thought she was safe. We buried the calf and left her, thinking she’d swim away during the night. She didn’t. She swam ashore and died during the following day.
A couple of hours later, Dad returned with two university people and we went ashore. One of the visitors was Colin who had come to the other two strandings. He was a veterinary doctor. This time he’d brought his partner, Melanie.
After the introductions, Colin got down to work. He soon confirmed that the calf was dead and proceeded with a necropsy. This involved opening the body cavity, and cutting open organs to remove samples. While I’ve seenlots of animals killed and gutted, it’s not quite the same with an animal you didn’t want to die. If it was tough for me, it must have been doubly so for Stephanie, who’d probably never seen anything like this before. Yet she stood there, supported by her mother, with a determined look on her face.
As the stomach was removed and split open, she asked, ‘Will you do this to the mother, too, if she dies?’
‘Yes,’ replied Colin, without looking up.
Stephanie nodded, and then said, almost in a whisper, ‘Then I’m going to make sure she doesn’t die.’
Colin stood up and looked at her. ‘It’s important that we do this, Steph. It’s one of the few ways that we can find out about them.’
‘Why do we have to find out about them? Why can’t we just leave them alone?’
‘Because, like it or not, we’re the ones who have the greatest effect on their lives. We kill more whales and dolphins than any other animal does. And I’m not talking about the ones that the Japanese whalers kill.’ He pointed
I didn’t say anything. I wanted to agree with him, but I knew from past experience that the odds were against him being right.
‘So, let’s do it,’ he said, brightening and setting off towards the water. ‘We can start by giving those women a rest.’
We found that their efforts had been more successful than mine. The cow was now in deeper water, beyond where the waves broke. She was slowly patrolling back and forth, like a caged lion waiting for the gate to open. The two women were standing up to their waists in water closer to the shore.
‘How’s the baby?’ asked Stephanie when we got out to them.
‘Dead,’ I said, gently.
I expected her to burst out crying. Instead, she said, ‘I thought so.’ Then she nodded towards the mother. ‘She knows.’
Vicky must have seen my disbelieving look, for she added, ‘She does. When we first came out here you could hear her making funny clicking noises all the time. And she wouldn’t move away from us. Then about quarter of an hour ago, the clicking stopped. That’s when she moved out into the deeper water. Is that about when the baby died?’
I shrugged: how could I know for sure?
‘I’ve told her to be brave,’ said Stephanie. ‘It might take a long time for the pain to go away, but it will—after a while.’
That’s when I remembered that she knew about death and grieving. Her father had died in horrible circumstances. She would know about the pain of grief. So would her mother. Suddenly, there were tears in my eyes. I turned and looked out to sea so that the others couldn’t see them.
Stephanie continued, ‘I told her that it would be silly to kill herself. If she goes and finds her mate, she’ll be able to have another baby. It’s better that way than both of them dying.’ After a while she added, ‘I think she heard me.’
While I hoped that’s what would happen, I also knew that it was unlikely. Both of the other strandings I’d helped with had been mothers and calves. In the first, the mother was already on the beach when we found her. She’d died first. With the other stranding, the mother had been well out to sea, and we’d thought she was safe. We buried the calf and left her, thinking she’d swim away during the night. She didn’t. She swam ashore and died during the following day.
A couple of hours later, Dad returned with two university people and we went ashore. One of the visitors was Colin who had come to the other two strandings. He was a veterinary doctor. This time he’d brought his partner, Melanie.
After the introductions, Colin got down to work. He soon confirmed that the calf was dead and proceeded with a necropsy. This involved opening the body cavity, and cutting open organs to remove samples. While I’ve seenlots of animals killed and gutted, it’s not quite the same with an animal you didn’t want to die. If it was tough for me, it must have been doubly so for Stephanie, who’d probably never seen anything like this before. Yet she stood there, supported by her mother, with a determined look on her face.
As the stomach was removed and split open, she asked, ‘Will you do this to the mother, too, if she dies?’
‘Yes,’ replied Colin, without looking up.
Stephanie nodded, and then said, almost in a whisper, ‘Then I’m going to make sure she doesn’t die.’
Colin stood up and looked at her. ‘It’s important that we do this, Steph. It’s one of the few ways that we can find out about them.’
‘Why do we have to find out about them? Why can’t we just leave them alone?’
‘Because, like it or not, we’re the ones who have the greatest effect on their lives. We kill more whales and dolphins than any other animal does. And I’m not talking about the ones that the Japanese whalers kill.’ He pointed
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