On a Sunday evening
Every Sunday kids living near the sea shore gathered together and spent the evening playing on the shore. They had a nice time gathering shells, building sand castles and chasing small sand crabs. Sometimes Jane played with the sand crabs, which came out of their holes and disappeared in seconds into the other. Jane and her friends always love to have fun by throwing the wriggling sand crabs at each other. evening waves
Last week, Jane’s father presented her with a beach kit. Jane was proud to show her kit to her friends. Unfortunately, none of her friends were there that day, and Jane was left alone to play.
Being alone, she preferred playing in the waves with her ball. The rolling waves came with a rhythm and touched the sea-shore. Jane kept on tossing the ball on the waves that carried her ball in her arms and then tossed it towards her. None other than the waves can be a better company to play with. They never fought with her or broke up with the game they were playing.
“Nice friend”, Jane murmured to herself.
“Jane, Jane”, Susanne called her daughter. “It’s time, we will go”
“Please, Mom, some more time” Jane wanted to play some more time in the company of waves. The evening was setting in, so she reluctantly returned.
Jane sat near her mother and started to play with her beach kit. She decided to build her dream castle on the sands. Her artistic hands started to ruffle among the sand and within half-an-hour she finished her dream castle. After giving a final touch to the castle, she started to dig a deep moat around the castle. Her hands suddenly felt something that resembled the shell of an egg. Carefully, she removed the sand. To her surprise, there was a clutch of eggs.
“Wow, Mom, look here!” Jane shouted.
Putting away her paper, Susanne looked down. “They are the eggs of the turtle, dear”
“Turtles”
“Yes, sea turtles. They are called Olive Ridley turtles”
“Why are they here?”
“This is their breeding season. They lay their eggs on the seashore. These eggs will hatch with the help of the heat from the sunlight. When the babies hatch, they come out and walk into the sea”
“Shall I take one with me?” Jane asked her mother with a request. She wanted to show that to her friends in school.
“No, leave them there. If you take it home, the baby turtle will not grow inside”
Half-heartedly, Jane placed the eggs back in the nest.
“Do you remember the turtle show we went to last month?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“These are the eggs of a turtle like that”.
“Oh!” Jane was still having the egg of the turtle on her hand. Susanne took it from her hand and held the egg near her left ear.
“Can you hear inside?”
“Yes”, Jane was excited. “What is that, Mom?”
“It is the baby turtle inside. It will hatch out next week and walk to the sea”
“Now, place this egg inside the nest and cover it with the sand. We need to inform the local club, and they will take care of them”
“Shall I pour some water into the moat?”
“Don’t go to the water once again”
“Please, Mom”
“It is getting dark. Let us start. You need to complete your homework”
“Mom”, Susan continued to walk as if she had not heard Jane.
Suddenly, people standing near the waves started to shout. Some of the people sitting on the shore also started to run towards the water. Susan thought it must be as usual: the lifeguards were rescuing someone who had drowned.
“Mom, look there!” Jane screamed.
Susan was surprised to see the huge creature. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“What a wonderful sight! It looks like a whale”
“A whale! What is that, Mom?”
“Have you seen a dolphin?”
“Yes. Last week, Daddy took me to the dolphin show”
“Fine. The dolphins are friendly. But these whales are dangerous. Whales are warm-blooded, air-breathing mammals who spend their whole lives in the ocean”
Before Susanne could follow Jane, she was pushing her way to glimpse the whale. Although it looked huge, it was a baby blue whale.
Susanne remembered what she read last week about the life of blue whales. A baby blue whale is called a calf. At birth, the calf is 6.3 to 7.5 meters long and blue-grey. Markings and spots develop as the whale grows older. The baby blue whale needs its mother for the first year. Since whales are mammals, the calf will nurse for about 7 months. The calf will not become an adult until it is 5 to 6 years old.
The baby blue whale was panting for breath. The baby whale had lost its mother’s trail and had come ashore. The baby whale was “high and dry” and was unable to move.
The lifeguards and the workers of the local zoo were there. They were discussing loudly, which made the baby whale shudder with fear. He was helpless and wanted desperately to move into the sea and find his mother. The baby whale could hear the searching song of his mother afar. He wanted to move his flippers and made an attempt to move. He was hungry and with low energy and so he couldn’t do that.
Jane’s neighbour, Dr. Stephen who had also come for an evening walk was examining the baby whale. He was a well-known Veterinary doctor, who enjoyed working especially with animals living in the sea. He asked everyone to bring in as much sea water and pour it on the baby whale to save him from going dry.
Jane ran and brought her small bucket from her beach kit. She was the first one to dip her bucket into the sea and bring some water. She poured it on the whale. Within seconds, everyone was busy pouring water on the baby whale.
The zoo keeper started to feed the baby whale with the biggest bottle that he used to feed the baby elephant at the zoo. The baby whale was now able to open his eyes and look around.
Dusk had set in. Bright lights lit up the area.
At last, they were all able to push the baby whale into the waves, and were happy to see the baby whale swim into the sea. Silhouetted against the dim moonlight, the baby whale blew a 10-foot jet spray into the night sky as it swam 100 feet ahead of the bow. The water vapor sparkled like Christmas lights in the rays of the moon. The snorting noise rolled like thunder across half a mile of ocean. He breathed twice more at 10-second intervals. His mother, who was all the time kept at a distance, came and took him along with her. Then he lazily lifted his fluke and slid into the sea along with his mother.
The mother whale uses its body to keep the baby whale close to the surface. Whenever the baby whale seemed to struggle for air, the mother whale provided the support as they swam on and on to their destiny. They would travel 70 to 100 miles that night, maintaining a steady speed of 4 to 5 knots for 20 hours.
Though Jane was feeling very tired, at heart she was feeling happy.
Growing up in an environment enriched with colours of nature adorned with sounds of machines, I enjoyed life with all challenges. Nature is always a great teacher that teaches empathy to live and let live others. Though I am now living in an urban environment, the lesson that nature taught me motivates and allows me to keep on writing. I will always remember the cool afternoons in the shades of trees that made me write more on love.