Wally the Whale

Deep in the ocean, animals of all shapes and sizes live and swim together.

Meet Wally. He is a blue whale, and he has a problem. Wally's salmon friend Fred swam into some plastic. Wally has tried his best, but he can't free Fred.

"Maybe Mr. Octopus can help?" says Fred.

"Let's go see!" responds Wally.

Wally and Fred swim to Mr. Octopus's home below a coral reef. They hope his long tentacles can wrap around the plastic and free Fred.

"This way!" says Wally.

"I'm right behind you," says Fred.

The two friends arrive at Mr. Octopus’s cave

"Mr. Octopus," calls out Wally. "Can you help free my friend?"

"Hmm, let me see," says Mr. Octopus.

Mr. Octopus wraps his tentacles around Fred and pulls as hard as he can.

"Ouch! That hurts me," shouts Fred.

Mr. Octopus stops at what he is doing at once.

"Oh, dear," says Mr. Octopus. "I don't think I can help here."

"Oh, I know! Maybe see if a crab can help," says Mr. Octopus. "Their claws might come in handy."

"Good idea!" says Wally.

"Thank you, Mr. Octopus,” adds Fred.

Wally and Fred swim to the top of the coral reef in search of a crab. They hope some claws can snip their problem away. They find Mr. Crab scuttling about his coral home.

"Mr. Crab," Wally begins. "Can you help free my friend Fred?"

Mr. Crab scurries out of his home to see what he can do.

"Let me see," says Mr. Crab.

Mr. Crab snaps his claws and cuts away plastic doing his best to free Fred.

"Oh, no," says Mr. Crab. "My claw can't bend to cut the rest of the plastic."

Suddenly, Mr. Crab has an idea. "Maybe a swordfish can do the rest!"

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Crab,” says Fred.

“Yes, thank you so much," says Wally.

“Come on, Wally! Let's find a swordfish!" calls out Fred.

Off the two friends go, searching for help from a swordfish, but finding one proved much harder than they expected. Finally, Wally and Fred find a lone swordfish.

"Excuse us, Mrs. Swordfish," Wally begins. "Could you help free my friend?"

"Oh, mercy me, my dearies. Let me see," says Mrs. Swordfish.

Mrs. Swordfish points her nose at Fred and tries to cut the plastic but stops.

"Sorry, children," says the swordfish. "But, I'm afraid I'll hurt poor Fred here if I try."

"You're right. We don't want that," says Wally.

"Yeah, we appreciate you trying to help anyway," says Fred.

"Yes, thanks for giving us your time," says Wally.

"I wish I knew who could help you two," Mrs. Swordfish says with a frown. "It's just horrible what happened."

Mrs. Swordfish swims away, leaving the two friends with nowhere else to go. Who could they go to now, they wondered.

"Do you have any ideas, Wally?" asks Fred.

"I wish I did, Fred," says Wally.

As Wally and Fred take a moment to think, a net from a passing boat comes along and swoops Fred up in its grip.

"Fred!" shouts Wally.

"Wally!" shouts Fred.

Above the water, a lone fisherman finds Fred trapped in his net. The fisherman takes Fred in his hands and sees the plastic ring.

"Tsk, Tsk," he says. "You poor thing. I'll take care of that."

The fisherman reaches out. Fred shakes in fear. With a flick of his wrist, the fisherman frees Fred from his trap and tosses him back into the sea.

Wally finds Fred and shouts with joy.

"Look, Fred!" exclaims Wally. "You're free!"

"You know what that means?" asks Fred.

"Humans can help!"