Irina speaking, or writing, rather!
We just finished this fun, adventurous, and very enlightening kids’ book (ages 8-12) called A Whale of the Wild, written by Rosanne Parry and illustrated by Lindsay Moore. It’s about two orcas (we’ve heard some call them “killer whales” but they don’t seem that scary to us) – a sister, Vega, and her little brother, Deneb. They live in the Salish Sea, which is off the coast of Oregon, and they live on salmon. Because their salmon supply is low, they must go to an area called The Gathering Place, which is where the salmon migrate. They try eating other fish, but the smaller fish leave them hungry, and orcas have to be careful of the fish they eat because some are poisonous to them.
Vega is a young female (kind of a teenager in human years) and she is training to be a wayfinder – or a leader. The orcas live in a matriarchal society, which means the lady moms do the leading while the men dads stay by their side as companions and helpers. Deneb really looks up to his big sis.
Something happens on the way – I won’t say what because I don’t want to spoil anything. But Vega is understandably very upset and needs to do something important on her own – she needs to go to a place where years ago humans stole her cousins and some of her family were killed trying to protect them. She needs to visit their bones. Deneb follows her without her knowing. Suddenly there is a big calamity in the ocean – it’s never named but we thought it was an earthquake turned into a tsunami. Anyway, the waters and the surrounding lands are disturbed and Vega and Deneb are lost. It is now up to Vega to find their way home.
We really felt for Vega and Deneb, and we rooted for Vega to gather her confidence to become the wayfinder we knew she could be to lead her and her brother home. Along their journey they make friends with some other orcas – one they call the Stranger who becomes their friend when Deneb rescues him from a crab crate he’s entangled in. The Stranger and his kinship (kind of like tribes) are seal-eaters. Vega and Deneb later meet another kinship who are shark-eaters. Vega and Deneb grow hungry because there are no salmon. They try to eat the seals and sharks but their bodies are not used to the different food source. They become weak. We were really scared for them at this point. When orcas become weak, they get confused and can’t find their way and may sink. But Vega and Deneb persevere, happily!
This story was very revealing to us. We learned that there are many different kinship of orcas, who eat different things depending on where they live. We learn that they live in many different places – some in the smaller seas and rivers that lead to the ocean, some in the ocean itself. Vega and Deneb have never been to the ocean, which they call the Blue Wilderness. They know that they are the apex predators of their sea but don’t know if there is a larger marine animal who can hurt them out in the Blue Wilderness, which they must deal with at one point. What they do know is that their biggest threat comes from the humans. Humans contaminate the water with “poison” from their boats and ships, cast nets to catch salmon and crabs in which they become entangled, deplete the sea of their food – the salmon, and steal their babies (we weren’t completely sure why since we didn’t think humans ate orcas; so we assumed it was for sale to aquariums and zoos). So they’re generally scared when they see humans. But sometimes the humans seems okay, like some who go walking along the shore with animals they hold with “a line.” We thought that referred to us – the dogs!
The author seems very knowledgeable and at the there are sections about facts about orcas including their social structure, food, and habitat; about earthquakes and tsunamis; and about how people can help orcas. We really enjoyed it! You can get your copy here.
