bleating alerted us to her mother’s
demise. Cloudy died the same week.
Sheep have a reputation for being
stupid, but I’ve seen with my own
eyes that they are intelligent and can
be very compassionate.
A WHALE OF A TIME
WILLIAM FACKENDER
On a journey around Australia in
2004, my wife Betty and I visited the
Kimberleys in Western Australia.
When we became aware of the
various cruises ofered in the area,
we decided to experience the
fantastic colours and rugged terrain
from the water – and booked a tour
out of Broome.
he vessel had four small, lat-
bottomed boats for sightseeing and
ishing. Early one morning, while
ishing with another man and the
skipper, we heard excited shouts
coming from some women in another
boat about 300 metres away. We
decided to investigate. Coming slowly
towards us were two humpback
whales. hey were black and appeared
to be the length of two cricket pitches.
he skipper shut down our
motor and we watched the whales
approaching. “hey’re heading
straight for us!” I cried.
“Don’t worry, they know we are
here,” replied the skipper. “Just sit
still, say nothing and all will be well.”
hen it happened. he whales
came right alongside the boat.
he one closest to us stopped and
this great black eye, the size of a
dinner plate, stared right at me.
I looked back at this huge majestic
animal in amazement.
his eyeballing was unbelievable.
It sent tingles down my spine.
About ive seconds later,
although it seemed much longer,
this incredible animal slipped
silently under the water and
proceeded on its way.
he three of us just sat there
silently in awe of what just happened.
Finally, the skipper said, “Hey
mate, do you think it will recognise
you next time?”
Seeing those whales up close was
one of those rare, once-in-a-lifetime
experiences.October• 2018 | 15