Wendy Tokuda - Humphrey the Lost Whale

Our story begins on a sunny day, far out at sea. A pod of
humpback whales was traveling south together for the winter.

Humpback whales are magnificent creatures that sing
beautiful songs to each other underwater. In the whole world

there are very few of them, so each one is quite special.

And they are intelligent. Every winter they travel south,
every summer they head north, and they always know the
way.

But even whales can make mistakes. One whale named
Humphrey made a big one. He turned away from his friends
and wandered under the Golden Gate Bridge into San
Francisco Bay.

Everyone was surprised to see Humphrey in the Bay!
People dont get to see humpback whales very often because
they usually stay in very deep waters. It was a special treat to
see one so close to the city of San Francisco.

Humphrey was a spectacular sight as long as a city bus
and as big as seven elephants put together. He would come
up to breathe, appearing as if by magic, and people would
stop whatever they were doing to watch him.

Then Humphrey did something that no whale
had ever done. Instead of swimming back out to
sea, he went the wrong way up the Sacramento
River.

The big river became smaller and smaller as
Humphrey traveled upstream.

He was looking for the ocean, but it was clear
Humphrey was lost.

Hundreds of people came to see Humphrey in the river. They
would stare out at the water, waiting for him to come up for air.
Then with a big whoosh his giant back would appear. And
someone would shout, There he is! He was an amazing sight.

But something was wrong. Whales are supposed to live in the
salt water of the ocean, not in the fresh water of rivers. A whale
would die if it stayed in fresh water too long.

Humphrey was in trouble.

Everyone knew that Humphrey had to be turned back
toward the ocean, but no one knew how to do that. After
all, something like this had never happened before.

The farther Humphrey went the more worried everyone
became they wondered whether he was getting anything
to eat whether he was getting sick or whether he would

beach Himself in the river. One day, Humphrey squeezed
under a tiny bridge. It was so small no one could understand
how he had done it. Now he was really in trouble. He was
trapped.

The river beyond the bridge was very shallow and narrow.
It was so small Humphrey could hardly turn around. There
he was, a whale, stuck in a tiny stream, right in the middle of
a farmfield. It was hard to believe.

Something had to be done to get him out of there fast.
Humphrey looked sick. The scientists knew he would die if
he didnt get back to the ocean. Time was running out.

The people trying to save Humphrey would have to move
fast. The scientists, Coast Guard officers and many others
got together to work out a plan to save him. They decided
to bang long pipes together underwater and scare him back
down the river.

At the same time, they would play a recording that would
broadcast underwater the sounds of whales eating. Maybe
Humphrey would be so hungry and lonely he would swim
toward the sound.

It worked! Humphrey turned around and
started swimming back down the river. Everyone
was relieved but the danger wasnt over yet!

When Humphrey arrived at the little bridge,
he stopped. He was afraid to go under it. He
couldnt find a space big enough to go through.

People kept banging the pipes. Humphrey seemed flustered. What
would he do?

As the pipes kept clanging, Humphrey became angry! He rolled from side to side and thrashed his great tail. People stopped banging the pipes.

But Humphreys friends wouldnt give up. They knew
they had to get him past the little bridge. If they didnt, he
would die in the river.

The people trying to save him decided to make the space
under the bridge bigger. They brought in a huge crane and