Impressum

© 2022 Doris Thomas

c/o Barbara’s Autorenservice

Tüttendorfer Weg 3

24214 Gettorf

Germany

Text and illustrations by Doris Thomas

Translated from German to English by Christine Sawinski

Cover by Doris Thomas (with kind permission of Verlag an der ESTE)

www.Doris-T.de

ISBN: 9783754650424

Acknowledgement

My heartfelt thanks

to my family and various friends who always support me and encourage me when something doesn't work out. A special thanks to the publishing house at ESTE, which made my dream come true in 2005 and published the first Zabu adventures. Another thanks goes to the many students who sent me countless great letters and beautiful drawings. Thanks are also due to my friends in the Azores who invited me many times to observe the wonderful and impressive marine mammals in their natural habitat from their tour boats and even to swim with wild dolphins.

The Separation

The first day of Zabu’s adventures started like a perfectly ordinary day. In the morning nobody would have guessed that something unusual was about to happen. Zabu was part of an orca family. He was not yet grown up but neither was he a very young whale. His light patches shone brightly white and not yellowish-pink as in a baby whale. Zabu was no longer fed by his mother, as he was able to catch his own fish. But there were many things he still had to learn. On that particular morning he was to make an involuntary start.

The sun was just rising and Zabu and his family were still quite sleepy. Orcas are very strong and all animals of the sea are afraid of them. Therefore they were able to sleep peacefully and did not even need a guard. The first sunbeams were just lighting up the sea when a shadow fell upon Zabu’s family. The whales had heard the put-put of engines often before but as they were still tired they did not take any notice of the small boat that was approaching them. Slowly and evenly something like a wall was lowered from the surface of the water to the bottom of the sea.

The boat moved closer and closer, steered across the whales and separated Zabu’s family with a huge net.

Now the first few whales woke up and roused the rest of the family with cries of terror.

“A net, a net”, they shouted in confusion.

The whales took a frightened look around and realized what had happened. They were all on one side of the net except for Zabu. Bewildered he stared at the thing that separated him from his family.

“Zabu, stay where you are!” his mother shouted. Zabu could feel her fear and did not move.

“What is this thing?” he asked. His mother tried to stay calm, even though she was very agitated.

“It is a net, Zabu. We have talked to you about human beings before. They don’t live in the water but they own boats, and with these nets they catch fish without going into the water themselves.”

This was hard for Zabu to imagine. To catch fish with a silly thing like a net! Surely human beings must be slow swimmers and bad hunters. “But I can see you. Can’t I just swim through the net?”

“No, Zabu, the net is too strong. You would get caught in it and might suffocate”, his mother warned him.

Zabu could not imagine this but he had learned to listen to his mother. “But I want to be with you again. I want to be on your side. I don’t want to stay here all alone.”