章 45: Cam birthday (final version)

Today is the 29th of February. Cams birthday.

He usually celebrates on the first of March but as this year is a leap year he is celebrating on the 29th.

A few days ago Mitchell asked Haley and me to help organize Cam's surprise birthday party.

The plan was to go to sea.

Mitchell rented a small yacht with a private chef.

Haley and I designed some cool decorations and I also painted a couple paintings of Mitchell and Cam together as a birthday present.

The yacht would arrive early in the morning at 9 a.m.

We would be back late at night.

What was done is a secret that only Mitchell knows. Even Haley and I didn't know anything.

I was currently already driving to the port when Mitchell told us where the yacht would be.

"Hi, Mitchell",

"Hi Cam, happy birthday"

"Here is your birthday present"

I said to Cam and Mitchell when I greeted them. I also gave Cam the painting I painted.

"I love it. It is fantastic. Thank you Ethan", Cam said excitedly looking at the painting of the both of them.

Soon after the rest of the family arrived.

We all went onto the yacht and saw the private chef Mitchell organized. The chef specialized in steaks as that was Cam's favorite food.

At 9:30 a.m. the yacht started its journey towards the ocean.

We were driving slowly and leisurely outside the beach of Los Angeles.

It was a different kind of view than you would usually see.

"I should buy myself a yacht too", I said to Haley.

"A bigger one, right?", Haley asked knowing I didn't have a budget.

"Of course", I said putting my arms around her shoulder.

We looked quietly at the lively city of Los Angeles on the horizon.

Shortly after we all gathered at the deck of the yacht. Mitchell had something to announce.

"I know everyone is curious about what we will be doing out in the ocean"

"We will all go whale watching. To our luck a group of gray whales is predicted to travel by here to go to the Arctic Ocean", Mitchell announced with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Cam immediately jumped up with excitement. He loved whales.

Everyone was excited to hear it.

We all love animals, especially animals that are rare to see like whales.

The yacht drove at full speed toward the spot where the gray whales would pass.

As far as I knew about the grey whales they were up to 15 meters long. Very huge. A human is tiny in front of it.

Suddenly an idea came to my mind.

I used Dr. Dolittle's ability on the fish in the ocean.

"A huge predator is coming, alarm!", I heard a fish of a fish school scream. It seems that it mistook the boat for a predator that wanted to eat them.

I had a strong smile on my face. I could be like Aquaman.

I started to filter all the voices.

Suddenly in the distance, I heard a powerful voice.

"Come on kids, swim faster. We need to be at the south before the weather is too warm", I knew it was a grey whale.

"What is that in the distance, Dad?", a young whale asked his big whale father.

"Be careful of it. It is very dangerous. Especially the people on the boat", the male whale warned his younglings.

"But they seem to be so small", a young whale was confused.

"They are small but they created things that could easily kill us. When I was young a huge white shark almost killed me, but these small animals easily killed it. They saved my life", the whale said in a saddened voice. It reminded it of some bad memories.

I overheard the conversation and announced the arrival of the whales to everyone.

"Guys, come here. A whale is approaching", I shouted as loud as I could to ensure that everyone could see them.

"Where? Where are they?", Cam asked excitedly.

"They are coming soon. They are currently underwater"

"How did you see them Ethan?", Phil asked astonished by my eyesight. The place I pointed at was as small as a dot from the yacht.

"I have good eyesight", I just said an excuse that would work and then waited shortly for the arrival of the whale family.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later the whole family came nearby and we all could see them easily.

They were huge. Even the calves.

"WOW", everyone exclaimed together fascinated at the sight unfolding before them.

The whales went as quickly as they came, but the sight of them burned into our brains. It was a fantastic story that most of us will probably tell our children.

After that the yacht turned around and we drove back to the port in Los Angeles.

We then went to eat dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant.

It was an enjoyable day.

Especially for Cam whose birthday it was.

The day ended quickly, but I was still curious about the ability of mine to talk to all animals. I could also talk to whales. Maybe I could swim with them.

The next day I went towards a port where I rented a big ship.

I drove out towards the ocean. Near the place where we saw the whales yesterday.

It didn't take long and I saw the first big ocean animal.

It was a dolphin. At least it was classified as that.

Most people would call these animals killer whales though.

Right. It was an orca. Well, a group of orcas.

I found them through the calls of the nearby fish.

It seemed that one of them was injured.

I wasn't worried that a killer whale was going to attack me. There are no documented attacks by orcas who live in the wild on humans.

Orcas are a group of 5-8 meter-long ocean predators.

They are known for their different cultures in different groups. Most orca groups vary in communication and hunting techniques used. Not like many other animals that are unified in that.

They are very curious animals.

It didn't take long and a younger orca showed up in front of the boat.

"What is that?", the orca curiously asked its family members.

"I don't know", an older orca replied.

"I have a way to help your clan member", I said to the young orca.

"You can speak our language?", the young orca asked curiously.

"Yes. Bring your clan member to me. I can heal him", I said to the orca.

I knew the injury from the injured orca from a nearby group of fish who once saw a fishing boat.

The orca was caught in a huge fishing net that was stuck in its mouth.

Soon other orca members appeared and asked all about me.

What many people don't know is orcas are very empathic animals. They care very much for their family members.

Soon I could convince them and the injured Orca swam up.

I went down towards the hull of the ship where a staircase was that led towards a deck which was almost on sea-level.

"I will try to release the thing that hurts you. It may hurt for a second, but soon you will be pain-free", I said to the giant dolphin in front of me.

It looked kinda cute.

"I will trust you this once young animal", the orca said in a majestic voice.

I nodded and began removing the net. It would be complicated if it was an ordinary human doing that, but it was me with the template of THE animal doctor Dr. Dolittle and I could still communicate with the animals.

It didn't take long and I removed the fishing net from the orca.

"Thank you very much young animal. I don't know how to repay you", the orca said in a thankful voice.

"I will install something on you and your family. With it, I know where you are and can help you or you're family if you need help. It will be like a tickle for you guys. While I may be helping you if I need help it would be best if you could also help me", I said to the orca in a calm voice.

"I will allow that. It seems that I am taking advantage of you", the orca replied.

Soon after I installed trackers, I brought with me in case I found a family of animals, on all the orcas. They would monitor all of the orcas and tell me if something happened.

"Thank you little animal, goodbye", the orcas said and swam away.

"Bye", I said my goodbyes wondering if I would see them again.