There's not a lot to be said, really. A lazy Friday afternoon- but strange things happen. A lady from the department of Fishery had a report of a beached whale. I'd never seen one, beached or not, so off I went.

A strange sight. The whale was lying in a puddle on the tideline , feebly struggling to move. It seemed to gather hope when a wave reached it, and would thrash it's tail. It made snorting noises and had a bad case of halitosis. I felt sorry for the poor beast, but what can you do? Someone phoned a rescue service, others splashed water on it's skin. Two men were fascinated by the barnacles. We all touched the skin, it had a rough rubbery feel to it.

As time went by, the sun set, and with it the movements slowed and stopped. No more breathing was heard. We left the sad corpse. "The sharks will have it tonight", said someone.

The only person unimpressed was the little girl.