In its breadth, the vast sea holds all kind of creeping creatures and countless fishes. Ships pass on the surface, while below, in the depths, the great whale delights. (Psalms of King David 104: 25-26)

Near the Arctic Circle, in the fathomless, chill waters of the northern oceans, the great blue whales conceive their young. Massive as they are, these giant creatures are dwarfed by the mighty sea, covered even in summertime by a wilderness of ice floes that stretches from one end of the horizon to the other.

The blues migrate south towards the end of fall, the precious treasure within them protected from the cold by the thick walls of the mother's body. They spend winter in the warm waters near the equator.

When the time is ripe, the mother whale turns to face the heavens. Her body then begins a series of forceful contractions, her tail and head lifting out of the water till the new life she has carried is brought into the world.

The mother stays with her calf in these southern climes for some months. But as winter yields to spring, the mother and her calf must make their way back to the icy Arctic depths where life began.

In the warm winter days off the southern coast the calf was born, and the young whale quickly learned to swim. As seasons changed, it was time to return to the northern seas, and one day the mother whale simply knew to begin the journey. Having already lived for some fifteen years, she had memories that ran deep telling her to begin the preparations to depart, just as her mother had done when she was a calf. She began to swim in larger and larger circles checking to make sure her calf was close by, teaching the young whale to stay alert - watching out for herself, keeping track of her mother, skills she would need for venturing out into the vastness of the sea.

When the mother was confident that the calf could follow her in new waters she began the trip. They followed the warm streams of water that flow in the ocean, finding there abundant krill, the tiny sea animals that the mother whale needed for food. She opened her mouth as she swam, taking in huge amounts of sea water, then closed her jaws to form a fine net. As she forced the water back out, it left behind a satisfying catch of thousands of the small, shrimp-like creatures.

As they headed farther north, they moved out into deeper waters. It was different for the calf and strange. These waters were cooler and she had to swim faster to keep up with her mother's new speed.

As they neared the cold waters of the far northern seas, the mother whale suddenly spotted a large ship running on the surface. She shuddered as an old voice warned: "Swim deep, whale, swim deep!" A sense of urgency hurried her course as she pointed her massive head towards the depths and thrust her broad tail against the cold blue water.

It was a while before she thought of her young one. And when she did look back she was surprised to find that the calf was nowhere to be seen. The mother blue knew she had to go all the way back to where she had seen the ship and the thought chilled her. But a greater fear twisted her massive girth back towards the boat. As she approached, she found the young near the ship wandering in circles just like she had done in the peaceful waters near the equator.

The mother whale's tremendous body moving through the water was sensed by the calf, and, having been lost and alone for some time, she swam in her mother's direction as fast as she could. Once again the great whale headed for the deep but this time she sang to her young one as she went: "Swim deep, whale, swim deep." It was the first time the little one had descended so far into the mystery of the sea, and the music soothed her as she moved through the currents of her mother's broad tail.

Up above, on the surface of the water, the crew of the ship "Ocean Paths" scanned the sea for further signs of the small blue. "There must be more whales round these parts. Babes don't go it alone. Must be a mother or even a pod. They used to hunt whales out here. The rule was 'spot one and there are always...'"

But there were none to be seen now. The naturalists sailed on, content with having spotted a lone whale, recently calved, coming home for the first time to spend summer in the far northern waters. And down below, the little one swam secure with her mother, deep in the infinite sea, hearing over and over the new song she had so recently learned: "Swim deep, whale, swim deep."