“The poor, poor thing. How on earth have we let the world come to this?” In all the emotion, Rio had forgotten about his grandmother. Her cheeks had gone bright red, and she was staring at the whale with a furious expression on her face. “We’ve done this to her.”

Marina leaned over the side of the boat and reached out her hands so they almost touched White Beak, but not quite. “It’s okay, we’re here to help you.”

“We need backup,” Fran said, straightening. “I’ll put a radio call out and see if there are any other boats in the immediate area. How long have we got, Birch?”

Birch shook his head. “Not long. An hour at most.”

“I’ll tell them to hurry.”

While Fran disappeared below deck to make the necessary calls, Marina cooed and whispered to White Beak. Her voice was hoarse and kept breaking.

“It’s okay—we’re here now,” she murmured. “We’re here to save you.”

Rio steeled himself to take another look. Most of White Beak’s body was below the waterline, but her left flank and half of her face were above it. Looking closely, the cords had flayed her skin in several places. “Can’t she get loose?”

Marina shook her head. “See how tightly she’s caught. The more she tries to free herself, the tighter the rope gets. She’s so weak, she can barely keep herself above water. She’ll drown unless we help her.”

Fran surfaced just at that point, eyeing the gathering gray clouds with a worried glance. “I’ve radioed out an SOS, but I have no idea how long the nearest boat will take to get here. Hopefully not long.”

Birch opened a hatch on deck and pulled out a snorkel mask and an underwater flashlight. “For now, I’m just going to take a look. Hold the wheel steady, Marina. Keep the engine in neutral, and don’t let the boat get too close. Understood?”

Without saying another word, he slipped into the water and was submerged a long time before surfacing and pulling out his mouthpiece. “It’s worse than I feared. Not only are there about five lobster pots snagged up, she’s also got a net snared around her tail.”

“A ghost net,” muttered Marina.

Birch pulled himself out of the water and back on deck. He shook his head. “I’m not sure the other boats will get here in time.”

“We have to free her!” Rio said furiously. “We can’t just sit and wait and do nothing!”

“I agree,” Birch answered. “But she’s extremely weak. And it won’t be easy freeing her by myself.”

“But you won’t be by yourself,” Marina said. “We’re all here with you!”

“Marina,” Birch replied in a low voice, “no one is getting in the water but me. She’s wounded and she’s distressed and that makes any wild animal extremely dangerous. One strike of her fin or her tail and you’d be seriously hurt.”

“But she needs us!” she gulped, swallowing back her tears. “I can’t just sit here and watch!”