Youth Novel - When Whales Go Free

Plettenberg Bay on the southern coast of Africa was once home to a Norwegian whaling station. WHEN WHALES GO FREE, is the story of a young Norwegian boy, Eric, who arrives there in 1912 excited at the prospect of the new whaling station and impatient to be given the chance to hunt.  He meets a mysterious brother and sister and discovers he's unable to follow the expectations of his whaling family.

'…before the tail had even flicked up into the air, a tremendous explosion blasted Eric’s eardrums.  The harpoon line coiled out.  A splash was the only indication that the head had hit deep into the back of the whale and that the grenade had exploded.  A dull thud followed seconds later.  In a confusion of spray, foam and water, the whale half rolled, half dived… then it came up again, in a swirl of pink frothing water, blood spurting from its blowhole.'

                          more about whales and whalesong

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Published by Tafelberg, South Africa.

The SANLAM SILVER AWARD for youth literature 1988