Beyond Words: A Secret Garden Under the Sea

By Bonaventura

Mo, a young girl who can't talk, and Duke, a very curious dolphin, communicate in ways that go far beyond words. They are asked to help when an explosion opens the cavern of intelligent and technologically advanced octopus-people. The cavern is near a secret underwater garden so rich in precious metals that it attracts attention.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alderon Corporation
• Release date: Jul 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088207611

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

PLANS DISRUPTED

We may not like change,

but because our world changes

we have to change too.

AN EXPLOSIVE CHARGE WAS SET UP to destroy an old ship and its toxic cargo.

KA-BOOM!

The loud bang of the underwater explosion resounded over the coastal waters. A spray of water rose high above the surface and a wave of major proportions went out in all directions. Because the dynamite had been moved by the blue dolphin, it did not affect its intended target. But the explosion had other, unexpected consequences.

Below the surface, the strong shock wave from the explosion disrupted the positions of rocks and boulders that for many, many years had enclosed a secret underwater cavern. The explosive blast caused small fissures in the cavern walls to expand. The new openings were soon discovered by inhabitants of the cavern.

Small tentacled creatures, never before seen in the open oceans, slowly and carefully emerged from their underwater cavern. Curious about the world that lay beyond the walls of their home, they began to explore. They found a nearby area that was rich with sea life, a breathtaking underwater garden. The tentacled creatures were pleased with the discovery. More and more often they crept outside the cavern to visit the garden. Its abundant and diverse sea life was inspirational for their artistic creations.   

In Beaufort, Mo shook the sea water from her glossy black hair and grinned at Fetch as she ducked away from her dear friend. Fetch got closer to her and shook himself once more. He was under the impression that sprinkling Mo was the only proper way to end an enjoyable swim.

Mo and the big retriever were entertaining themselves while hoping for a visit from Duke, the inquisitive young dolphin whose skin had been stained a sapphire blue by contact with a poison that nearly killed him. Duke had been set free to rejoin his pod after he fully recovered, but often came to visit Mo and Fetch.

In her mind, Mo flipped through visions of Duke in other colors besides the vibrant blue color of the toxic slime that had poisoned him. Well, she mused, blue is a better color for a dolphin than pink or orange. I know Duke’s skin color doesn’t bother him since dolphins are color blind. It might be better if it did bother him a bit though. It might remind him of how his intense curiosity often gets him in trouble. Ummm, that applies to me too, she thought with a smile. Duke and I both tend to poke our noses into unknown situations without much concern for the consequences. Maybe that’s part of our strong connection.

Memories of how she and Duke became friends sprang into her mind. I was mighty lonesome before Duke was brought to the lab for care. The accident that destroyed my ability to talk cut me off from having friends and anything like a normal life. Caring for Duke filled a gap in my existence. I know he was lonesome too. He missed his family and dolphin friends.

These recollections added fuel to her desire to learn more about Duke’s life. I’m sure my affection and care helped Duke recover when he was at death’s door. I’ve learned a lot about Duke since then, but not about his family or friends.

Hope sparkled through her forest-green eyes as she anticipated new discoveries about her dolphin friend. Duke has come to visit every day this month. I expect he’ll be here soon. After we swim and play, I’ll make some recordings of how he and I use whistle-talk words and how we make up new ones. Then I’ll get him to tell me about his dolphin friends.

She was having a problem following her father’s advice to keep records of how she and Duke were using whistles to communicate. I can record the whistles we make but recording the body-language signals Duke uses along with some of his whistles is difficult. I must make sketches to document the wiggles, twists, shrugs and facial expressions that accompany many of Duke’s whistle-talk words.

For today’s effort, she had brought all the tools needed to record their ways of communicating. The items were handy in a case right behind her: computer, recorder, waterproof iPhone for photos, and a sketchbook. She wanted to record their use of a simple whistle-talk word. I’ll choose big toy ball because it would be one of their made-up words, not one in Duke’s normal vocabulary.

Mo’s musings were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a rather brash and brilliant blue dolphin leaping out of the water. The belly flop that followed created a wicked splash that rained down on Mo and Fetch. Duke had made his arrival a surprise by cruising underwater before making his grand entrance leap. He surfaced and happily greeted them. Bobbing his head, Duke whistled an invitation for his land friends to join him in a playful swim. "Swim now? Yes, Yes, Yes!"

Play time with Duke was just what Mo and Fetch wanted. They didn’t hesitate to accept the dolphin’s invitation. Soon the three friends were cavorting around in the warm sea waters of coastal North Carolina. Mo and Fetch received friendly nudges from the playful dolphin swimming around them. His large and graceful body was in constant motion, going up and down around his friends. Duke offered rides on his back to Mo, and then to Fetch. They knew how to balance for a while on Duke’s back when he emerged under them, Fetch couldn’t stay balanced as long as Mo, but Duke gave Fetch extra rides to make up for it. Rides on Duke’s back were the highlight of their playtimes together.

Mo was happily pulled along underwater when she held onto Duke’s dorsal fin. Duke had learned to surface so she could catch breaths of fresh air between periods of being submerged.

Mo recalled her desire to record the making of a new whistle-talk word. She climbed back onto the dock where she had her recording equipment. She picked up the big air-filled ball she planned to use for making a new word for them to share.

She turned on the recorder and held the sunshine-yellow ball high so Duke could see it. She whistled a sound several times that she intended Duke to understand as a new whistle-talk word for the new water toy. Big toy ball. Big toy ball. Mo’s whistle had parts that were the same as those they had used before for big and ball and a new inflection for this particular water toy.

Duke made a similar whistle back. Big toy ball. Big toy ball. Big toy ball.

Mo was very pleased. Duke’s whistle was very much like hers.

"Good, Duke," she whistled. Want big toy ball?

Want big toy ball. Yes, yes, yes! Duke whistled back and bobbed his head rapidly up and down.

Mo tossed the ball to him and made a graceful dive back into the sea. She and Duke pushed the ball around for a while and tried to sit on it to keep it underwater. Then Mo tossed it up in the air. Duke got under it to catch it and soon learned that he could keep it balanced on his nose for a while.

Fetch got in on the game. He couldn’t balance the ball on his nose, but he could move it around by pushing it, and it was fun trying to keep the ball away from Duke and Mo.

Mo climbed back onto the dock. First task done. I’ve gotten the creation of a new whistle-talk word recorded. I’ll take some photos of Duke and Fetch playing with the ball. Then I’ll see if Duke will bring the ball to me when I whistle for it. I’ll record that too.

Duke was happy to bring the ball to her when she whistled for it. As a bonus, Fetch had learned the new word too. He retrieved the ball for her whenever he could get it away from Duke.

That’s great, she thought. It shows the same modes of communication people have always used in their training of dogs can also work with dolphins. Trainers often send signals to dolphins with whistles and hand signals, but as far as I know, they haven’t ever gotten the dolphins to send them any whistles back. What Duke does with me is pretty amazing.

I’m glad Dad and Mom agreed we should keep this a secret. It wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if we had an audience all the time. It would be even worse if Duke was captured and taken to some place where people wanted him to be a guinea pig for their studies.

Mo wasn’t the only one who brought new ideas into their play that day. When she was back in the water, Duke swam under her and slowly expelled air from his blowhole.

Bubbles of air surrounded her, tickling her as they broke against her skin. She grinned and whistled, Good, Duke. New fun.

That was great. I wonder how it occurred to Duke that I’d like that. I’d like to make tickles into a word in our whistle talk...but that would be hard. How could I describe that feeling to my dolphin friend?

Duke could tell that he’d found something new that Mo liked. When she floated quietly on the water again he gave her several repeat performances of tickle-bubbles. She showed him she was pleased by whistling, Good, Duke.

He then tried the same thing with Fetch, but Fetch wasn’t as impressed as Mo. He wasn’t tickled by the bubbles, but he did enjoy trying to catch them with his mouth. Duke decided to place the bubbles at Fetch’s back. For Fetch to catch the bubbles he had to spin backwards—biting at the water in a clumsy pirouette.

The three friends then played toss and catch with the sunshine-colored ball until they finally got tired of the water play. It’s time for some whistle-talk exchanges, Mo thought as she climbed onto the dock. Maybe I can get Duke to tell me about his dolphin family and his friends.

She dried herself off and sat at the edge of the dock. Duke swam around below her for a while, and then swam up and nudged her toes with his nose. It was a good new feeling—having her toes tickled that way.

Good, Duke. New fun. Her heart filled with affection for her playful friend. He so clearly liked doing things to please her that it made her feel tearful and joyful at the same time. Duke’s such a good friend, she thought gratefully. He and Fetch are wonderful companions. I have loving parents too, although they aren’t playmates like Duke and Fetch. In spite of my speech handicap, I’m a very lucky girl.

Duke resumed his underwater swimming. He was happy being there, enjoying his land-friends and making new whistle-talk words. His intense curiosity was satisfied when he was learning new things about Mo and her world. His pleasure was shown by his playful antics—doing leaps and back-flips and twists and sometimes slapping the water with his tail.

Mo was glad to see her dolphin friend having such a good time. Duke is so different now that he is no longer sick. He’s totally well and is free to come and go as he pleases. And he is growing too. I’ll bet he’s nearly a foot longer than he was a month ago. And the blue dye on his skin is fading as he grows.

After a while, Mo thought again about her plan to get Duke to tell her more about his dolphin family and friends. I’ll start by showing him some videos we took of his dolphin group. Then I’ll ask him to tell me their names.

She brought her laptop to the edge of the dock. Duke noticed and drew near to look at the screen. Mo often used it to get him to tell her things about his underwater world. The screen was also used as they made new words.

She first showed him a photo of his pod, and then a video of the pod swimming along. His mother was in the pod, easily distinguished by the big jag on her dorsal fin. In the logbook of the Dolphin Watch group, she was called Mama Jag because of her unique fin and because she usually had a small dolphin with her. After Mo was sure Duke had seen the photo and video, she enlarged the photo showing his mother—and her jagged upper fin.

Duke got excited, finally recognizing she was showing him his own dolphin pod and his mother.

Mo was getting excited too. She had his attention now for sure. She enlarged the photo once again so that only his mother was on the screen. She then whistled, Name?

Duke understood. He whistled his mother’s name, over and over.

Mo copied his whistle. Duke bobbed his head enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, yes!"

He swam rapidly around the dock, repeating his mother’s name over and over. Mo grinned and whistled it back to him.

This is working really well. I didn’t dare hope to make so much progress this quickly. That’s all I should do for now. I don’t want to confuse him by asking for other names now that he’s told me what he calls his mother.

Duke continued to swim around the dock, repeating his mother’s whistle-name. He heard Mo repeat it, so he was sure she understood he was thinking of his mother as he swam.

He stopped his swimming and sky-hopped in front of her. Bobbing his head, he made the whistle-talk sound she understood to mean, Thanks.

Mo thought she understood his whistle but didn’t know what she was being thanked for.

Duke swam one final time around the dock and then headed out the Beaufort Inlet, toward the sea. Mo could see his dorsal fin rise and fall as he porpoised rapidly away from her.

Oh no! What have I done? She stood and watched the dolphin’s fin, and the wake he made, for as long as she could see it. I think I’ve somehow sent Duke away in search of his mother and his pod. I didn’t mean to do that at all.

Fetch sensed her distress at Duke’s departure. He came near and nuzzled against her. She looked down at Fetch and put her hand on his silky head. Duke had gone, but her faithful service dog would not leave her.

CHAPTER 2

DUKE VISITS THE GULF STREAM

Warm Gulf-Stream waters

support kelp, turtles, fish.

And some offshore dolphins.

DUKE SWAM RAPIDLY AWAY from his land-friends, who remained sitting on the marine lab dock. After sharing such fun with them, he suddenly felt lonely for fun times with his dolphin family and friends.

His decision to rejoin his pod was triggered by Mo asking him to tell her his mother’s name. It has been a long time since I last saw my mom and sister. Just because I told them not to expect me to stay with them doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy their company.

He had greatly upset his pod members some months before by disappearing from their view when he surfed in the bow wave of a big yacht. He was told to think it over and to find ways to avoid creating so much anxiety. He didn’t like troubling his family and friends, but at the same time, he needed to stay true to his intensely curious nature.

To solve this dilemma, he declared himself a loner, no longer a full-time member of his home pod. The members of his home pod were no longer responsible for him and didn’t even try to keep track of him as he explored unknown areas. His decision was working well. Although he greatly missed his dolphin friends when he was away from them, he could be away for long periods of time without them feeling bad or worried.

It wasn’t long before he located his home pod. They were fishing not far outside the Beaufort Inlet, the waterway that passed from Beaufort into the open ocean.

It’s Duke. He’s come back!

whistled his little sister when she saw him. His sister, his mother, and the other members of his home pod were very pleased to see him. He swam from one to another and whistled greetings to them. All the members of his home pod were well. Duke swam among them and whistled his greetings, letting them know he was glad to see them again.

His little sister swam in circles around him while squeaking excitedly about going on a trip. His mother used clicks and whistles as she tried to explain, but the squeaks of her youngest offspring made it impossible for Duke to understand.

He whistled once again to tell his family about his pleasure of seeing them. He then turned to his little sister, who clearly wanted his attention.

Duke whistled, Get ready now, Sis. He made a big leap and dove down under his sister. They had played this game before, and she knew she was expected to balance on Duke’s back when he came up under her. He was able to carry her on his back for several meters before she slid off. She squeaked and squealed with delight.

That’s enough play for now, Sis. I want to know what you and Mom are planning. It sounds like you’re hoping I can join you on a trip. Shush now, and let Mom tell me what’s happening.

You’ve got it right, Son. We’ve learned that fish are very plentiful in the Gulf Stream right now. Your little sister wants very much to go there. She’s heard your stories about how different the Gulf Stream is from our local waters, and she wants to see and feel it for herself. The other youngsters in the pod feel the same way. The problem is that we have more youngsters than adults in our pod just now. We adults believe it would be safer to take the trip if you’d come along.

Thanks for the compliment, Mom. As you know, I’m only three, but I have grown a lot. And because I’m partly an offshore dolphin, I’m nearly as big as a five-year-old coastal dolphin. I’m pleased you think I could help keep the young ones safe.

He brushed up against his mother and sent her an image from his memory of many large sharks circling—and one attacking him. The attack happened when he was the youngest dolphin in their traveling group. Do you think those big gray sharks would share your opinion of my ability to help?

Yes, Son. They’re fierce, but they aren’t very smart. They would think of you as one of the adults, and they know we adults are good at protecting our young ones.

Great, Mom. I’d love to take the trip with you. I’ll enjoy playing with Sis along the way. You can count on me staying with you as you travel.

The pod of dolphins started their journey early the next morning. They joined the procession of private yachts and charter boats making their way into the ocean.  The dolphins and the line of boats of many shapes and sizes all had the same destination in mind—the Gulf Stream—for