The first time that Kotick went down to the sea a wave carried him out beyond his depth , and his big head sank and his little hind flippers flew up exactly as his mother had told him in the song , and if the next wave had not thrown him back again he would have drowned . After that , he learned to lie in a beach pool and let the wash of the waves just cover him and lift him up while he paddled , but he always kept his eye open for big waves that might hurt . He was two weeks learning to use his flippers ; and all that while he floundered in and out of the water , and coughed and grunted and crawled up the beach and took catnaps on the sand , and went back again , until at last he found that he truly belonged to the water . Then you can imagine the times that he had with his companions , ducking under the rollers ; or coming in on top of a comber and landing with a swash and a splutter as the big wave went whirling far up the beach ; or standing up on his tail and scratching his head as the old people did ; or playing `` I 'm the King of the Castle '' on slippery , weedy rocks that just stuck out of the wash . Now and then he would see a thin fin , like a big shark 's fin , drifting along close to shore , and he knew that that was the Killer Whale , the Grampus , who eats young seals when he can get them ; and Kotick would head for the beach like an arrow , and the fin would jig off slowly , as if it were looking for nothing at all . Late in October the seals began to leave St. Paul 's for the deep sea , by families and tribes , and there was no more fighting over the nurseries , and the holluschickie played anywhere they liked . `` Next year , '' said Matkah to Kotick , `` you will be a holluschickie ; but this year you must learn how to catch fish . '' They set out together across the Pacific , and Matkah showed Kotick how to sleep on his back with his flippers tucked down by his side and his little nose just out of the water . No cradle is so comfortable as the long , rocking swell of the Pacific . When Kotick felt his skin tingle all over , Matkah told him he was learning the `` feel of the water , '' and that tingly , prickly feelings meant bad weather coming , and he must swim hard and get away . `` In a little time , '' she said , `` you 'll know where to swim to , but just now we 'll follow Sea Pig , the Porpoise , for he is very wise . '' A school of porpoises were ducking and tearing through the water , and little Kotick followed them as fast as he could . `` How do you know where to go to ? '' he panted . The leader of the school rolled his white eye and ducked under . `` My tail tingles , youngster , '' he said . `` That means there 's a gale behind me . Come along ! When you 're south of the Sticky Water -LSB- he meant the Equator -RSB- and your tail tingles , that means there 's a gale in front of you and you must head north . Come along !
The XXXXX feels bad here . ''
back companions depth families feelings flippers landing top wash water