Operation Orca Read online

  DINK, JOSH, AND RUTH ROSE AREN’T THE ONLY KID DETECTIVES!

  WHAT ABOUT YOU?

  CAN YOU FIND THE HIDDEN MESSAGE INSIDE THIS BOOK?

  There are 26 illustrations in this book, not counting the one on the title page, the map at the beginning, and the picture of the orcas that repeats at the start of many of the chapters. In each of the 26 illustrations, there’s a hidden letter. If you can find all the letters, you will spell out a secret message!

  If you’re stumped, the answer is on the bottom of this page.

  HAPPY DETECTING!

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright 2015 by Ron Roy

  Cover art copyright 2015 by Stephen Gilpin

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2015 by John Steven Gurney

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon and A to Z Mysteries are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon and the A to Z Mysteries colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web!

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  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Roy, Ron.

  Operation orca / by Ron Roy ; illustrated by John Steven Gurney.

  pages cm. — (A to Z mysteries. Super edition ; #7)

  “A Stepping Stone book.”

  Summary: “Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose must solve a mystery when they go whale watching in Alaska.” —Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-553-52396-6 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-553-52397-3 (lib. bdg.) —

  ISBN 978-0-553-52398-0 (ebook)

  [1. Mystery and detective stories. 2. Whale watching—Fiction.

  3. Poaching—Fiction. 4. Missing persons—Fiction. 5. Alaska—Fiction.]

  I. Gurney, John Steven, illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.R8139Ope 2015 [Fic]—dc23 2014032379

  eBook ISBN 9780553523980

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level GradientTM Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v4.1_r1

  a

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Maps

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  This book is dedicated to Dr. Naomi Rose. Her advice and encouragement helped enormously in its writing.

  —R.R.

  To Peyton

  —J.S.G.

  CHAPTER 1

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose walked along the boat dock in Juneau, Alaska. The water in the Gulf of Alaska sparkled under the warm summer sun. The kids wore shorts, T-shirts, and sandals.

  They were in Alaska with Dink’s father, who was there for work. The kids were going on a whale watch.

  “How will we know which boat?” Josh asked. “There are so many!”

  “It’s called the Jamaica,” Ruth Rose told him. “The name will be on the side of the boat.”

  “I wonder why it’s called that,” Josh said. “We’re thousands of miles from Jamaica.”

  “My dad told me the owner was born in Jamaica,” Dink said. “His name is Rafe Johnson, and his boat is painted blue.”

  “I see about ten blue boats,” Josh said. “Navy blue, royal blue, light blue, sky blue, the color blue Ruth Rose is wearing…”

  Ruth Rose liked to dress all in one color. Today’s color was blueberry blue, the same as her eyes.

  “Look, there it is!” Ruth Rose yelled.

  They ran along the dock, their sandals slapping the wood. The Jamaica was bright blue, like the tail feathers on a parrot Dink had seen in Mrs. Wong’s pet shop, back in Green Lawn.

  The boat was longer than a school bus. Dink noticed an awning where people could sit on deck out of the sun. JAMAICA had been painted in yellow on one side.

  On the dock was a sign:

  WHALE-WATCHING CRUISES

  SEE ORCAS AND HUMPBACKS!

  CONTACT RAFE JOHNSON

  RAF​EJOHNS​ON@RA​FETHE​WHALEMAN.​COM

  “This is so cool!” Josh said. “I’ve never seen a whale face to face!”

  “Can I help you kiddos?” a voice asked.

  The kids whipped around. A tall man stood there, carrying white plastic bags filled with groceries. He wore baggy shorts and a blue T-shirt with I LOVE JAMAICA printed on the front. His long dreadlocks were tied back with a string.

  The man smiled. “Oh, wait, are you the ones from Green-something, Connecticut?” he asked.

  “Green Lawn,” Dink said. “I’m Dink, and these are my friends Josh and Ruth Rose.”

  “I’m Rafe,” the tall man said. He hoisted his bags. “Sorry, can’t shake hands.”

  “Can we carry some for you?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “Awesome,” Rafe said. He passed the bags to the kids. “You’re a day early, aren’t you? We’re going out tomorrow, right?”

  “We landed at the airport a couple of hours ago,” Ruth Rose explained. “We’re staying at the Turner Hotel.” She pointed toward a building not far from the dock.

  “We were just exploring and thought we’d check out your boat,” Dink added.

  “I’m glad you did,” Rafe said. “My boat group for today cancelled, so I went grocery shopping. Want to come aboard while I put away this food?”

  “Excellent!” Josh said.

  “Mind your feet,” Rafe said as he and the kids stepped aboard the Jamaica. “If you fall in, the water is pretty cold!”

  Josh looked down at the water. “Are there sharks?”

  Rafe grinned and nodded. “Yeah, man, there is everything in these waters,” he said.

  Once aboard, the kids followed Rafe down some stairs into a cabin. Dink looked around. He saw a small table, benches, a kitchen, and shelves of books. He noticed a tiny bathroom, a bed, and a TV.

  “This is amazing,” Dink said. “You could live here!”

  “I do, most of the time,” Rafe said. “I also have an apartment in town.”

  He began pulling food from the bags. “Want to help?” he asked.

  “Sure,” Dink said for all of them.

  “Milk and juice in the fridge, soups in the cupboard, rice and cereal on the shelf,” Rafe told the kids.

  When everything was put away, they sat in the shade under the awning. “So are you excited about seeing whales up close?” Rafe asked the kids.

  “I couldn’t sleep last night!” Ruth Rose said. She showed Rafe her camera. “I’m going to get a zillion pictures!”

  “You’re lucky to have the chance,” Rafe said.

  “We got some reward money last year,” Josh said. He told Rafe how they had gone to London, England, and found the queen’s stolen jewels. “The money is for college, but our parents let us spend some for this trip.”

  “So where is your dad?” Rafe asked Dink.

  “At the hotel,” Dink said. “He has a meeting later this afternoon. We have to be back by five.”


  Rafe looked at his watch. “Here’s an idea: Why don’t we go out to see a few orcas right now? I know a small pod that isn’t too far away. I’d have you back here in a few hours.”

  “Cool!” Dink said. “Let me call my dad.”

  Dink pulled a cell phone from his pocket and called his father. They had a short conversation, and Dink grinned. “My dad said it’s fine—just don’t fall overboard!”

  Rafe laughed. “You’re safe with Rafe,” he said. “While I get us under way, you three put on life vests, please. They’re in the aft storage locker.”

  “The what storage locker?” Josh asked.

  “Aft,” Rafe said. He pointed to the rear of the boat. “Back there is aft.” Then he pointed to the front of the boat. “The front is fore. Fore and aft, front and back.”

  The kids walked aft, found the locker, and pulled on the orange vests. They heard the Jamaica’s engine roar to life, and a few minutes later they were headed out to sea.

  CHAPTER 2

  After about thirty minutes, Rafe slowed the Jamaica. The boat settled in the water with its engine idling quietly. The sea was calm, and the kids could hear seagull cries over the boat’s motor. Rafe swept his binoculars across the water, turning in a circle.

  “I don’t see any whales,” Josh said, peering down into the water.

  “This is the right area,” Rafe said quietly. “Maybe not the exact spot. Orcas move around, following the fish they want to eat.”

  Ruth Rose had pulled her binoculars from her backpack.

  “Look for a white splash or a tall black fin,” Rafe said. “When orcas come to the surface, they exhale, and that sends warm breath and water into the cooler air. It’s like steam, but from a distance we see a little splash.”

  Rafe’s boat made a big, slow circle. He held binoculars up to his eyes as he steered with the other hand. “There, to the left!” he said after a few minutes.

  The kids looked. A hundred yards away, they saw several splashes and black fins as orcas surfaced.

  “Oh my gosh!” Josh yelled. “I’m actually looking at whales!”

  “Technically, you’re looking at dolphins,” Rafe said. “Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family.”

  “Are they playing?” Josh asked.

  “They might be,” Rafe said. “But they have to come to the surface to breathe every few minutes. That’s when we get to see their dorsal fins, the tall ones on their backs.”

  Rafe took the Jamaica a little closer to the action. Now the kids could see the small geysers of air mixed with water made by the orcas when they breathed out.

  “All whales breathe through blowholes on the top of their heads,” Rafe said. “Some whales have two holes, but orcas have just one. When they hit the surface, they blow out to get rid of old air. Then they take in more oxygen quickly before they dive again.”

  Suddenly a large orca shot out of the water. The black-and-white body gleamed under the sun before the orca landed back in the water, making a huge splash.

  “Oh my gosh!” Ruth Rose cried. “That’s so cool! Why did it do that?”

  “That’s called breaching,” Rafe said. “Most kinds of whales breach. Some sharks do, too.”

  “But why do they do it?” Dink asked.

  “Scientists aren’t one hundred percent sure,” Rafe said. “But most think breaching helps the animals get rid of barnacles and lice that live on their bodies. When they hit the water, the little things get knocked off.”

  Rafe grinned. “Other scientists think orcas breach just for fun, the way we humans play in our swimming pools.”

  “Look, what’s that one doing?” Dink asked. He pointed to an orca with the top half of its body out of the water. “He looks like he’s watching us!”

  “That’s exactly what he’s doing,” Rafe said. “When they sit half out of the water like that, it’s called spy-hopping. He’s spying on my boat!”

  “You’re teasing us, right?” Josh asked.

  “Nope, not teasing,” Rafe said. “Orcas are smart and curious. They know the boat is here, but they can’t see all of it from under the water. So they raise the top part of their body out of the water, and then they can see what’s on the surface.”

  “But how do they do it?” Dink asked.

  “They use their tails for balance, and their pectoral fins—their side fins—to stay upright,” Rafe explained. “We do the same thing with our legs and arms when we tread water.”

  “That is so cool!” Josh said. “We’re watching them, and they’re watching us!”

  The kids laughed as another orca popped up next to the first one that was spy-hopping.

  Suddenly a tall black fin rose much closer to the boat. The orca exhaled, making a whooshing sound and creating a plume of air and water.

  “Look at his dorsal fin!” Rafe said. “See where it looks like it got bitten? Probably fighting another orca. This is the biggest male in the pod. I call him Jack.”

  The orca disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.

  “Jack will be back,” Rafe said.

  “How do you know he’s a male?” Ruth Rose asked.

  “His dorsal fin points straight up,” Rafe answered. “Females and young orcas have curved dorsal fins.”

  The kids watched as other orcas rose, breathed, then sank away again. They tried to identify males and females. Jack surfaced every few minutes, and he didn’t seem afraid of the boat.

  They could easily see the nick in his dorsal fin.

  “Look,” Rafe said in a low voice. “See the curved dorsal fin on that female? I call her Lily. She has a tear in her fin just above her back. Something bit her there.”

  “Why did you name her Lily?” Dink asked.

  Rafe grinned. “That’s my mother’s name,” he said. “And Lily has a baby, but I don’t see it yet. The baby’s dorsal fin will be much smaller.”

  “Did you name the baby Rafe?” Josh asked, grinning.

  Rafe laughed. “No,” he said. “I don’t know whether it’s a male or female. We’ll have to wait till it’s older.”

  The kids watched for Lily each time the orcas rose for air. Rafe had his binoculars ready. “There, on her right side!” he said suddenly. “That’s the calf!”

  The kids saw a small plume of air and water, and a much smaller dorsal fin. The little orca swam next to Lily, so close that their bodies touched. The mother was about three times as long as her calf.

  “How big is the baby?” asked Ruth Rose. She had her binoculars trained on the mother and calf.

  “Well, Lily is about twenty feet long—half the length of my boat. I’d guess she weighs around seven thousand pounds,” Rafe said. “Her baby is maybe seven or eight feet, around three hundred pounds.”

  “Why does the baby’s skin look kind of orange in the white parts?” Josh asked.

  “The skin is white, but what you’re seeing is the blood vessels under the skin,” Rafe explained. “Young orcas have thin skin, but as they grow older, they get more fat and we can’t see the blood vessels. In a year or so, the calf will look black and white, like Lily.”

  “It wants to play!” Josh said, pointing. The young orca was bumping Lily in her side.

  “The calf wants to suckle,” Rafe said. “There are slits on the mother’s side, and that’s where the babies get their milk. This one will nurse from Lily for a year or two before it stops.”

  “What do adult orcas eat?” Dink asked Rafe.

  “Orcas are carnivores,” Rafe said. “Some eat mostly fish, like herring and salmon, even sharks. Other orcas seem to prefer seals and other sea creatures. Sometimes they go after whales.”

  “Do they ever eat humans?” Josh asked.

  Rafe shook his head. “Orcas in the wild have never been known to attack people,” he said.

  “Good!” said Josh.

  Rafe fired up his engine and started back toward town. The kids sat under the awning drinking lemonade.

  Josh pointed to something out in t
he distance. “Look at that huge boat!” he said.

  “That’s the Miranda,” Rafe said, peering through his binoculars. “It’s owned by Drake Turner. He lives down in Ketchikan, Alaska, about two hundred miles southeast of here.”

  “It looks pretty big,” Josh said.

  “Yep, about three times the size of the Jamaica,” Rafe said.

  Dink did the math. “The Miranda is one hundred twenty feet long!”

  “Why does Mr. Turner call it the Miranda?” asked Dink.

  “He named the boat after his wife,” Rafe said.

  The Miranda was going slowly, and soon Rafe had left the big yacht in his wake.

  CHAPTER 3

  They were back at the boat harbor before five o’clock. The sun was just beginning to cast shadows along the wooden dock.

  Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose thanked Rafe. “What time should we be here tomorrow morning with my dad?” Dink asked him.

  “How about ten o’clock?” Rafe asked. “I’ll pack lunch, and we’ll spend a whole day looking at orcas and humpbacks.”

  The kids waved good-bye and headed for the hotel. They passed a lot of other boats as they walked along the dock. Some were sailboats with tall masts. Others were working boats, like Rafe’s. The kids saw people on some of the boat decks. Others seemed empty.

  Most of the boats had names painted on their sides. One was called Dad’s Hobby. Another read Gone Fishing.

  Suddenly they heard an engine roar to life. A few yards away, one of the boats backed out of its slip. It was about the same length as the Jamaica, with an awning covering part of the deck. Behind the awning Dink noticed a machine. It had an arm, like a small crane. Long fishing rods were mounted to a wall.

  “Everyone else is coming in,” Dink said. “I wonder why that boat is going out.”

  “Maybe they’re going fishing,” Josh said.

  As the boat backed away, Dink noticed the name on the side: NOT MY FALT.

  “Fault isn’t spelled right,” Ruth Rose said.

  As they entered the hotel lobby, a man wearing green shorts and a white shirt was just leaving. He carried a briefcase in one hand. The initials D.T. were stamped into the leather.