Suddenly the whole ocean around them moved, and a gigantic mass heaved towards them.

'IT'S A WHALE!!!' shrieked Waverly. They were both plucked from the ocean in a movement that left them breathless, and were tumbled and spun together over and over, before slamming to a stop against a hard wall of whale. Tom tried to put up his hand, to push himself away, but found he couldn't move. His head was firmly pinned at an awkward slant. He could see some of Waverly, lying at an angle facing him, and also the nets that tightly bound them both. He struggled to catch his breath.

'What… what's happening?' he gasped, as the sea flowed past at a bewildering speed. 'Where are we?'

'I'm not sure,' Waverly said, sounding dazed. 'Lift your head up and tell me what you see,' she instructed.

'Lift my head up? I can't even move it! I can wriggle three fingers on my left hand, and I don't even know where my legs are!' Tom said in panic. 'What's happening?' he asked again.

'I think a whale went past and caught our nets and us on its flipper. We're tied on to the whale's body. Luckily for us it's not going too fast.'

'A WHALE!' he repeated. 'For goodness sakes, he's got the whole of the Pacific Ocean to swim in and he has to go through our nets! I don't believe it!' He tried again to move but was tightly bound and immobile. 'What kind of whale is it anyway?'

'A very large one.'

'Waverly, shut up!' Tom said fretfully, 'this is no time for jokes!'

'Well how do I know what kind of whale it is,' Waverly answered impatiently. 'I'm as tied down as you. I can only see a small square of grey, before you block out the rest of my vision. Look, your elbow is sticking into my ribs… can you move?'

'Nope. I told you, I can wiggle three fingers, that's all.'

'Try and get your knife out of your save belt, will you, and cut us free. My arms seem to be jammed to my sides by the nets.' Tom tried, and then tried again, but it was impossible to get to his knife. He just could not draw back his arm to get to the wide loop holding the knife in place. He felt confined and crushed. He couldn't seem to breathe properly, as the net pressed tightly across his torso and into the side of his head. His ear was hot and sore where the mesh strained against it, though the other side of his head, which was squashed against the whale, felt cool. He could see a dark grey colour, and hear deep, hollow sounds, of what, he did not know. Suddenly a new sound came, a loud, bubbling, frothy, turbulent sound. Tom listened in horror.

'Is that what I think it is?' he asked, incredulous. 'Oooh, that smells terrible! That's disgusting!'

'We're in deep trouble!' said Waverly in alarm.

'I'll say we're in trouble,' he agreed heartily. 'If any of that stuff drifts our way, we'll be literally in the poo!'

'Tom shut up!' growled Waverly. 'I think this might be a sperm whale, that has been attracted here by the squid. Whales often, um, lighten the load, before a deep dive. We'll know for sure it means to dive, if he surfaces, and blows a lot. If it dives, we'll be going down with it very fast and very far.'

'How fast and how far?' asked Tom, suddenly feeling nervous.

'I'm not sure. An average dive is around 1,200 metres deep, but I guess it depends how deep the ocean floor gets around here. I know the bigger sperm whales can stay down a couple of hours at a time in the dark, waiting for a giant squid to come along.' Tom groaned.

'I only wanted to catch a little snapper. I thought most of the sperm whales headed for the Kaikoura Coast. What'll we do now? It would be easier jumping off a moving train than this whale. He's massive!'

'Try and get hold of my knife,' she suggested. 'Perhaps it'll be easier to get to than your own. I'll wriggle over to you as much as I can. Somehow we have to get out of this net, and fast!'

Tom stretched his arm and hand as much as he could towards Waverly's save belt. The net bit into his face and body, but he kept trying.

'I can feel a pouch here… ouch! I forgot, quills. I've got to your compass.'

'A bit more to the left… quickly,' urged Waverly.

'I can feel the knife handle.' Tom gritted his teeth and pressed even harder against the restraining net.

'I've got hold of your knife, but not very well. I'm having trouble moving my fingers.'

'Bend your fingers and the knife away from me, as much as possible, and cut something quickly.'

'I'm scared I might cut you, or the whale, or worse myself,' he added. 'It's so awkward not being able to move my head to see what I'm doing.' Tom felt the whale change direction.

'Just hurry!' Waverly said anxiously. 'I think the whale's going up.'

Tom shut his eyes and made a clumsy slash with the knife. Waverly didn't scream, and he didn't feel any pain, so he did it again, wider this time. He opened his eyes as he felt Waverly stirring.

'I can move my elbow,' she said. 'Do one last cut then stop, and I'll see if I can work my arm backwards through the gap, and get it free.'

Tom threw his whole body into the last slice, and then stopped and waited. He could feel Waverly frantically wriggling and then she cried triumphantly,

'I've got an arm free! I'll take a turn with the knife, shall I?'

Without waiting for a reply Tom felt the knife taken from his fingers and heard more tearing of the net. She had only just started when they felt another heavy surge in the water, and another change in the whale's direction.