Wally and Bubba

“Hey, Wally! You better slow down on that plankton! When we try to pass you in the ocean we can’t fit!”

“Yo! Wally! It must be “water weight” dude ... cause ... you know, you are HUGE!”

Wally was sick and tired of the other sharks laughing at him about his size. He couldn’t help it that he was one of the biggest sharks of his species.

They also laughed at him because he ate tiny plankton and fish eggs, and not other sea creatures like the other sharks. But Wally was grossed out even by the thought of eating other sea animals like him. It felt like cannibalism. Yuck!

The other sharks thought they were so cool and tough because they ate the flesh of other sea animals. They even loved the fact that humans believed that they attacked humans and ate them. Approaching humans with their fins above water and watching them scream and run was hilarious to the other sharks. Wally felt like it was just mean.

Wally tried to talk to his mom and dad about the things they said to him, but all his parents would say is, “Don’t worry about it, Wally. Things will get better.”

But things never seemed to get better ... and Wally felt lonely without any real friends. The others just kept on making fun of him. Other whale sharks just laughed it off when they were made fun of, but Wally guessed he was just sensitive. So, the other whale sharks just sort of stayed away from him because he made them uncomfortable.

What was even worse was that he was even bigger than the other whale sharks his age. He was not even full-grown but was almost as big as his daddy.

Wally’s daddy is over 45 feet long and weighs about 24 tons. Wally is almost 42 feet and weighs in at 21 tons. No wonder the other sharks call him fat, he often thought. He tries to eat fewer plankton and fish eggs, but he’s hungry ALL the time.

One day Wally decided he would leave. He didn’t want to be around the other sharks, and he was tired of the bullying. So, one night during his parents’ restful period, Wally headed out. He swam and swam, his mind full of all the things he was trying to run away from; but they seemed to all be coming along with him.

Finally, Wally focused on clearing his thoughts and started looking around at all the sea life. He was reminded of how beautiful it is in his world ... the ocean.

So, he just decided to enjoy his swim. Wally loved warm tropical waters. The warmth made him feel cozy. He thought the red algae was so pretty, and he loved to swim close to the seafloor and let the seagrass tickle his belly.

Suddenly, in the distance, Wally saw something big and blue coming toward him. As it got closer and closer, he realized that it looked bigger than him. Wow! Wally had never actually seen anything bigger than him and his daddy. So, Wally hid behind a huge rock formation until the big blue thing passed by, then followed it.

As Wally followed from a discreet distance he noticed that the blue thing didn’t have a top fin. So, Wally figured it wasn't a shark. Wally also noticed that he was eating little shrimpy-looking creatures. He also seemed at peace swimming by himself.

Suddenly he heard the big blue thing say in a deep booming voice, “I know you’re following me.”

Wally was startled by the voice and afraid he was in trouble. He was about to swim away when the voice said, “It’s OK. If you want to swim alongside me, I don’t mind.”

Wally hesitantly approached. He noticed that the other sea creature seemed friendly, so he quietly introduced himself. He said, “I’m Wally ... a whale shark.”

The blue sea creature said, “My name is Bubba. I’m a blue whale.”

Wally blurted, “You’re SO BIG! Bigger than me!” Then he pulled back in fear that he had insulted the blue whale. He blurted again, “But ... your blue color is SO beautiful.” He hoped that would stop Bubba from hurting him.

But Bubba just burst out laughing. His laughter seemed to shake the waters and all the creatures within. He said, “I know, but thanks for pointing that out ... and thank you for saying my blue color is pretty.”

Wally looked at him in confusion. “It doesn’t bother you that you’re so big?”

“Why should it?”, Bubba replied. “Besides, I like being big. Our species is the biggest in the entire ocean. You did notice I’m almost twice your size ... right? I’m about the same size as my dad too ... and my mom is even bigger than he is.”

“Wow!“, Wally replied. But I don’t like being SO big at all. The other sharks make fun of me. They call me fat and other mean things because I’m almost as big as my daddy. I’m bigger than all the whale sharks my age.”

“It’s a shame they’re so mean,” Bubba replied with an understanding look on his face. “But really,” he added, “being big is a good thing!”

“Really?” Wally was surprised at that statement.

“Sure!”, Bubba said with a smile. ”#1 ... we’re too big for killer sharks and killer whales to eat us. They can’t get their mouths around us.” Then he started laughing again. Wally found himself joining in.

“#2 ... other sea creatures aren’t afraid of us because we don’t try to eat them. Well ...”, he amended, “maybe the krill are afraid of me. I don’t really know. But my dad told me long ago about the circle of life, and he said the krill understand that part of their purpose is to provide food for lots and lots of sea creatures. We’re NOT the only ones who eat them.”

“What are krill?”, Wally asked.

“They’re those little shrimpy creatures that you saw me eat when you were following me.”

“Oh! Do they taste good?”

“Yep! They sure do!”

“Well, anyway ... the other sharks also make fun of me because all I eat is plankton and fish eggs,” Wally confessed. “Honestly, I think eating the flesh of other creatures is just gross.” Wally flinched when he realized what he said. But Bubba just smiled. So, he continued, “But they think it makes them cool and tough to eat other sea creatures. They like it when other creatures are afraid of them ... even humans.”

“Well ... they’re just idiots. What we eat or don’t eat has nothing to do with being cool or not cool ... tough or not tough. It’s just how we were made. We can’t change it, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

As they swam together through the ocean, Wally kept asking one question after another. Bubba was happy to patiently answer every single one. He felt so much better that he decided to head back home, and he told Bubba.

“I’ll go with you,” Bubba replied, much to Wally’s surprise.

“OK”, he said with a big smile.

Wally and Bubba headed back to Wally’s home. On the way, they enjoyed looking at all the sea life together. Bubba told him about some creatures and plants he wasn’t even aware of.

But when Wally and Bubba drew closer to where Wally lived, they saw something that scared him. They saw some killer sharks circling some other sea creatures. They were taunting the sea creatures who were shaking in fear.

Suddenly in a burst of power, Bubba swam toward the killer sharks! He rammed into one of them, propelling that killer shark yards and yards across the ocean. Then Wally saw another one approaching Bubba from his blind side. Wally doesn’t know even today where his courage came from, but he swam toward that shark and rammed into him just like Bubba did. To Wally’s amazement that shark was also propelled yards and yards across the ocean. Then they quickly swam away.

Suddenly, some of the sharks who used to tease him came out from behind some rock formations. They had seen what he and Bubba did.

“Wow, Wally! That was amazing!

“You the man, Wally!”

“You and that blue thing were AWESOME!!”

Wally listened in amazement at the comments and cheers that were coming to them. He looked at Bubba in shock.

Bubba simply replied to the look on his face, saying, “I never told you #3 ... we’re SO big, nobody ... not even the killer species can mess with us.”

Finally, Wally got it! He knew that he had his own special qualities and purpose, and he never had to be upset by being different from others around him.

Wally said goodbye to Bubba as he peacefully swam away. He never saw Bubba again, but he never forgot the impact Bubba made on his life and never let the negative or mean words of others bother him ever again.