Grayson

The author of Swimming to Antartica tells the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was seventeen and in training for a big swim. It was in the dark of early morning; Lynne Cox was in 55-degree water two hundred yards off shore. She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier when she became aware that something was swimming with her. It became clear that it was a baby gray whale -- following alongside her for a mile or so. Lynne had been swkmming for more than an hour; she needed to get out of the water to rest, but she realized that if she did, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs. Or if Lynne couldn't find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death. Something so enormous suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find the mother whale? This is the story -- part mystery, part magical tale -- of what happened.