"If we go somewhere warm, you can see them from the shallows without having to go too far - I would never let anyone drown." That's about the most solemn sort of vow she can ever give, because the sea is beautiful yes, and the sea gives life but the sea can be dangerous too, sweeping people away in an instant. Whales though, of all the things she never thought she would have to try to explain it would be a whale. "Most of them are huge, bigger than our ships. They cannot survive on land but unlike fish they have no gills so they come to the surface to breathe, having only one young at a time that they raise like other animals. Were it less cold I could show you my tattoo, I have one of one of the larger whales that feed off our coasts commonly. The voyages a whale goes on, even ships must stop to resupply and catch up to them."