Rock Trouble Old Jack's Boat

Hello, there. How are you today?

Salty and I have a tale or two to tell you about this beach

and the rockpools

and all the magical things that have happened here.

# Come with me We're off to the sea

# To where I used to play

# Looking back when I was a boy and the fun we had each day

# Over the cobbles and through the streets

# Playing in the sun

# Friends to meet with games and treats

# Adventures just begun

# Stories from a magical world Washed in by the sea

# Meet the rockpool creatures there It's amazing what you see

# Looking back when I was a boy

# Shrimps and starfish Crabs and snails

# In twinkly Rockpool Tales... #

Ha-ha-ha-ha!

# Those lovely Rockpool Tales. #

TOOT!

OLD JACK SNORES

SEAGULLS SQUAWK

Oh! Oh!

Ooh! Oh! All right, all right, what's...what's going on?

Oh! Can't an old fisherman have a nap now and again

without a hullabaloo disturbing him?

It's seagulls, Salty.

Did they wake you up as well?

Excuse me, Salty would like you to keep the noise down, please!

Oh, dear! Huh! Do you know what?

I remember a day when Bertrum the Butterfish

got woken up by a terrible noise, too.

Oh-ho-ho-ho! And he wasn't the only one. Hee-hee-ha-ha!

It all happened when I was a boy,

in a twinkly time long, long ago.

Huh-huh! I used to run down to the beach as often as I could.

Meeting up with my best friends, Little Ernie and Little Sailor Sue.

Sometimes we'd get an ice cream cone.

-Let's take these to the beach.

-Good idea.

Yes, I tell you, Salty, it was always delicious.

Fee-fi-fo-fum!

But I remember one day eating our ice creams

and playing Follow My Leader across the beach.

I pretended to be a giant and then Little Ernie was doing dance moves.

-And turn!

-So Sue and I did our best to copy him.

But suddenly, I noticed a seagull following, too.

A very noisy seagull.

And it seemed to be after my ice cream.

It wouldn't leave me alone!

So I ran off to our favourite rockpool

with Sue and Ernie by my side.

Let's stay here for a bit.

And as we gazed deep down into the glittery, green water,

a magical world appeared before our eyes.

On this particular day, Sheena the Shrimp woke up early,

ready to do her early-morning musical shake-up.

She swam over to her musical rock

and she pressed its nose eagerly, but...

Oh, dear!

RUMBLING

A horrible sound came out,

which made her leap backwards across the seabed in surprise.

It sounded like lots of enormous glubbery tummy rumbles.

"What's that noise?" asked Sidney the Snail,

poking his head out of his shell rather nervously.

"It's my musical rock. I can't seem to get it to work properly,"

said Sheena, frantically trying to turn it off with her antenna.

"Oh, dear, dear, dear, it's much too early for this,"

said Bertrum the Butterfish.

He was still wearing his sleeping cap.

"I haven't even had my breakfast yet," he grumbled.

Well, soon, everyone was awake

and wanting the horrible noise to stop.

"I'm having terrible rock trouble.

"My musical rock just isn't working properly," Sheena said.

"Sorry to wake you all."

Sheena was sad because her musical rock was very special to her

and she didn't want it to be broken.

"When something goes wrong,

"there's only one thing to do," said Belinda the Blenny.

"Throw it away?" Andrew guessed.

"Absolutely not," said Belinda.

"Turn it upside down?" Sally suggested.

"Absolutely not," said Belinda. "We try to fix it."

But just then, the back came off the musical rock

and Belinda let out a rather loud shriek.

"Argh! Oh!"

For what did she see inside, but a very spiky-looking creature

staring back at her.

"Hello! Great to see you!" Said the spiky thing,

bouncing out of the back of the musical rock.

"I'm Finn the Urchin. Do you know where I am, by any chance?"

"This is Staithes," said Sheena.

"Oh, dear! Oh! I was headed for my favourite spot in Whitby Harbour.

"I must've taken a wrong turn. Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Said Finn, chuckling.

"You must have taken a lot of wrong turns," said Belinda.

"Well, I got washed away on the waves, you see,"

said Finn, bouncing about.

"I was buffeted and bounced this way and that by the high tide.

"Then I ended up in this rockpool,

"so I snuggled up inside this interesting rock. Ha-ha-ha-ha!

"And I fell asleep."

"Well, I'm so glad you had a good rest," giggled Sheena.

"This is actually a musical rock, you know," she told the visitor.

"Never!" Said the visitor, amazed.

"Yes, really," said Sheena, laughing.

"I thought it was broken,

"but maybe it just sounded funny because you were inside it."

"Well, I'm sure it'll be better now," said Belinda,

putting the rock back together again.

Sheena pressed the rock and suddenly,

some very jiggly swing music came blaring out.

"Ah! Ooo! I love that!" Said Finn, jumping up and down.

"I'm a mean mover, me! Whoo!" And everybody cheered.

"My musical rock's working again," cried Sheena.

"Let's all do my musical morning shake-up together."

All the creatures joined in, even Bertrum.

You have never seen so many fanning tails

and flicking fins and snapping claws. Huh!

Finn the Urchin threw his whole body into the dance.

"If you shake any harder, your spikes will fall off,"

giggled Sheena.

After quite a lot of shaking up, Finn said, "Oh, that's it!

"I feel wide awake now, ready for my journey back home."

"But how are you going to get back to Whitby?" Sheena asked.

Buster the Crab had an idea.

"Come with me," he said.

And he took Finn to the rock

where Reginald the Great Wise Limpet sat, watching the world.

"Hello, Reginald," said Buster, waving a claw.

"This little lad would like to get home to Whitby. Can you help?"

Reginald blinked.

"It's quite a long way,

"but I have an old friend who might be able to help."

Then he let out a very loud and long whistle.

OLD JACK WHISTLES

Almost immediately, "Whoosh!"

The air was filled with the sound of a huge spray of water,

as out to sea, an enormous blue creature

with a friendly face appeared.

"It's a whale!" cried Finn. "Unbelievable!"

WOOF!

Yes, I know, Salty. Yes, our old friend, Bluey the Whale.

"Lovely to see you, Bluey," called Buster.

And then, he explained that Finn needed to get home to Whitby.

"Jump on and I'll give you a ride," boomed Bluey.

And he dived under the water, making a wave

that washed Finn out to sea.

And then he let out a spout of water

that shot Finn up into the air.

Well, Finn was so excited, he shrieked with joy.

"Oh, I love that! Hee-hee-hee!" He chortled,

bouncing up and down on the water.

"Goodbye, Reginald! Bye, Buster!

"Ha! Thanks for everything!" He called.

And then he headed back to Whitby,

bouncing on the top of Bluey's fountain of spray.

Back in the rockpool, Sheena and her friends

played her musical rock for the rest of the day.

And it worked perfectly! Hooray!

When we looked up from the rockpool,

it seemed as if the seagull that was following me had disappeared.

So we started playing Follow My Leader again.

Sailor Sue was a fire-breathing dragon,

and we copied her.

And then I looked over and saw the noisy seagull again.

It was a baby! Ha-ha!

And now it was with its mother, being fed.

-No wonder it had been chasing after me!

-It must have been hungry.

I felt sorry for being cross with it.

Let's be seagulls now. I'll be the leader.

And we flapped our wings and we called. Ha-ha!

And we played Follow My Leader for the rest of the day.

Until the tide came in,

and covered the rockpool like a great seaweedy blanket.

Oh! Seagulls! The seaside wouldn't be the same without them, would it?

WOOF!

I don't mind sharing the Rainbow with them. Do you, Salty? eh?

Good girl!

Oh, you come back soon for some more Rockpool Tales.

Goodbye.