The girl had argued with her teacher that whales could swallow people whole, but the teacher said they could not due to their small necks. The next day, while on a boat ride with her father, the girl saw something in the water and rescued her friend. At dinner that night, when the girl asked what had happened, her friend explained that it was a whale that had rescued him, not eaten him, because as the teacher had said, whales are unable to swallow people due to their small necks.