Island of the Blue Dolphins Chapter 23 Summary

  • The Aleuts may have left, but they've also left many dead and wounded otters on the shores of the island.
  • Karana sees one of the wounded otters in a bed of kelp and realizes he's still alive. She takes him to a tide pool where he can heal.
  • Karana brings fish to the otter every day as the otter grows and heals. The otter watches Karana with his big eyes. She gives him the name Mon-a-nee, which means "Little Boy with Large Eyes" (23.9).
  • Karana can't catch fish for a few days, so she doesn't go to the tide pool. When she returns, the otter is gone. She doesn't think she'll be able to pick him out of the otter lineup now that his wound is healed.
  • After the Aleuts depart, Karana moves back to the headland. She spends her time making fishing spears, hooks, and a fancy set of earrings to go with the necklace from Tutok.
  • Karana finds stones for the earrings after a bunch of searching on the beach, rubbing them "in fine sand and water" (23.16).
  • Karana and Rontu walk the cliffs as before, though she thinks of Tutok often and wishes her friend were still around.