Chapter  17
Rows and rows of boats lined the harbor.
Marlin and Dory swam from stern to stern, trying to find one that looked familiar.
Dory yawned, exhausted. Her eyes fluttered, then closed. She began to sink, falling asleep.
“Dory! Wake up!” Marlin shouted.
Dory opened her eyes. Then she screamed.
A big pelican was swooping toward them. In a flash, he opened his beak and scooped up the two friends.
At the pier, the pelican settled on a dock. He threw back his head to swallow Marlin and Dory.
“No! I didn’t come this far to be breakfast!” Marlin wedged himself sideways in the pelican’s mouth.
The pelican made a choking noise. The fish were stuck in his throat.
Farther down the dock, Nigel watched the choking pelican. He flew over to help.
“Fish got your tongue?” he asked.
The pelican opened his mouth. Nigel peered in, then pounded the pelican on the back.
The two fish flew onto the dock.
“I’ve got to find my son, Nemo!” Marlin cried, gasping for air.
Nigel’s eyes opened wide. “He’s that fish!” Nigel yelled. “The one that’s been fighting the whole ocean!”
Marlin and Dory were flopping down the dock, trying to get back to the water.
“I know where your son is!” Nigel cried. A flock of curious seagulls suddenly appeared.
The pelican opened his beak. “Hop inside my mouth if you want to live,” he said.
“How does that make me live?” Marlin asked, thinking Nigel wanted to eat him.
Nigel shook his head. “No! I know your son. He’s orange. He’s got a gimpy fin on one side.”
Marlin couldn’t believe it! This pelican really knew his son. “That’s Nemo!” he shouted.
More seagulls swooped down on the dock, surrounding Marlin and Dory.
Nigel dove into the midst of the birds. He snatched the fish from the dock and flew off. Nigel grabbed a mouthful of water from the ocean so that Marlin and Dory could breathe. They were on their way to the dentist’s office.