Whales Frolic in Ocean; Rescuers Hope It’s No Fluke

--So far, the operation has gone swimmingly. Three young pilot whales saved from a beaching in December were hoisted into the ocean about 115 miles from Boston’s New England Aquarium, whose scientists had nursed them back to health. The black calves’ fate will help scientists decide if they should interfere in future beachings, in which whales often die. The three males, dubbed Notch, Baby and Big Brute or Tag, quickly joined a group of dolphins and began cavorting, officials said. “They met up with a group of white-sided dolphins and behaved appropriately,” aquarium spokeswoman Sandra Goldfarb said. “They exhibited play behavior. They would turn on their backs and were swimming about.” The 2-year-old, 1,000-pound pilot whales later joined a group of humpback whales and swam out of sight. “We consider it an adventure--a quest for knowledge about returning animals to their natural homes,” said Sharon Dean, aquarium conservation director.

--Imelda Marcos says she and her husband, deposed Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, think of themselves as gods, “because we are on a divine mission . . . to return to the Philippines to reclaim our destiny.” “We are part of the achievement of being a god,” her husband added during an interview appearing in August’s Playboy magazine. “That is what we are about now. An ordinary mortal would not be able to stand it,” Marcos said. The Marcoses fled to Hawaii in February, 1986, in the face of demonstrations that carried Corazon Aquino to the presidency. “Thirty-five years ago, I went to Manila with a youthful face, a dream and 5 pesos in my pocket,” Mrs. Marcos said. “This time, I will not go home with a face, because I’ve been deprived of my honor and my dignity. I’ll go back with 5 pesos and make billions and billions of dollars, because what I do comes from the heart and the brain. I’ve got both.”

--Mark Pusch has real talent as a salesman, but maybe he should brush up on art appreciation. The 8-year-old was left in charge of his parents’ garage sale in Omaha for an hour and sold a historic $2,000 painting for $5. But his father, Jan Eric Pusch, gave Mark credit for driving a hard bargain--the couple who bought the painting originally offered $4 for it. The elder Pusch had agreed to donate the painting to the Omaha History Museum and had left the canvas in the garage to be picked up later. The painting depicts Omaha civic leader Anton Hospe, the owner of a store purchased by the Pusch family in 1942. The work was painted by J. Laurie Wallace, a student of noted American painter Thomas Eakins.