 These giant underwater creatures, or sometimes just the idea of them, have shaped her life in all sorts of ways, from a childhood spent in the water to her months living with the whaling community in the Arctic and a life-changing journey up the Pacific coast with her toddler when she was at her very lowest. Whales have, in their own kind of way, saved Doreen. Doreen was even born in Wales, the country, not the animal, to be clear.