I did see the whales as whales at first, it took me a second to do the math, two adults, two children one carcass, so I do think you acheived what you wanted to.
I'm having a great time trying to pare stories down, get rid of anything unecessary. If it comes in at 700 words, cut it down to 600 for instance. I love the finish the story contest because you have to get a lot done in only 500 words. It took me two days to write my first one.
Freewrites are fabulous fun too though. Have you tried themostdangerouswriting app?