I cannot get the whale to appear. I have tried reloading the game, restoring 50+ times, moving in every direction and taking every approach with respect to the feather. I did see the whale in my very first run, but found out near the end of the game that I had no arrows left to kill lolotte so I had to start over. I did but have never seen the whale again. Help, please.

The appearance is completely random. Sometimes you get the shark, sometimes the whale. I've had the best luck north of Genesta's island, but I don't think it really matters.

You have to visit Lolotte once before the whale appears. If the whale just isn't appearing, it's most likely because you haven't visited Lolotte yet.

Also a good rule of Sierra games: don't unnecessarily waste your inventory items. This is an especially good rule for "King's Quest" games. If you use an item and nothing happens (no points or anything), you have most likely wasted it, will never get it back, and will not be able to complete the game. So you'll have to restore to a point before you used it.