11 Diving Adventure

by Willard Price

  ‘What do you suppose made him come around?’ said Roger.

  Hal said, ‘I suppose he saw the dolphins visiting us and he wanted to take a look too. He belongs to the dolphin family, you know - he’s the biggest of all the dolphins. He’s the fastest of them all and the most dangerous to other animals. Those jaws can bite a sea lion in two with one snap. He is not afraid of the largest whale. He will attack it, tear at its lips, get inside its mouth and devour its tongue - that’s the bit of food he likes best,

  ‘He has a stomach six feet long. In the stomach of one dead killer men found fourteen seals and thirteen dolphins. They had all been swallowed whole.’

  ‘But why would he attack dolphins? You said he belongs to the family.’

  ‘He does. But men attack men, don’t they, and why shouldn’t a great dolphin attack smaller ones?’

  ‘But he didn’t do anything to those three dolphins who had their heads in the hole. He just pushed them out of the way.’

  ‘I don’t know why,’ Hal said. ‘Perhaps he thought they were going to attack us.’

  ‘What would he care if they did?’

  ‘He’s like the other dolphins,’ Hal said. ‘He’s the friend of man. Oh I know there have been plenty of tales about him attacking men, but it’s my personal opinion that they are all nonsense. And I don’t believe he has any desire to bite holes in boats. It’s not that he couldn’t do it. He could very easily. His teeth could go through a hull two inches thick. The thinnest hulls on all the oceans are the hulls of the Eskimo kayaks. They’re made of sealskins less than a quarter inch thick, but there isn’t a single reliable record of a skin boat being attacked by a killer whale.’

  ‘Do you think I could make a pet of him?’ Roger wondered.

  Hal laughed. ‘A pretty big pet. He must be thirty feet long and weighs as much as an elephant. But I believe you could do it. It has been done. At that oceanarium near San Diego called Sea World they have a pet killer whale named Shamu. He comes whenever you call him, carries articles here and there, draws a canoe by a loop over his head, tows a man hanging on to a fin, rings a bell, walks on his tail, leaps clear up out of the water, and even sings a song - though I wouldn’t say he is a very good opera star. He lets men ride on his back round and round the pool at a terrific pace. He opens his mouth to have his great razor-sharp teeth brushed by a giant tooth-brush. He actually lets his trainer put his head into his mouth.’

  ‘Do you think this one would let me do that?’ Roger asked.

  ‘I don’t know. I wouldn’t like to see you try it’

  The killer whale was talking. ‘I think he’s asking me to come and do it,’ Roger said.

  Hal objected, ‘You’re letting your imagination run away with you. I don’t want a brother without any head.’

  Roger moved closer to the great mouth. The sight of it gave him a chilly feeling down his backbone. The jaws were as tall as he was.

  Roger talked as quietly as he would have spoken to a kitten. He kept this up for many minutes, moving a little closer all the time. The great jaws stood open as if waiting for something juicy to fall into them.

  Roger wished he hadn’t begun this experiment. Hot and cold waves seemed to be running over his body. But he couldn’t stop now. He wouldn’t let his brother see that he was scared out of his wits. Nor could he let the animal know that he was frightened. That would only make him more likely to attack. If he really wanted to make the monster his pal he must go through with this.

  Finally he stood close enough to touch the visitor. He did a little more soft talking, then gingerly reached out and stroked the smooth hide just under the chin. Cats, dogs, and dolphins liked this, perhaps killer whales did too.

  That’s enough for now,’ Hal said. ‘Wait till later to do the rest’

  ‘I think he’s in the mood right now,’ Roger said.

  He brought his hand up and stroked the lip. Then, still speaking quietly, he put his hand up over the sharp teeth.

  Down came the upper jaw. The hand was lightly gripped between the upper and lower teeth.

  It was a test, and Roger knew it. He had enough knowledge of animals to know that if he snatched away his hand now, his chance to become friend and trainer of this animal was gone. The points of the sharp teeth were not too comfortable. Those teeth could go through his hand like a knife through butter.

  The teeth relaxed their hold. Now Roger could withdraw his hand. Instead, he reached farther in until his arm was in up to the elbow. Hal held his breath.

  The killer was talking back and although Roger did not understand his language he felt that the tone was friendly. He slowly took out his hand and scratched the whale again under the chin. Then he brought his face close and looked down the monster’s throat. It was big enough to swallow him at one gulp.

  Roger rather expected to feel the hot breath of the creature on his face. But no air was stirring. Then he remembered that the breathing was done through the blowhole, not through the mouth. There was no smell from the mouth. A crocodile’s mouth stank, because bits of the meat it had eaten remained between the teeth. But the killer whale did not chew his food - he swallowed everything whole. The teeth were for hanging on to wriggling fish, not chewing them. The teeth were all canines for gripping, no molars for grinding.

  Roger very slowly put his face between the open jaws. It was like going into a cave. There was plenty of room for half a dozen heads like his.

  He brought his entire head within the two rows of teeth. Now if the jaws closed on his neck he would be trapped and nothing could pull him loose. He was glad his mother couldn’t see him now - she would faint.

  Chapter 9

  Brave and almost brainy

  Roger slowly withdrew his head from the jaws of death. He couldn’t help heaving a deep sigh of relief.

  His brother also was very happy to have the experiment over with. ‘Thank goodness,’ he said, ‘he could tell the difference between your head and a fish. He must be very intelligent.’

  ‘How about that?’ Roger asked. Is he really very intelligent? I always thought the elephant was about the most brainy of the animals.’

  ‘The killer whale’s brain is about seven times as large as the elephant’s,’ Hal said. ‘People who know the land but don’t know the sea imagine that the elephant and the chimpanzee are the most intelligent of the non-humans. But experiments with the dolphins, including the killer, show that they have a higher I.Q. than any other animal we know about in the sea or on the land.

  ‘A great trainer named Frohn who used to put on animal shows said about the dolphins: “Of all the animals I’ve worked with, these are the ones who catch on quickest to what you want them to do.” You’ve seen the dolphin Flipper on TV. His trainer is O. Feldman, and he says, “As soon as I can get him to understand some new trick I want him to do, he does it, and he’ll never forget. Six months later I can give him the same signal, maybe no more than a click of my fingers, and he’ll do exactly the same thing.”

  The famous scientist, Dr Lilly, who has made the study of dolphins his life work, goes even further. He says dolphins learn as fast as humans. The killer whale

  knows the difference between a steamer and a sailing ship. If he is chased by a steamer he goes deep to escape it. If he is chased by a ship under sail he knows that all he has to do is to go straight into the wind and the ship can’t follow him.

  ‘And killers have their own language. If one is attacked he can warn other members of the herd. The alarm can be sent instantly as far as six or seven miles away. If one is wounded by a harpoon-gun, the kind that a whaling ship carries on its bow, he warns others to look out for harpoon-guns, and to make them understand he must be able to describe the weapon so that they will recognize it when they see it.’

  ‘If he’s so smart he should be able to help us a lot,’ Roger said. ‘But what can he do that a dolphin can’t do?’

  ‘Well, for one thing, he can pull heavier loads than any dolphin. He can easily tow a to
n. He has the strength of a team of elephants. The dolphins can run many of our errands up to the ship and back carrying tools and loads of fish, but when it’s something very heavy it will be a good job for the killer whale. The only question is whether we can get him to stick around.’

  ‘I think he’ll stay with us,’ said Roger.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Hal said. ‘He’s gone already.’

  Sure enough, the ‘front door’ was empty. Roger anxiously looked out of the window. There he saw his new friend swimming about close by. Up and down Barracuda Street swam the killer whale and terrified people rushed to get into their houses. They knew a killer whale when they saw one by its dorsal fin six feet high, its black back and white belly, and terrible jaws, and they had read the wild stories of this evil creature said to be the most fearful animal on land or sea.

  But Hal and Roger and the other experimenters knew better. If everybody knew, perhaps the senseless murder of killer whales would stop.

  Hal called up Dr Dick and reported what had happened.

  “You’ve made an important contribution to science,’ Dr Dick said. ‘Your brother had a lot of courage - and brains.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Hal, ‘I think he’s brave and even a bit brainy.’

  He saw that Roger was listening, so he added mischievously, ‘Almost as brainy as a killer whale.’

  The door of Kaggs’ room slowly opened and Kaggs peered out. When he saw that the great jaws were gone he threw out his chest like a pouter pigeon and came in.

  ‘Why didn’t you stay to see the show?’ Hal asked. ‘Were you afraid of our visitor?’

  ‘Well - I - no, of course not - but I have more important things to do than to watch a stupid animal.’

  Roger resented the remark. He said, ‘If you think that killer whale is stupid you are pretty stupid yourself.’

  Kaggs glared at the boy as if he could shrivel him with a look. He opened his mouth to make an angry reply - then seemed to think better of it. After a moment he replied softly:

  ‘There was a time when I would have flayed you alive for that. But now that I have made my peace with the Lord, all I want is peace on earth. And under the sea. As I said in my sermon last Sunday, much of man’s destiny in the future will be lived out in this world beneath the waves - a world four times as great as the dry world above. Until now this has been a world of peace. But the trouble’ that infest that old world begin to threaten the new. The great powers are rivals for possession of the ocean floor. Russia’s under-ocean fleet is twice the size of Britain’s and America’s combined. America is arming her Polaris subs to be ready in case of war. We must avoid wars in the depths. And the way to ensure brotherhood between nations is to begin with brotherhood between man and man, between ourselves right here in Undersea City, in every home. And that means between you and me.’

  He enveloped both boys in a gentle smile that seemed strange on the cruel face they had known in the past.

  ‘A very good sermon,’ Hal said.

  Even Roger was touched. ‘I’m sorry I said what I did.’

  Kaggs’ smile broadened. ‘That’s all right, my boy. In this quiet undersea world I am sure we’ll all find it easy to forgive and forget.’ He retired to his room.

  Hal and Roger were silent for a few moments. Then Hal said, ‘Maybe he was sincere. What do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know what to think,’ said Roger.

  The three young naturalists, Hal, Roger, and Bottle, had solved the problem of taking up a whole school of hundreds or thousands of fish and pouring them into a ship, thus doing in a few minutes what would have taken many days to accomplish by the old methods.

  That would work well with small and even medium-sized fish. But how about the great ones, too large to go up a vacuum hose? The saw of the sawfish would not fit in any hose, the martin’s spear would puncture the vac. The wahoo was a whopper, the grouper and the giant barracuda grew to immense size, and some sharks were as big as telephone booths. Yes, and how about the whale?

  ‘To get the big fish,’ Hal said, “there are a couple of experiments I’d like to make.’

  He went to the phone and called up Captain Ted.

  ‘Ted, I’m going to send up Bottle. Give him the electro fishing outfit and the laser machine. I’m going to see if I can use them to hunt down the big ones.’

  ‘Very well,’ replied Captain Ted. ‘But I don’t see how you can fish with those things. And I’ve spent fifty years at sea.’

  ‘You spent the last fifty years,’ Hal said. “The next fifty years may be different. Of course these things may not work - but I’d like to try them out. Oh yes, another thing I’d like to have - one of those packages of balloons and a bottle of compressed air.’

  Captain Ted laughed. ‘Now that’s one for the book. Fishing by balloon! You’re sure the helium hasn’t gone to your head?’

  ‘Perhaps it has,’ Hal admitted. ‘Anyhow, watch for Bottle.’

  ‘Will do,’ Ted replied, and Hal could hear him chuckling again as he rang off.

  Bottle, as usual, was waiting and ready with his head poked up through the front door. Hal put a short length of rope into the dolphin’s mouth. Bottle had learned by this time that this meant a trip up to the Flying Cloud. But Hal didn’t want to do this rope trick every time Bottle was sent on an errand. So he pointed up, and at the same time looked up, and said very distinctly, ‘Ship -ship - ship.’ Other trainers had taught dolphins to obey spoken commands. Perhaps he could do the same. Again he repeated several times the word ship.

  From the dolphin’s blowhole came an answer. This time it was not a click or a whistle but an imitation of Hal’s voice. It was not a very good imitation, but certainly the animal was trying to say, ‘Ship.’ He ducked out of the hole and shot upwards. Immediately the other two dolphins and the killer whale followed him.

  ‘Good,’ exclaimed Hal, much pleased. ‘I was hoping that Big Boy would go along. That will teach him where to go when we send him on an errand.’

  In less than five minutes Bottle was back. Captain Ted had put a loop around his neck and to the loop was attached a net containing the articles Hal had ordered.

  That was not all Bottle had brought with him. In addition to Big Boy and the two dolphins there were now half a dozen more dolphins. Dolphins love company, and they are very curious. These new recruits had evidently been interested in Bottle and his friends, the ship above, and Bottle’s load of instruments, and now they were fascinated by the humans in the house below. They swam round and round the house, looking in at the windows, poking their heads up the front door, keeping up a continuous whistling and clicking. Hal was delighted.

  ‘This is too good to be true,’ he said. “The more who join the gang, the better.’

  ‘Why do you want so many?’

  ‘They’ll come in handy later on. They’ll make good cowboys for our cattle ranches.’

  ‘Cattle ranches?’

  ‘Well, not cattle, but fish farms, lobster farms, oyster farms, crops of special seaweed that is good to eat.’

  ‘Who would eat seaweed?’

  ‘The Japanese eat it all the time. They wrap it around rice, dip it in soy sauce, and lo’» it. It’s wholesome and nutritious. And there are a hundred million Japanese -that’s a big market right there. And there’s no reason why millions of people the world around shouldn’t come to like this new food. But that’s all in the future - let’s get on with this job of catching big fish.’

  Chapter 10

  Shocking way to fish

  The glass jeep carried the two fishermen near the coral cliff. Here they turned off the motor and waited.

  There were thousands of fish poking about in the cracks, crevices, caves, and grottoes of the coral precipice and they were a gorgeous sight in their costumes of red, gold, blue, lavender, and dozens of tints and hues for which there are no names because they are never seen in the world above.

  Some of these little beauties were very rare, possibly unknown
to science. Aquariums would be glad to get them and pay well for them. But they were not what Hal wanted just now.

  They were all small. Surely a big visitor would be coming along pretty soon. To avoid exhausting their aqualungs, the boys breathed the jeep’s helium.

  A half hour passed, an hour, an hour and a half. Finally a large swordfish appeared. Hal took up the electro-gun and slipped out of the jeep. He waited for the swordfish to come within range.

  But the swordfish was not interested in him or the jeep. It swam idly here and there. It grazed on the plants sprouting from the cliff. It pushed its sword into a hole and brought out an octopus and looked very odd swimming about with eight tentacles wriggling from its beak.

  ‘How can it get it back to its mouth?’ Roger wondered.

  The swordfish answered by scraping the octopus off against the cliff and caught the squirming thing in its teeth before it could retreat into another hole.

  ‘What kind of a gun is that?’ Roger inquired. ‘Like the dart guns we used in Africa?’

  ‘Not quite,’ Hal said. ‘Those darts carried tranquillizer to put the animal to sleep. This carries electricity.’

  ‘How can you fish with electricity? You have the craziest ideas.’

  ‘Not so crazy,’ Hal said. ‘And it’s not really my idea. The Swedes started it. They fish for tuna by electricity. The Norwegians use it for killing whales.’

  ‘Oh, I know,’ said Roger. ‘You shoot a bomb into the whale, it explodes and blows him to bits.’

  ‘No. That was the old way. It destroyed too much of the carcass. Besides, it was very cruel. Sometimes it didn’t kill the whale instantly and it swam away before they could fire another charge. Of course a whale is a mammal, like ourselves, and its nerves are as sensitive as ours. So the whale would suffer terribly, for hours, perhaps for weeks. The new way is to shoot a harpoon charged with electricity. It is very sharp and penetrates the hide like a hypodermic without causing pain. And the electric shock kills instantly.’