CNN
Ms Oceania Sees, spokesperson for the BlueSeas Coalition, announced today that their remaining whale protection ship, the Whale Defender I, would be sailing again. More heavily armed this time and able to launch two armed drones simultaneously, it would proactively attack any Squidzillas that either approached it or the Grey whales that it will shepherd on their migrations. She stated that aerial surveillance along the whale migration during the past two months documented squid attacks on whales on four occasions.
It was a year ago that its sister ship, the Whale Defender II, was overwhelmed and sunk by giant squids.
Cecie
“Did you see the news?” Cecie said angrily to Jessie. “They are going to try again.”
“In a way, you can’t blame them. Their main purpose has always been to protect the whales. They originally formed to stop Japanese and Norwegian whaling and they succeeded.”
“But the squids are just catching whales to survive. It’s not like humans killing whales when we have other sources of animal protein.”
“Cecie, I know you have a strong belief that giant squids are intelligent and you can’t wait to start to prove that, but you have to realize that to most people, squid is something you deep fry as an appetizer.”
“Et tu, Mama?”
CNN
The BlueSeas Coalition announced today that after only five weeks on patrol, its ship, the Whale Defender I, intercepted and destroyed two Squidzillas that were closing in on Grey whales off Baja California. “There is no question that the mission of this ship to protect whales has been validated,” said Ms. Oceania Sees, spokesperson for the BlueSeas Coalition.
The Squids.
It took several weeks for information about the killing of two squids to disseminate among the eastern Pacific squid population. After they sank the Whale Defender II, they had enjoyed over a year of freedom to hunt whales without intervention. With the return of a killer ‘hard shell,’ it was time to gather again to decide what to do.
long time hard shells no bother me-you, long time hard shells no kill me-you with funny fish, flashed No. 10. what do?
why me-you no go where no hard shell? flashed No. 32. catch whale there. there hard shell no kill me-you.
hard shell no stay one place. suppose follow me-you? said No. 10. whale swim together—where hard shell stay. no easy find whale with no hard shell close.
No. 5 signaled, No. 18 go same with No. 27 when funny fish kill No. 27. you say what you see No. 18.
funny fish move same fast as me-you. funny fish get long line like above water livers (AWL) use catch fish. go from funny fish to hard shell, said No. 18.
me-you see AWL use long line catch fish, pull fish into hard shell. sometime long line break and fish swim away, said No. 5. AWL use long line control fish. maybe long line control funny fish. maybe break long line, funny fish go away from me-you. maybe try?
This thought results in a great deal of discussion with flashing lights and waving arms. Could it really be that simple? Just break the connecting line and the funny fish is no longer controlled to kill squids? Who would be the brave squids to try it out? They worked out a plan to try with two of them. No. 5 would be one since it was No. 5’s idea, and No.18, because No. 18 saw the long line and knew what to look for. No. 5 would act to attract the funny fish, and No. 18 would jet in and break the line. And unlike their attacks on the two previous BlueSeas ships which were carried out on dark nights, this would be at noon to maximize visibility.
Whale Defender I.
“It’s been over two weeks since we killed that second squid” Dirk the first mate said to Tom, his captain. “They’re keeping their distance.”
“Main thing, keep them from the whales. They stay away, we’re doing our job.”
“The whales seem to stick close to us. There must be a dozen within a mile of us. They must sense that the squids avoid us.”
“We’re running a convoy,” said Tom.
“Bout time for lunch. You wanna go first or me?”
“I’ll go first. Didn’t have breakfast,” Tom said.
No sooner had he sat down with his tray, when his pager buzzed. It was Dirk on the bridge, “Sorry Tom, but sonar says two squids are coming up behind us. What do you want to do?”
“Bring up two tin tuna. I’ll be up.” Tom took two big bites of his hot dog, stood up, left the tray, and headed for the bridge, chewing on his quick lunch.
“See Tom, there’s one bigger one closer and a smaller one further back,” Dirk said.
“Okay, let’s get the bigger one. Arm one tuna and launch it.”
The tin tuna was lowered in its cradle, and began its run, unspooling the guidance wire behind it. No. 5 turned away from the ship and headed back towards No. 18 who slipped to one side and then shot forward as the drone and its line passed. No. 18 seized the line in two tentacles and used its sharp beak to severed the wire.
“Tom, I’ve lost the video feed and control of the drone,” called the sonar operator. “Don’t know what happened.”
No. 5 and 18 slowed and watched the tin tuna, now untethered, uncontrolled, swerve erratically. Ahead of it was a migrating Grey whale.
Tom and Dirk leaned over the sonar operator’s shoulder to watch the unleashed drone’s zigs and zags on sonar. “Damn! There’s a whale right in its path!” Three-quarters of a mile away a geyser shot up from the sea’s surface. “Shit!! It nailed the whale!”
hard shell catch whale for me-you, said No. 5.
not so much left, No. 18 replied, as they swam over to drag the dead whale deeper to feed.
The Long and The Short of It 