Dolphin Island - Arthur C. Clarke [25]
Hirsch chuckled.
"Your point is well taken, though I'm not sure how you propose to reform killer whales."
"Just a minute," said Dr. Abdullah. "You're getting outside my territory. How bright are killer whales? Unless they really are as intelligent as dolphins, the analogy between human tribes breaks down, and there's no moral problem."
"They're intelligent enough," Professor Kazan answered unhappily. "The few studies that have been made suggest that they're at least as intelligent as the other dolphins."
"I suppose you know that famous story about the killers who tried to catch the Antarctic explorers?" said Dr. Hirsch. The others admitted ignorance, so he continued: "It happened back at the beginning of the last century, on one of the early expeditions to the South Pole—Scott's, I think. Anyway, a group of the explorers were on the edge of an ice floe, watching some killer whales in the water. It never occurred to them that they were in any danger—until suddenly the ice beneath them started to shatter. The beasts were ramming it from underneath, and the men were lucky to jump to safety before they broke right through the ice. It was about three feet thick, too."
"So they'll eat men if they have the chance," said someone. "You can count my vote against them."
"Well, one theory was that they mistook the fur-clad explorers for penguins, but I'd hate to put it to the test. In any case, we're fairly sure that several skin-divers have been taken by them."
There was a short silence while everyone digested this information. Then Dr. Saha started the ball rolling again.
"Obviously, we need more facts before we come to any decisions. Someone will have to catch a few killer whales and make a careful study of them. Do you suppose you could make contact with them, Nickolai, as you have with dolphins?"
"Probably, though it might take years."
"We're getting away from the point," said Dr. Hirsch impatiently. "We've still got to decide what we should do, not how we do it. And I'm afraid there's another thundering big argument in favor of killer whales and against our dolphin friends."
"I know what it is," said Professor Kazan, "but go ahead."
"We get a substantial percentage of our food from the sea—about a hundred million tons of fish per annum. Dolphins are our direct competitors: what they eat is lost to us. You say there's a war between the killer whales and the dolphins, but there's also a war between dolphins and fishermen, who get their nets broken and their catches stolen. In this war, the killer whales are our allies. If they didn't keep the dolphin population under control, there might be no fish for us."
Oddly enough, this did not seem to discourage the Professor. Indeed, he sounded positively pleased.
"Thank you, Mordecai—you've given me an idea. You know, of course, that dolphins have sometimes helped men to round up schools of fish, sharing the catch afterward? It used to happen with the aborigines here in Queensland, two hundred years ago."
"Yes, I know about that. Do you want to bring the custom up to date?"
"Among other ideas. Thank you very much, gentlemen; I'm extremely grateful to you.
As soon as I've carried out a few experiments, I'll send a memorandum to the whole Committee and we'll have a full-scale meeting."
"You might give us a few clues, after waking us up at this time in the morning."
"Not yet, if you don't mind—until I know which ideas are utterly insane and which ones are merely crazy. Give me a couple of weeks, and meanwhile, you might inquire if anyone has a killer whale that I can borrow. Preferably one that won't eat more than a thousand pounds of food a day."
Chapter 11
Johnny's first trip across the reef at night was an experience he remembered all his life.
The tide was out, there was no Moon, and the stars were brilliant in a cloudless sky when