Dolphin Island

“Anyway,” continued Professor Kazan. “My next point should prove that I’m not hopelessly pro-dolphin, however fond of them I happen to be. I’m not a zoologist, but I know something about the balance of nature. Even if we could help them, should we? Dr. Hirsch, you may have some ideas on that.”

The Director of the Tel-Aviv Zoo took his time in answering; he was still a little sleepy, for it was not yet dawn in Israel.

“This is a hot potato you’ve handed us,” he grumbled. “And I doubt if you’ve thought of all the complications. In the natural state, all animals have enemies—predators— and it would be disastrous for them if they didn’t. Look at Africa, for example, where you’ve got lions and antelopes sharing the same territory. Suppose you shot all the lions— what would happen then? I’ll tell you: the antelopes would multiply until they stripped all the food, and then they’d starve.

“Whatever the antelopes think about it, the lions are very good for them. Besides preventing them from outrunning their food supplies, they keep them fit, by eliminating the weaker specimens. That’s Nature’s way; it’s cruel by our standards, but effective.”

“In this case the analogy breaks down,” said Professor Kazan. “We’re not dealing with wild animals but with intelligent people. They’re not human people, but they’re still people. So the correct analogy would be with a tribe of peaceable farmers who are continuously ravaged by cannibals. Would you say that the cannibals are good for the farmers—or would you try to reform the cannibals?”

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.”