03 Underwater Adventure (7 page)

Hal and Dr Blake on deck were startled to hear wild cries of ‘Help! Help! I’ve been murdered!’ and jumped to the rail to see a half-crazy Skink, clinging to the ladder, gargling sea water, burbling and babbling something about having been stung by a stonefish.

They hauled him up. Screaming and twisting, he dropped in a heap on the deck. Roger climbed aboard, keeping his net and its contents out of sight.

‘Quick!’ screamed Skink. ‘Take me to the hospital. I’m dying! The kid. He rammed me with a stonefish.’

He clutched his thigh. ‘I’ll go crazy with the pain. Fm going crazy now!’

Dr Blake pulled aside the clutching hand. ‘Let me have a look.’ He examined the area carefully. ‘There’s no sign of any puncture. And the flesh isn’t blue. Aren’t you mistaken in your diagnosis?’

‘You want me to die!’ bawled Skink. ‘I tell you, get me to the hospital. Oh, oh, the pain! I can’t stand it’ He was blubbering like a baby.

‘Calm down,’ said Dr Blake. ‘Think it over - are you really in pain? Or are you imagining something?’

The kid tried to kill me. I helped him get a stonefish. Then he struck me with it. I have just a little while to live. I’m getting delirious now.’ He began to grovel about the deck.

Dr Blake seized him by the shoulders and pulled him up into a sitting position. He shook him smartly. ‘Snap out of it, Inkham! Now tell me - do you really feel anything?’

Skink wore a puzzled expression. He put his hand behind him and felt himself. ‘Well,’ he said defensively, ‘I did when it struck. It felt like a thousand needles. But,’ he looked more bewildered, T guess I didn’t really feel it after that.’ A new look of horror came into his face. ‘But do you know what that means? I’m paralysed. That’s why I have no feeling.’ He tried to move his leg. ‘See? It’s numb from the hip down. I can’t feel a thing.’

‘Not even this?’ and Dr Blake gave the leg a good pinch.

‘Never felt it.’

It was Dr Blake’s turn to be worried. He looked at Roger, who was holding his net behind him.

What do you know about this, Roger?’

‘He’s right, there was a stonefish…’ Roger began.

‘You see?’ yelled Skink. ‘Now will you get me to that hospital? Or do you want me to die here?’

‘He tried to get me to grab it,’ Roger went on. ‘I got it in my net. Then I caught this in my other net.’ He brought the torpedo into view. T smacked him with it and he thought he was getting a taste of the stonefish. He was so scared, he swam up within ten feet of a big shark and never noticed it.’

Skink staggered to his feet and advanced upon Roger. ‘So you had your fun, did you? Now I’m going to have some fun. I’m going to give myself the pleasure of tearing you apart.’ But his stiff leg refused to work and he pitched forward on the deck. ‘I’m paralysed,’ he whined.

‘That numbness will pass off in a few minutes,’ said Dr Blake. ‘And don’t take it out on Roger. You had it coming. In fact, I don’t think you got half what you deserved.’ He took the net from Roger and held the torpedo up for inspection. ‘It’s a dandy. Here’s a tank that will just suit it.’

Roger slid into the water and presently reappeared with the other net. Dr Blake was greatly pleased with the stonefish. ‘There are many varieties and this is one of the rarest,’ he said.

‘The shark is still hanging around,’ Roger said. ‘There he is.’ Fifty feet out from the ship two fins cut the surface. Beneath them could be seen the slate-blue back of the fish.

‘Looks like a mako shark,’ Blake said. ‘It probably won’t bother us if we don’t bother it. I don’t want the shark. But there’s something I would like to have - that turtle. It’s a hawksbill and a beauty.’

The turtle was swimming lazily on the surface off the starboard bow.

Hal was preparing to jump in. ‘No use swimming after it,’ Blake said. ‘It can go faster than we can. It can outrace most fish, when it really wants to.’

‘Could we catch it with the motorboat?’ Roger asked.

‘No, it would just dive out of reach. I’m afraid we’ll have to pass it up.’

Omo quit his job of splicing a halyard and came forward a little timidly. He was an excellent diver, but on this expedition he was supposed to act as crewman and cook while others took care of the diving.

‘If you don’t mind my trying,’ he said, ‘perhaps I could get the turtle for you. We have a way in the islands.’

‘The field is all yours,’ Blake said. ‘Go ahead.’

‘First I’ll pay a visit to that shark.’

Without snorkel or aqualung, Omo slid soundlessly into the lagoon and swam down. They could see his brown figure pass under the shark. Suddenly the shark gave a startled thrust of his tail and swam away. Omo returned to the ship carrying something in his hand. He climbed on deck.

He held a remora. On the top of its head was the flat suction plate that it used to fasten itself to the hide of a shark. The remora will cling just as readily to certain other kinds of fish, or to a turtle.

Omo tied the end of a line through the gill and mouth of the fish. Then he went to the bow and spotted the turtle which was now about sixty feet off and getting farther away every minute. Omo took the free end of the line and made it fast to the rail. He hurled the fish far out so that it fell within a few yards of the turtle.

The remora lay motionless in the water, as if collecting its senses. Then it swam straight to the hawksbill and fastened itself to the big carapace.

Omo began to haul in on the line, gently, fearing to break the remora’s hold. But it proved to be firmly glued to the shell. The turtle, sensing that something was wrong, suddenly put on speed. Its flippers beat the water in vain.

It tried diving. Omo let it go, but kept a drag on the line. As the turtle tired, he gradually drew it in.

A net was lowered until it lay a few feet below the surface. The turtle was manoeuvred over the net, and hoisted aboard.

Omo beamed, and everybody else cheered, except the sulky Skink.

‘I learn something new every day!’ exclaimed Dr Blake. ‘We think we’re so smart with all our modern gear, but we can take lessons from island boys who never saw a snorkel or an aqualung.’

The big mako shark had returned and lay just under the surface a few yards off the port beam.

‘Wish he’d go away,’ Blake said. ‘It’s a bit risky -doing any more diving while he’s around.’

‘He didn’t make trouble when Omo grabbed one of his remoras,’ Hal remarked.

‘Omo took him by surprise. But he came back. The way he keeps switching that tail, I think he’s a little annoyed with us. These mako can be man-eaters.’

‘I heard a lecturer say that all sharks are cowards,’ Hal said.

Blake laughed. ‘Perhaps he felt safe because he had a good solid platform under his feet and there were no sharks on the stage. And even if sharks were cowards, don’t forget that cowards are often bullies. Isn’t that true among humans? I know I’m more afraid of a coward than of a brave man.’

Hal thought of Skink, and nodded. Yes, Skink was a good example. He was to be feared in spite of the fact that he was a coward. He was to be feared because he was a coward.

‘But I wouldn’t agree that all sharks are cowards,’ went on Dr Blake. ‘When a shark is hungry enough or mad enough it will attack a whale ten times its own size. It will even try to fight a ship. There have been numerous instances of sharks plunging their teeth into a ship’s hull, sometimes even sinking the ship.’

‘I suppose some sharks are more dangerous than others.’

‘That’s it There are more kinds of sharks than of cats. And the man who says sharks aren’t dangerous has probably met only the mild sorts. Besides, even the dangerous kinds aren’t always dangerous. A shark that has just had a good dinner isn’t interested in picking a quarrel. A tiger shark is as gentle as a kitten when well fed and a holy terror when starving. And sharks have emotions, just like people. If you go near them when they happen to be in a bad mood, look out.’

Dr Blake ran his finger along the outline of an ugly scar on his right foot.

‘Another thing about sharks that makes them a lot like us,’ he said, ‘is that they make mistakes. I got that because a shark made a mistake. It saw my foot and thought it was a fish. Anything that flickers will attract a shark. That’s why the Loyalty Islanders tie a dark cloth over the soles of their feet when diving. The sole of the foot and the palm of the hand are generally brighter than the rest of the body. The shark can’t see too well, and it may snap at the small flashing thing without realizing that it is taking on more than it intended.’ Omo, who was listening, said: T don’t know why, but the place makes a difference. The sharks at Huahine never hurt anyone, but exactly the same kind of shark in the Tuamotus is a killer.’

‘Perhaps they have plenty to eat in the one place, not much in the other,’ Blake suggested. ‘Or perhaps the Huahine people taught the sharks to be afraid of man, and the Tuamotu islanders didn’t. Captain, what’s your opinion? Are sharks dangerous?’

Captain Ike screwed up his wrinkled face and clamped his teeth on the stem of his pipe.

‘I’ve known sharks for forty years,’ he said, ‘and the better I know ‘em the less I like ‘em. You can’t make friends with a shark. Last time I was in Australia they gave me some figures: sixty-nine people killed by sharks on that coast in thirty years, one hundred and five wounded, two boats sunk, thirteen boats attacked. ‘Fella down there caught one of those hammerheads that some people say are harmless. When he opened it up he found a human skull. Right over here at Ponape, next island to this one, they took a white shark. Its stomach contained a bag of money and the remains of a woman and child.

‘And this mako …’ Captain Ike looked over the rail at the sinister blue-grey form, ‘he’s a mean one! He has teeth as big as shovels and sharp as razors. He’s one of the fastest fish in the sea - and what a jumper! One of

his favourite tricks is to jump fifteen or twenty feet into the air, and come down wham, on a small boat and smash it to kindling.

‘No,’ he concluded, 1 don’t trust sharks. Half of the time they’ll run away from you. It’s the other half of the time you have to worry about.’

The mako still waited. Luncheon was called and everybody went below. When they came back on deck, the shark was still there.

Blake scowled. ‘Perhaps he thinks this is his own special bailiwick. Well, if he won’t move, we will. Captain, let’s try it over behind Tol Island.’

The captain up-anchored and, using the engine only, lazied the schooner eight miles down to the western part of the lagoon. There he dropped anchor in ten fathoms.

There was no sign of the shark. ‘Believe we’ve shaken him off,’ Blake said hopefully. ‘The coral formations look interesting here. Let’s see if we can get some pictures.’

The photographic equipment was brought up and Blake and Hal checked it with care. Hal was an ardent and experienced photographer, but this would be his first try at taking pictures under water.

The cameras were a 35-mm loaded with colour film, a 2£X2£ reflex with black-and-white film, and a 16-mm motion picture camera. Each camera was housed in a watertight aluminium box with bronze fittings and a glass front.

Blake, finishing his work, went to the rail and looked about. He groaned. There, only twenty feet away, floated the mako monster. Its head was turned towards the ship and its beady eyes seemed to be fixed upon Blake. It was like a challenge.

Blake accepted the challenge. ‘All right, old boy, people call you the man-eater. We’ll come in and see if you live up to your name.’

He summoned his. assistants for a conference. ‘Since this big fellow won’t go away, we’ll use him. The Institute has been studying the habits of sharks and we can make a contribution by studying this one. We were discussing the question, Are sharks dangerous? Here’s a good chance to find out. We can test the various methods of protection against a shark. Some divers put their faith in a knife. Others say a knife is no good - that a shark billy is better.’ ‘What’s a shark billy?’ Roger asked. ‘A club - like a policeman’s.’ ‘Would that have any effect on a shark?’ ‘It might - if you bang him on the nose with it. His nose is very sensitive. Some say you can scare a shark by shouting at it. Some believe air bubbles frighten a shark. Some think it’s just a matter of keeping your nerve - that the shark can tell when you’re afraid. Then there’s cupric acetate.’ ‘What’s that?’

‘It’s a shark-repellent. Scientists learned that a shark won’t touch a dead shark that has decayed. So they have taken some of the chemical that forms in decaying shark meat and combined it with a dark nigrosine dye to make small cakes sealed in waterproof envelopes. You attach one to your ankle. When you meet a shark you tear open the envelope and the cake dissolves. If it works as it’s supposed to, the shark will turn up its nose at you and swim away.’

‘I suppose,’ Skink sneered, ‘you plan to stay snug on deck while we go down and risk our lives making these fool experiments.’

MM

‘Don’t worry,’ Blake answered, ‘I’ll make the experiments myself. We must keep a record of the tests, and the best possible record will be a motion picture. I don’t order anybody to risk his life, but if there is someone who feels like volunteering to do the camera work …’

‘That’s for me,’ interjected Hal, fearing that someone might get in a bid before him.

‘Then what do I do?’ complained Roger.

‘I’d rather you’d stay on board,’ Blake said. ‘This is not a game for boys.’

But Roger objected so bitterly to this arrangement that Blake relented. ‘Very well, you can come in, but stay at a safe distance. Keep close to the ship. Have your knife handy and if we need you we’ll signal. Inkham can stay there with you.’

Skink’s jaw dropped. His eyes went to the waiting shark and his face paled. But he tried to put on a bold front.

‘Nothing I’d like better than to take on that shark single-handed. But I’m afraid I’ll have to miss the fun this time. My leg, you know - it’s still so numb I wouldn’t be able to swim. I’ll have to stay on deck.’

Blake nodded. ‘Sorry your leg is bothering you again. It seemed all right when you went down the companionway to lunch.’