A Whale Speaks(Radrook) Today I will dive deep to find my prey, the beast humans call the giant squid, who dwells in the silent depths of the ocean's darkness below. I will seek to locate its delicious, tender mollusk body. Will track it as it plunges ever deeper into the abysmal darkness to escape.

But it will not be easy. Many a time I have struggled. Many a time I have come close to death, when it has been large and strong enough to fight back. I bear the scars of its barbed arms and tentacles and of its large black beak which tears and slices. I have been reminded of its ability to breathe beneath the surface, an ability I do not possess. Of the danger of suffocating. I must be swift and deadly. I must grasp and crush its cranium with my jaws and destroy its ability to fight back.

I am diving. The sunlit ocean surface is now far above. Darker and darker my surroundings become, and colder and colder, until there is only a steady cold blackness, but my sonar will guide me. I constantly scan the depths directly below and around me. The pressure against my body is increasing but I know how far not to go.

There! In the near distance, an animal has moved. But it is just another cetacean rising from the depths. I must plunge deeper if I am to find the squid. I continue to descend with thrusts of my tail. Many creatures are suddenly appearing, flashing their lights all around me. Some hover and swirl, others quickly flit away in fear. They are the stars of this eternal night. I must not become distracted.

Once more I am sensing movement. But this time it is the familiar tentacular movement of a squid swimming below. It senses me and darts to the right then plunges deeper. I must snatch it quickly before it travels beyond my reach. I am matching its every narrow twist and turn until it lies just directly ahead. It is a large one this time, what humans call a Colossal Squid, the same length as our females, but not as massive. I must be quick. Much deeper and I will perish from the great pressure. Too long in a struggle down here, and I might suffocate.

As always, it uses a cloud of dark liquid to confuse me. My eyes are blinded by it, but my sonar still gives me its location. I twist my body to create a suction and finally, with one last surge, I have one of its tentacles between my jaws. It is fighting back frantically, wrapping itself around me, and inflicting painful wounds with its barbed tentacles and its beak. But I am bigger. I am much stronger, and the thick blubber under my skin protects me. I have its bulbous head between my jaws and am crushing its skull. Slowly its movements are becoming weaker until finally, it is totally still.

It has been almost a human hour without breathing, and I must surface quickly without releasing the prey. With a powerful thrashing of my tail, I raise my head towards the surface and begin to ascend. It seems as if forever before a glimmer of sunlight finally reaches my eyes. My lungs are screaming for air. I must hurry. With last effort of my tired body, I crash into the shimmering sunlight. I try to release the stale air from lungs, but I cannot. Although the squid is dead, part its tentacle prevents me from breathing. I am suffocating. I dive then surface, and slam my body against the water again trying to dislodge it, but it, remains firmly stuck.

I begin to feel the steady approach of a dreadful darkness, not the familiar darkness of the depths, but darkness from which I can never hope to escape. It frightens me. I must avoid it as a mortal enemy. I feel my muscles tense into instinctive action at its approach. Once more I crash through the surface into the sunlight and shake my massive body. The tentacle's barbs rip and slice my flesh. But now the tentacle is flung aside, and i am at last able to breathe.

For a moment, I stay still on the surface, exhausted and breathing deeply. Then, I suddenly see that I have not been alone. There, close by, is a small floating vessel. A group of humans has been watching my furious struggle. They had all been shouting and cheering. Not aware that I had been in mortal danger. No, I will not flee in fear this time. These are not the kind of humans who will attack me. I have come to learn that. The vessel is different from those others, and so are they.

They are slowly pulling up beside me and are beginning to touch my skin with their hands. It is pleasant to be among them. Yes, they aim things at me, but they are not weapons and there is no pain nor blood like the blood my mother spilled and the pain that she suffered when she was harpooned.

I enjoy their friendly gestures, but now, I must retrieve what I had just hunted. I must find and snatch and eat it before the others, which the humans call Orcas, arrive. Although kindred, they will see me as prey and will try to rip out my tongue to eat it.

I am getting closer. The squid I just hunted is floating but a short distance away. Many white birds are picking at its flesh, the ones humans call seagulls, but they will all scatter once I get near. The water brings me the taste and smell of this meal. But before I can snatch it, I hear the familiar clicking of Orcas from east. There are seven of them. Yes, I am a Bull Sperm Whale, bigger and heavier than any orca, but I cannot fight them all.

I must not let myself be injured or eaten. My hunger will have to wait. I am now leaving to join others of my kind who are traveling north. I will dive too deep for the orcas to follow and hunt again later when it is safe.
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How whales attack squid.
www.livescience.com/7297-whales-attack-squid-mystery-deepens.html

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