Placeholder for a whale's itch

2022

Working group; surface, text, speech acts, ruDALL-E, muzak

Variable Size

The disruption was traced to a point in the Arabian Sea between the ports of Karachi and Gwadar.

The soundings at the fault were very irregular, with overfalls from 30 to 70 fathoms. On winding the cable unusual resistance was experienced, as if it were foul of rock.

After grappling the cable and picking up a short length towards the fault, it became evident, from the increased strain, that the cable had fouled something on the bottom, as the deck-engine, unassisted, was quite unable to bring the cable in; but on hauling it from all points of the compass the obstruction appeared suddenly to give way; and an immense whale was observed to be entangled in the cable by two and a half turns of the cable immediately above the tail. The tail, which measured fully 12 ft. across, was covered with barnacles at the extremities.

Many of the outer wires of the cable were broken and twisted; and the conductor of the cable was broken. The cable had evidently been hanging some distance in a bight over a sudden depression in the bottom, and it was surmised that the whale, at the time of entanglement, had been using the cable to scratch an itch caused by the barnacles, and probably with a flip of its tail, got trapped within it.

The cable for more than fifty or sixty yards in each direction from the fault was perfectly bright, but not worn, presenting the appearance of having been constantly rubbed against some soft substance.