Death and The Divide Read Free Page A

into the surf. His hands shook as he adjusted the strap of his sample bag over one shoulder, stunned into shock by the number of large gray bodies. A cursory scan gave him a count of at least fifty, around forty pounds each. He reached the first one, only knee-deep in the salty water. Its tail had been ripped off.
    Bryde’s whales. He’d seen beached whales before, but never ripped apart like these and never in such numbers. Something had attacked them in a mad frenzy. But what?
    Most of the creatures appeared to have bled to death from egregious injuries. Could this have resulted from some strange shark-frenzy behavior? These mammals ate krill, shrimp and small fish that happened into their mouths. They weren’t predators. Generally peaceful and shy, this whale species occasionally swam next to boats out of curiosity, but mostly remained out of sight of man. Such violence was unprecedented.
    “Linc,” his team supervisor called, a man named Jeff. “You have to see this.”
    He left the whale he inspected and waded a little further until waves reached his hips. The body beside Jeff had all of its fins ripped off along with missing chunks of flesh leaving gaping holes.
    “Can you believe this?” Jeff pointed to this whale’s mouth.
    Linc’s stomach dropped. Unbearable. The creature had another whale’s tail in its mouth. Having no teeth, it must have clamped onto it and used brute force to rip it away. Ghastly. He’d never seen anything like it.
    “Impossible,” the supervisor said. “There’s never been a report of whales attacking each other in this manner.”
    “Let’s look at the rest of them.” Linc moved away, his stomach heaving again.
    The story was the same with the others. Many whales still had body parts of others clamped in their mouths even as they’d bled to death themselves from their own injuries. It was monstrous.
    “Let’s get samples of muscle, GI, and brain tissue from each carcass. I’m going to use the bioscanner to record the remains of one, and then we’ll call in the cleanup crew,” he called to his team, many of whom had broken down in tears. As marine biologists, they loved the sea creatures they studied, and this scene devastated them. “Use strict contact precautions. There’s no telling what caused this.”
    After a couple hours, they had collected the specimens they needed. Linc motioned the crew back to their vehicles. They trudged through the sand, stripping off masks and rubber suits. “Take everything back to the lab and secure it in the containment pod. I don’t want any accidents.”
    The orange sphere of evening sun touched the water to the west, casting purple and pink stripes across the clouds. His shoulders ached from the long day, and he rotated his arms in a circle. They’d begin the investigation tomorrow. For now, he and his team needed to rest and recover from this nightmare.
    “Hey, boss?” One of his group, named Celia, trotted across the sand to his side. Her cheeks were stained pink from a day in the sun, and her eyes rimmed red from crying.
    “Yes, what do you need, Cece?” He paused so she could catch up.
    “I was thinking, doesn’t this sound similar to what happened to the gulls in Florida, and those dolphins in Texas?”
    He frowned. “I read about that yesterday. Something about a bunch of them attacking each other and dying, right?”
    She nodded. “I know it’d be odd for gull deaths to be related to whales, but stranger things have happened. Maybe we should consider the cases might be linked.”
    “You’re right,” he said. “Good thinking. Tomorrow I’ll look up who is in charge of those investigations and hopefully we can collaborate on our findings.”
    She managed a half smile. “Okay. Good. Thanks.”
    “Go get some sleep.” He patted her on the back.
    “Jeff, make sure those specimens are secure before you leave,” he called.
    “Will do, boss,” Jeff said with a waved salute.
    He’d go with them, but he had a