The Encounter

Captain Balone was standing on the bridge when the black box warning light lit and the buzzer sounded. Automatically he looked at his watch; 8:17 AM he noted. He picked up the intercom mike, raised it to his lips, and depressed the button:

"This is Captain Balone, the action signal has been received. Repeat, the action signal has been received."

All hands stopped when they heard the Captain's words. It was time for the ship to swing into action.

Josh practically flew to the bridge, arriving only moments after the Captain had set down the microphone. The warning buzzer was still sounding as he entered.

Seeing Josh, the Captain asked, "What took you so long?" He reached over and reset the black box. The flashing and buzzing stopped. Both men stood staring at the now still box. The plan called for the plant aboard the Peder ARRSETT to signal when whales were sighted and then signal again as the hunt began. Rainbow Savior was to take no action until the second signal was received. Captain Balone looked at his watch, 8:22 AM. It had been 5 minutes since the first signal. Josh was tempted to press the self test button, but he didn't. Like Captain Balone, he stood and stared.

Elsewhere on the ship, crew members were busying themselves preparing for the launch. The Zodiac crews were in position with their life preservers on, waiting for the word. The launch crew had energized the hydraulic system and slowly the rear launching ramp doors opened. The Zodiac crews stood at the top of the ramp staring at the ocean and the wake of Rainbow Savior. Once fully opened, the launch crew secured the doors against the launching ramp walls and took up position next to the Zodiacs.

The camera crews also came to life, beginning their documentation of the events. Two film men were recording pre-launch preparations, while the main camera operators stood by their cameras behind the false deck panels, feeding test pattern signals into the radio room where final adjustments were being made to record and transmit the activities as they unfolded to Greenpeace in Boston.

On board Peder ARRSETT, Captain Unset was staring through his binoculars at the blows ahead of the boat. After studying them for several minutes, he agreed with Knut, they were the blows of Humpbacks. The Captain gave the order to stalk the whales. The helmsman increased speed and turned the boat to catch up with the whales. Captain Unset turned to Knut, placing his left hand on his right shoulder he shook Knut's hand and said, "Good shooting, my friend."

"Thank you, Captain. My first shot will be for your father." Knut turned and went forward to the cannon.

Unset walked out onto the bridge deck and raising his binoculars to his eyes, scanned the horizon all around the boat. There were no signs of any other boats. He was pleased with himself, he felt confident that they could proceed without any interference. Now I can concentrate on the hunt, he thought. He went back inside the bridge and asked the helmsmen to step aside. Captain Unset was going to be at the helm when the first harpoon was fired.

Looking ahead, he estimated they were two miles from the whales. At this speed we will be upon them in 15-20 minutes he reasoned. There was a smile on his face.

The black box on the bridge of Rainbow Savior lit up and buzzed again, signaling the Peder ARRSETT was in pursuit. Josh nodded to the Captain and picked up the microphone:

"Second action signal received. Launch the Zodiacs."

He didn't repeat the order. He knew it wasn't necessary, for as soon as he issued it, the helmsman began slowing Rainbow Savior to Zodiac launch speed. As they slowed, the chase crews (two volunteers to a boat) jumped in. The specially prepared 75 hp outboards were started out of the water and the Zodiacs were quickly pushed on their dollies to the ramp. Hitting the flat leading edge ramp bumper, the dolly stopped while the Zodiacs were propelled off by the sudden stop and rode on the ramp rollers into the ocean. Regaining his balance after entering the water, the driver pressed the tilt lock allowing the motor to tilt down into the ocean so the engine could suck up the precious cooling water. The timing of this operation was crucial, for the entire time the motors were running out of the water they were not being cooled and the rubber water pump impellers were running dry. If left to continue running for more than five minutes, the rubber impeller would begin to deteriorate, eventually rendering them useless, and causing the engines to overheat. As two boats reached the launching ramp, the next two boats started their engines and the process was repeated.

Soon all Zodiacs were in the water. Although all were basically identical in design, two were silver, two were bright orange, and two were black. The two crew members in each boat also wore life vests color-coded to the boats. The color coding was Josh's idea. It denoted the Zodiacs function and made it easy to observe from the bridge of the Rainbow Savior. The silver boats were to run interference on the starboard bow of the whaler while the orange boats were to handle the port side. Although the boats were to be off the bow of the boat, they were to try not to cross an imaginary line directly in front of the boat separating the port from starboard sides. The two black boats were safety boats, one assigned to the starboard side, the other the port. They were to come to the aid of the other Zodiacs should they require assistance.

The six Zodiacs grouped off the starboard side of Rainbow Savior, and after a quick check of each, George Montclair looked at his compass, took a bearing and signaled the others to accelerate. The other five followed his lead. Josh, watching the Zodiacs speed away, opened the door at the back of the bridge and told the radio man to signal Greenpeace Boston that "Operation Rescue" had begun. The operator immediately began the transmission. There was no code or secret signal used. There was no need for secrecy any longer. Within minutes the Peder ARRSETT. would be surrounded by buzzing Zodiacs.

Stepping back onto the bridge, Josh saw Captain Balone had just confirmed the aft launch ramp doors were closed and locked. He signaled the engine room he was going to start the turbines. Getting an okay signal back, he pressed the start button on turbine #1. The control panel lit and the RPM indicator showed the engine started. He pressed the start button on turbine #2. Both engines were soon up to speed. Picking up the intercom microphone and depressing the switch, he announced to the crew:

"This is Captain Balone. Both turbines are now running, please prepare for speed run in 10 seconds."

He started the countdown:

"10, 9, 8................3, 2, 1"

Slowly he moved the throttle handles forward. The two TF 40 turbines revved up. Soon each was producing 4000 hp at 45,000 rpm. Rainbow Savior shook as she was lifted out of the water as 8000 lbs. of turbine power pushed her forward at a speed of 25 knots, 10 knots faster then the theoretical speed of the large displacement hull. The standard engines, twin 600 hp diesels, were still running but they were totally ineffective with the turbines propelling the craft at this speed. Captain Balone studied the fuel consumption gauges on the console next to him. The two engines were gobbling the special JP 4 fuel at 100 lbs. a minute. By design this modification to Rainbow Savior was to give it 20 minutes at 25 knots. A quick mental calculation confirmed they would just about make 20 minutes.

Peder ARRSETT was closing on the whales. The large Humpback heard the boat behind but was unconcerned with the sound. For years many boats had approached them, but they never caused the whales any harm. In reality the whales had gotten accustomed to boats. They often came close, particularly in southern waters where the whales would broach or tail slap around them. But the boats eventually went away after a brief encounter, and the whales would continue their normal routine.

On the bow of Peder ARRSETT, stood Knut Handsen, hands fixed to the harpoon cannon. He was studying the whales. I will kill the calves first, he said to himself. Then the mothers will stay and I will take them. If the bulls stay to help, I will take them next. His hands tightened around the cannon, he kept wiggling his fingers. Soon the time will come. I must not rush, he told himself. He turned to look at the bridge and saw the Captain at the helm. He signaled him to move closer. The Captain understood. This will be a good day, he said to himself, as he bent to look through the sight again.

The lead whale suddenly became aware of another sound, different from that of the ship. A high pitched sound. Then many of them. These sounds confused the leader. He had heard them before, but he was unable to recall............

Knut was turning the cannon a little to the right, his index finger on the trigger. The calf on the right, he thought. His brain was about to tell his finger to contract when he saw the silver Zodiac come in front of his sight. He looked up. There were two of them, no four.

Captain Unset saw them too. He was startled. "Where did they come from?" he asked aloud. "There are no boats around. helmsman take the wheel," he yelled, and he stepped out onto the bridge deck. He counted one, two ......six Zodiacs. "The're all around the boat," he yelled. Then turning to look aft he saw the Rainbow Savior bearing down on them. Looking through his binoculars he saw the rainbow painted on her bow. He yelled, "The rainbow, .......the fuckin' rainbow!"

It was like a red matador's cape to a bull. It infuriated the Captain.

As he turned to the bridge Knut Handsen was standing next to him. "What do you want to do, Captain?" he asked.

"Kill whales," he yelled. "There are no witnesses, aim for the whales. If a Zodiac gets in the way, it's their fault. Now go down there and shoot a whale. Do you understand?"

"Yes Captain, I do." Knut smiled and ran to the foredeck.

"Arvid, Arvid," yelled the Captain.

"Yes sir," replied the first mate. "Get those fire hoses out immediately," he ordered. "And Arvid, you are personally to take charge of the fire hose detail. I want those Zodiacs flooded, do you understand? Flood those boats!"

Arvid answered with a simple "Yes sir," and was off.

Captain Unset was really pissed at himself for not having those hoses ready. He had been too complacent. He should have known those rainbow fairies would try to interfere.

Rainbow Savior was now within half a mile of Peder ARRSETT. Captain Balone pulled back the throttles on the two turbines and the Savior settled back into the water. He pushed the throttles on the two large diesels forward and when satisfied that they were now propelling the boat he pressed the kill switches on the two TF 40's. Reaching for the microphone, he announced to the crew:

"This is Captain Balone, we are now back on diesel power. Resume your normal tasks."

As he returned the microphone to its holder, he thought, that was a stupid expression, normal tasks. Here we are in the North Atlantic chasing a whaler, Zodiacs between the whaler and the whales, a mad Captain and harpooner, and I say normal tasks. He shook his head.

Josh could see the harpooner standing behind the cannon. The whales were in front of the vessel, and between the two, the four Zodiacs. He also noticed considerable activity on the foredeck. Crew men were scurrying all around. I wondered what they are up to. He called Captain Balone to the bridge deck and handed him his binoculars. "Look at all the activity on the foredeck. What do you think they are up to Captain?"

He took the binoculars and carefully scanned the whaler. Clearly something was happening, but he just couldn't make it out. "I'm not sure," he replied, "But clearly there is an awful lot of unusual activity." Both men stood watching while the cameras kept rolling.

The calves and mother whales were beginning to get nervous. Rather than separating, which would have been the correct thing to do in this situation, the whales grouped closer together, a standard reaction when threatened. The leader encouraged them all to swim faster and they increased their leisurely pace from 2-3 knots to 4-5, the fastest the calves could swim.

The lead whale was now concerned. He wasn't sure why, but that buzzing noise reminded him of something bad. He kept calling to the pod to "swim,..... swim,..... swim," he ordered them.

In the Zodiacs George was keeping his boat between a calf and the whaler. He knew that their strategy would be to harpoon the two calves first, which would halt the pod. Then as the adult whales stayed to help the wounded calves, the real slaughter would begin. Holding his position, he saw the whales begin to group tighter and swim faster. Now they realize the danger, he thought. If only they would scatter! Looking over his shoulder, he saw the cannon aimed right at him.

Arvid was ready. He looked up and signaled. The Captain called the engine room on the intercom, and told the engineer to turn on the high pressure pumps.

"Aye Aye Captain," came the reply and the engineer flipped the switch turning on the high capacity pump which had been specially installed. The large 300 hp electric motor came on and drew so much current from the ships electrical systems that all the lights throughout the ship dimmed.

On deck the special fire hose became rigid as 1,500 gallons of sea water traveled through the hose every minute. Arvid and deckhand Franz attempted to maintain control of the serpentine monster as it tried to whip around the deck. Water sprayed into the air, Franz slipped on the deck landing on one knee. But together they were finally able to gain control of the hose, and Arvid looked for a target. He saw an orange Zodiac off the port side of the bow. "There Franz, the second orange boat. Follow me." Franz held the hose steady so Arvid could aim.

Pointing the nozzle towards the Zodiac, Arvid moved the spray from behind the little orange boat towards it. As the spray approached the boat, Captain Unset watched with a grin on his face.

Peter Ashley had his left hand on the throttle of the 75 hp outboard and his right hand on a safety line which he had double wrapped around his palm. Sam Regal sitting in front of the Zodiac was holding on to another safety line with one hand while pointing with the other in an attempt to help Peter guide the boat. Neither of them heard or saw the water coming.

The full intensity of the spray hit Sam first, knocking him totally off balance. He lost his grip on the line and was knocked out of the boat into the frigid Atlantic water. The time between the water hitting Peter and Sam was a mere instant in time, however with two hands holding to the boat Peter did not get knocked overboard. The water hit with such force that unable to breathe Peter’s reflexes turned and throttled back the boat. The little Zodiac, full of water, wallowed as the engine sputtered and fought to keep running.

When Peter stopped, so did the water. He turned and saw Sam already clinging to the black rescue Zodiac. Knowing he was all right, Peter looked ahead and saw the spray approaching the other orange boat. He gunned the 75 hp engine. The Zodiac attempted to come to life. As the little boat moved forward, the water inside moved backwards towards the transom, almost swamping it. But as the water moved back Peter fed the engine more fuel and the Zodiac moved forward. As the water inside the boat flowed out over the transom, the Zodiac began to again move, faster and faster.

Peter saw the water spray approaching the other orange Zodiac. He leaned forward, the Zodiac accelerated even more. I've got to warn them, he thought.

Arvid was about to spray the second orange Zodiac when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other orange boat quickly approaching again. Shifting his concentration, he decided to eliminate it before attempting to stop the second Zodiac. He quickly again directed the high pressure spray at Peter.

Peter was so intent on warning the others it never dawned on him that he might be the victim again. When the water hit him and his boat, he was running wide open. The cascade of water hit the front of the boat first, driving it under. The screaming motor continued to push the boat. The immense pressure caused the Zodiac to flip nose first into the water. Peter was thrown forward, sailing clear of the boat, tumbling through the air at 35 miles an hour. When he hit the water his body was tense and stiff. As soon as he heard the cracking noises, Peter knew they were the sound of his bones.

Zodiac #1 now lay upside down in the water, its motor and crew silenced.

Josh and Captain Balone saw the water incident. "My God," exclaimed Josh, "do they understand that they may be killing people."

"I think they know," answered the Captain. Josh flew out of the bridge and rushing to the camera deck he asked the camera men. "Are you getting all of this?"

"Yes," they replied. "Good, keep shooting. I'm going to begin transmitting to Boston." He hurried into the radio room. "Start transmitting all the tape," he ordered. "Then I want you to go to real time transmission. OK?"

"Yes sir," replied the radio operator. Josh turned and walked forward.

Returning to the Captain's side, he looked over at the Peder ARRSETH.

Meanwhile, Captain Unset was pleased. He saw Arvid glancing at him and he gave him the high sign. Arvid smiled and turned his concentration back to the second orange Zodiac.

Tim Balone, Captain Balone's son, was steering Zodiac #2. He and Lisa Parker were still unaware of the fate of Zodiac #1. George Montclair happened to be glancing around, scanning the other Zodiacs when he saw the water spray hit #2. Tim and Lisa were luckier than Peter. The spray didn't hit them directly but caught the front right side of the Zodiac as it was riding up a wave. It drove the bow of the little boat towards the left, knocking Tim off balance. He fell, allowing the engine to turn to the left. The accentuated motion threw the Zodiac into an extreme left-hand turn causing it to swamp. The motor stopped, flooded with water.

Seeing this action George reached down next to him in the Zodiac and picked up a small hand held compressed air-powered horn. Holding it over his head, he depressed the button. The resulting ear piercing noise attracted the attention of the other Zodiac driver and George pointed to the bow of the whaler. The other driver, Allen Arkin, saw the water hose and got the message. George started swerving the Zodiac erratically. Allen followed his lead.

The whales were aware of the commotion behind them. They tightened even closer. The leader kept telling them to "swim.... swim..... swim." The calves were getting tired, they were now making less than 5 knots.

Captain Unset was pleased with the high pressure hose. It was a special modification he had installed just in case they encountered the Zodiacs. He and his father had discussed the Greenpeacers and their Zodiac tactics many times. Water hoses had been used with limited success in the past on Greenpeacers, but never with this much pump pressure. It was he, Captain Unset, who had thought of the idea of flooding them with this much water pressure. Clearly it worked.

Noticing the whales were beginning to slow, he told the helmsman to hold her steady. He left the bridge and quickly moved to the foredeck. He placed his hand on Arvid's shoulder and, yelling into his ear to overcome the sound of the water, said, "I'm going to tell Knut to fire when ready, you just keep those fuckin' Zodiacs out of his way. OK?"

"Yes. Yes." replied Arvid.

The Captain patted his shoulder and walked towards Knut. "The whales are slowing, Arvid will keep the Zodiacs out of the way so shoot when you are ready. Understand, my friend."

Knut nodded. The Captain turned and rushed to the bridge. As he entered he heard the radio blaring:

"Peder ARRSETT, this is the Rainbow Savior, over."

He picked up the microphone:

"What do you want, Rainbow."

Captain Balone responded:

"We are an international conservation group, we request that you stop hunting harmless whales, over."

Unset answered back:

"I am in international waters and I am hunting in accordance with international law. I suggest you recall your Zodiacs. They are violating my international rights."

Captain Unset reached up and with the transmit switch depressed, he held the microphone next to the power switch, "Click." He turned off the radio.

Josh looked at Captain Balone. Hearing the click and having the transmission stop, they knew Unset had turned the radio off.

Captain Balone said, "I'm going to launch two more rescue boats and then I'm taking Rainbow Savior closer." Josh nodded in agreement. The Captain picked up the intercom mike:

"This is Captain Balone, we have two capsized Zodiacs. Launch two more rescue boats. Repeat, launch the additional rescue boats."

The deck crew swung into action. The rear launch doors had been opened as soon as the turbines were shut off, in preparation for the Zodiac recovery or in case there was the need for additional rescue boats. So it was only a matter of seconds from the time the order was given until the large rescue Zodiac’s were in the water. The buzzer sounded on the Captain's console. He picked up the receiver. "This is the Captain" he said into the mouthpiece. There were a few moments of silence as the Captain listened. Then he replied, "Thank you, John. The lookouts will guide them to the overturned Zodiacs. We'll come back to pick them up." He hung up the receiver.

Turning to Josh he informed him, "The other rescue boats are in the water, now let's go get us a whaler." Turning to the helmsman he asked, "Well Pete, did you ever play chicken when you were a kid?"

Pete looked at him, a little puzzled initially, but when he saw the Captain smile he knew what he meant. He replied in the best innocent voice he could, "Now sir I'm a simple city boy from New York. We didn't do those things there, but, well sir I'll do my best, to scare the living shit out of the SOB." His concentration then took on a heightened intensity.

"OK, then, let's go see what he's made of", replied the Captain.

Josh was just coming out of the radio room when he heard the Captain say, "Take her in close Pete," and he saw Pete move the throttles for the twin diesels up as he turned the wheel to the right.

The pod was slowing. The best the calves could now do was three knots. The chase had lasted thirty minutes and the calves were tiring rapidly. The leader could sense how close the boats were. He was unable to recall the events but he knew this was bad. He was pushing the group to "swim... swim... swim."

They grouped even tighter.

Knut's finger was on the cannon's trigger. Through the sight he could see the small calf, then the silver Zodiac, then the calf. His brain told his finger to fire. The index finger responded, pulling the trigger. "Boom" sounded the cannon. The explosive charged harpoon flew through the air. But didn't fly straight. It missed the juvenile but squarely caught its mother forward of her dorsal fin. As the projectile hit its mark and penetrated the skin, it exploded. To the animals in the water the sound was deafening. George Montclair was immediately behind the female whale as the harpoon struck. He was covered with water, animal tissue and blood.

The female whale screamed. Her calf screamed with her. The screaming of the female woke the leader's memory. It all came back. He remembered. He remembered and he ordered the others to dive. He screamed as he led them down. The whaler slowed and pulled the critically injured female to a stop. She was screaming. Her crying calf at her side. As he led the pod down, the leader's mind took him back years ago to a similar situation. He remembered his mother and sister's screams as they died from the whaler's harpoon. He heard their cries just like he was hearing today. He led the group deeper.

Knut had reloaded. George was dumbfounded. He had expected them to fire but when they did he was still surprised. His reactions were slow as he stood in the Zodiac watching the struggling female. Then he remembered the calf. He looked towards the bow of the whaler. There was Knut at the gun, taking aim again. He hit the throttle, and the Zodiac accelerated to get between the calf and the gun. Just as he got into position Knut pulled the trigger and for the second time that day, the cannon sounded. This time the harpoon traveled true, and, passing inches from George, found its mark. The calf let out an anguished scream as the harpoon penetrated its body and exploded inside its skin. Unlike its mother, the calf was lucky. It gave out a final anguished scream. A scream of death. It stopped swimming.

The sounds were too much for the bull. He turned and swam upwards towards the boat. George, seeing the dead calf and dying mother, realized that they had failed in their mission and called off the other Zodiacs, signaling them to return to Rainbow Savior. As they turned towards their ship, George maneuvered his Zodiac along the right side of the bow of the whaler to take one last look at the death in front of him. He hesitated and turned to Audrey in the front of the Zodiac saying in a disgusted tone, "We failed, let’s go back." Audrey totally overwhelmed by the events couldn't answer, tears were running down her face as she watched the agony of the dying whale.

Those were to be George's last words. Under the Zodiac was sixty tons of whale charging the whaler. The Zodiac was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Surfacing directly beneath the Zodiac came the whale, its head slamming the small rubber boat and its occupants against the hull of the whaler. The 150-ton steel whaler shuddered from the impact. Crew and equipment went flying. The whale withdrew. Swimming under his dying mate, the whale again dove into the depths.

On board the Rainbow Savior the crew stood in shock. Josh, Captain Balone and Pete were looking directly at the silver Zodiac when it was hit. There was no warning. There was nothing left. The only evidence of the Zodiac were pieces of fabric stuck to the damaged hull and life preservers. But no bodies. They had been crushed and slipped from the preservers. Pete pulled back the throttles.

The whale turned once more, heading straight for the ship. Again sixty plus tons of angry beast struck the ship. This time it again struck the starboard side just aft of midship. Again the ship shuddered. Captain Unset was knocked to the floor. The impact snapped the connection of the high pressure water line in the engine room and 1,500 gallons of water per minute started pouring into the ship. Luckily, when it broke the chief engineer was next to the on/off switch and was able to turn the pump off almost immediately, but not before the water flooded diesel #2 and took out the main generator.

The large whale headed straight down. Hearing the final agonizing cries of its mate, he turned and again raced for the whaler. For the third time it struck without warning. The ship shuddered, metal plates began to buckle and welded seams began to leak. Peder ARRSETT could not take much more of this abuse. Captain Undset yelled to Knut, "Cut the harpooned whales free." When he hesitated, the Captain yelled again. Arvid, understanding the Captain's reasoning, picked up a fire ax and running towards the harpoon cannon raised the axe over his head. He slammed it down onto the first rope holding the dead calf to the ship. He raised the ax a second time and the mother was free.

The two dead whales slowly sank into the depths of the Atlantic. With them swam the leader.

On board Rainbow Savior, a cetologist, had been listening to the sounds beneath the Atlantic through the underwater hydrophone. In twenty years of studying Humpback Whale sounds, he had never heard anything like these before. He decided to record these sounds. He pressed 'record' on his small tape recorder.

The lead whale did not return. Rainbow Savior picked up its wounded. Peter had a broken shoulder, right arm and two broken legs. Lisa a broken wrist. But there were no signs of George or Audrey. Just two bloody life preservers. They were carefully retrieved.

Captain Undset ordered all emergency pumps on, while the crew frantically worked at fixing the leaks. Turning his vessel, they slowly headed to port.