New York

Peter Smith started his newscast:

"Good Evening. Today the navies of the world are united in their search for the whale, now code named BIG SLEUTH. While they searched, two teams of scientists on both sides of the Atlantic await his sighting, prepared to spring into action to intercept the mammoth animal and as unbelievable as this sounds, hold a conversation with him."

He paused, waited for a moment and then continued:

"The job of these scientists, as unbelievable as it is, is to communicate with this leviathan from the sea using the technology developed by Dave Richardson and Claire Snyder. If this technology works, and there are those who truly doubt its feasibility, but if it does, then their job is to persuade the animals to stop these attacks."

He paused again:

"The question that faces us today, is what happens to these brave men and women if the technology doesn't work? Or for that matter, what if it does work but they are unable to convince this rogue animal to peacefully end this situation. Clearly their lives are on the line facing this whale unprotected in a small, 24-foot inflatable boat."

They then showed an artist's rendering of the inflatable next to a whale to give the audience some concept of the size difference. Smith added:

"And remember, the fully loaded inflatable with its occupants and equipment weighs under 3000 lbs. The whale they are searching for estimated to be in excess of 60 tons. They are no match for this animal."

Again he paused for his viewers to absorb the information before he continued:

"While the navies search the seas, it appears the whales may be hiding in our rivers and bays. There were more reports today of whales in inland waters attacking small boats or exposed marinas. In the US, San Francisco Bay saw an invasion of Gray Whales attack sailboats taking part in a regatta. Three boats are reported sunk and five others damaged. There are no reports of injuries or loss of life yet, but we must inform you that a number of sailors are unaccounted for and the search for them is currently in process.”

“It’s also reported that attacks took place in remote areas of Australia and South America as well, but details are still sketchy as to what occurred. We hope to bring you first-hand accounts later in the broadcast."

Smith continued with the news, giving reports from Washington on Operation SLUETH. With experts he discussed how NATO was trying to locate the whale and exactly what the intercept teams would do. They showed actual pictures of the intercept boats and the names of the team members.

They discussed the whale sighted off Scotland and the efforts undertaken that finally determined the suspect animal was not BIG SLEUTH.

Then the subject of weather was brought up and how it was hampering search efforts in the western Atlantic. Meteorologists discussed the weather forecast for the search area and how it might hamper the efforts.

They switched to Carol Johnson in New York's Grand Central Station where she interviewed Jack Cartwright, who was selling BIG SLEUTH T-shirts to evening commuters. Cartwright explained to Johnson that business was booming. Holding up the T-shirt for the cameras, it showed on the front a large whale sinking a sailboat. The words read, "BIG SLUETH Controls the Sea." On the back it said, "Capt. Ahab, where are you when we need you?" Peter could only laugh.

Smith closed the report by saying, "And tomorrow we will have the critics review of BIG SLEUTH, the movie." However, after reflecting on his impromptu comment he regretted saying it.