Dinner Time
The squid first realized something was wrong when she heard the clicking of the whale’s sonar. She flapped her fins and darted down towards the bottom, flashing her arm photophores as she went. With luck, that might confuse the whale. Not that it would do much good since the whale wasn’t using eyes as its main hunting tool.
She looked ahead, trying to spot the hydrothermal vents she could smell. They must be near: she could smell the hydrocarbons and other strange chemicals the vents were spewing into the water. Up ahead she fancied she could see a faint reddish glow. If she could just get down there it would be safer.
Behind she could hear the whale clicking.
Beneath her she suddenly saw bottom in the next flash of her photophores. It was barren, and there was nowhere for her to hide. But to her left, yes there it was! The dim red glow of a hot vent.
The whale was closer now: the clicks were almost paralyzing in intensity, and why it hadn’t already grabbed her she did not know. She didn’t stop to think about that, but continued full speed towards the hot vent.
She flashed her photophores again and there they were ahead, rising tall into the darkness. Black plumes of superheated water rose from twisted and lopsided spires that loomed many of her body lengths above, tube worms at their feet. The two largest spires loomed threateningly on either side as she darted between them and downwards among the delicate pipes of the tube worms.
There wasn’t much space, but there was even less space for the whale. It did not dare come so close to the hot and poisonous water climbing from the great spires. The whale’s clicking took on a strange quality that might mean disgust, but she couldn’t tell for certain. What did she know of whales? Save that they were deadly and used clicking to find their prey, nothing at all. After a tense minute or two, the whale left, and the clicking receded into the distance. The squid’s photophores rippled gently on and off with relief.
She looked around. There were crabs, mussels, and even a few fish swimming by. Now that she was no longer in danger of being dinner, she might as well go catch dinner of her own.