SOLAR & The Specialists
The End of Billie the Blue Whale

THE MARINA HIGHBAY BOAT

The Ship Owned Marine Biological Research Center Off the Coast of Indonesia

Theo stretched his hand down as far as possible to insert a sample of seawater into his small tube. For the past two years he has been with the Australian Marine Conservation Association (AMCA), a non-profit organisation of marine researchers based in Brisbane, Australia.

A month later he was sent back to his country to research marine life in conservation areas. His studies centered on the microbes that inhabit the surface of the ocean. Sometimes he also had to dive to get a sample of microbes swallowed by small fish. A Ph.D.'s degree and tens of thousands of dollars a month in his parents' company didn't make Theo lose curiosity about what was happening at sea. That is what made him agree to his Professor's invitation to join AMCA without a second thought.

The smallness of the microbes that he often examines, making Theo accustomed to looking down on the ocular lens of his microscope, at least that's what people often see if they are looking for Theo. Between Theo being on a boat in the middle of the sea, or being in his laboratory, researching microbes.

Actually Theo has a tall body that is sturdy like his sister, Christian. But the amount of time he spent at sea and looking at microbes through a microscope made his body more like a starving fisherman. Tall, skinny, browned from sunburn, and wrinkled-faced. Christian considers him a stranger because often when Theo returns home, he does not recognize his own family. Only Selena still thinks he exists and often hangs out with him when he is on leave.

"Radio check, radio check, radio check, Marina Highbay!"

VHF radio hissed briefly before Adam's voice, his lab co-worker, was heard. Theo. He knew if Adam said 'Radio Check' meant there was news that would be upsetting if delivered. If Adam started with 'May Day' then there is more news that is not important to be heard by him. Though actually 'Radio Check' is used to test whether Radio VHF is working or not, while 'May Day' is used for emergency messages if in danger.

Not many surprising things happen if working in the marine field like Theo. The only thing that could surprise him and react is if any of the ships spilling oil pollute the sea. So whatever Adam will say through the VHF certainly aims to disturb his calm.

"It's real, Theo! You hear that?" Adam tried to get Theo's attention again. The existence of Adam himself was honestly quite frustrating for Theo.

With a sigh, Theo stopped his activities at the stern of the ship and headed towards the bridge, where the VHF Radio was mounted on the steering wheel of his ship.

"Here Marina Highbay, over." In front of the mic.

"Go back to the beach! There's something you should see. Replace."

"What exactly should I see? Replace." Inevitably Theo began to suspect Adam's ignorant plans that often tricked him to go all the way back to the beach while he was in the middle of research assignments.

"Billie was stranded last night."

Theo choked on his own saliva upon hearing the name Billie, the only blue whale Adam recorded last April in waters near Perth.

She's only two years old, and now found stranded?

Is it still alive?

"I'll send you the coordinates. I'm on my way there with the Professor. I heard they've put up a police line. Replace." Adam's next words left him pensive for a few seconds. If there's a cop involved then there's little chance Billie's still alive. Theo began to worry about the condition of his partner who must have been shaken. But from the tone of his voice, Adam seemed quite tough to deal with this situation.

"All right, I'll be right there. Replace." Sahut Theo.

The journey to the coordinates that Adam meant took about an hour and a half. But Theo rushes his ship as fast as possible to get there within fifty minutes. Once he landed, he jumped off the ship and ran into a crowd of people who were increasingly circling the blue whale carcass of ten meters long and weighing three and a half tons.

He crossed a line that was heavily guarded by police so that no curious residents would interfere with the investigators' performance to solve the case. Not to mention some local journalists are doing a live broadcast about the discovery of an unidentified corpse in the belly of a blue whale. Theo shows the ID Card and appoints his colleagues and professors who arrived first. The police on guard nodded allowing him to approach.

"What's going on?" Ask.

"Who are you?" Voni, a forensic doctor from the big city Hospital, came here with his team on a helicopter belonging to SAR. He was still wearing rubber gloves covered in blood.

"It's Theodore. He's one of our teams researching this whale." Professor replied.

Theo approached to see more clearly Billie's carcass. There was an unnaturally large mound three centimeters in his right flipper. The mound is a side effect of the tag that Adam once mounted by firing the tool remotely. That way, Adam and a team of other marine mammal researchers can study the nature, movement patterns, environment, how to eat, and the dangers faced by Billie and herd via satellite.

Theo notices the wounds on Billie's body. His body was torn apart before being stranded. Theo thinks Billie was dead long enough before he got here. Evident from the foul aroma that emanates from the carcass of Billie.

"What happened to her? Whose body is this?" Theo's eyes turned on the half-rotting corpse that peered out of Billie's esophagus. The body was unrecognizable because it was half destroyed. His bones sticking out of the skin. His head was just a lump of thick hair without a face. When viewed from its shape, this corpse is female.

"It looks like Billie choked on this corpse while eating, then got carried away by the current up here." Adam's voice trembled with anger. Either angry at the forensic doctors who came and autopsied Billie's body at will, or at the corpse of a stranger who got Billie killed. "His stomach exploded because a fool heard a rumbling sound from Billie's body and stabbed her with wood." As if to prove his hypothesis, Adam threw a sharp-tipped piece of wood that he had been carrying. Now a tear fell on Adam's cheek, but he quickly wiped it off. Theo's right, Adam was very shaken.

"Samples from this whale we'll bring to our analysis. While the body will be autopsied at the Hospital. If you look around, the age of the owner of this body cannot be more than eighteen or nineteen years." Voni. "We'll find out the cause of his death and also his identity."

"Nothing you found with his body?" I don't know why Theo asked me something that wasn't his business at all. All he should care about is how Billie died and why her body washed up on this beach.

"A small earring is still attached to his left ear." Voni brought him a plastic containing diamond-studded earrings that were only a few millimeters in diameter. "The other ear is no more. Maybe they eat marine animals. His body was not intact when it was found in the whale's stomach." Theo felt something as he looked at the earrings. He felt familiar and had seen her somewhere. His stomach was heartburn imagining the possibility of one of the people he knew dying in the belly of a whale.

"Can I take a picture?" Ask Theo.

Voni dyed looking for someone. He waved at a dark-skinned man who had been accompanying the forensic team. The dark-skinned man approached them. "This is Detective Rudi from the Criminal Investigation Unit." The dark-skinned and cold-faced man shook Theo's outstretched hand.

"I'm Theodore. Can I take this photo?" Theo's index finger was pointed at a plastic bag containing diamond earrings, repeating a question he had previously said. Detective Rudi only nodded once without saying anything, as if he felt the time had been pretty much seized just by meeting Theo.

"Theo!" Theo turned his head when his name was called by the Professor. In a hurry he took a picture of the earrings from the camera of his cellphone and say goodbye to Voni and detective Rudi.

"We also have to take a sample of Billie. Either way, this discovery should be reported to the center." Professor said as soon as Theo returned to focus on his field. He faintly heard his Professor muttering, "It's a pity." even though the old man still had a flat expression. Seeing Adam still sad and shaken until his body trembles, Theo takes over his duty to take a sample from Billie's carcass to fill out their report. While shedding tears that can not be dammed, Adam also began to work to take photos of the documentation of the carcass Billie.

The crowd is getting crowded even though the day is getting late. The stranding of marine animals of this size is the first time for them. Moreover, this area is a fairly isolated area. The journey to here can only be passed by Jeep car because it is too steep. Things like this can be horrendous news in no time. Evident from the scenery of the reporters who fought each other to get information from voni and detective Rudi.

Theo heard some gathered people talking about myths around the coast and attributed the discovery to the mysterious southern sea guardians. At first Theo ignored the babbling of the local residents, but over time he could not bear to hear their theories that increasingly fussy. If it had nothing to do with science, maybe Theo would just shut up. But because the locals had already made the assumption that Billie was the incarnation of the genie who asked for human sacrifices for the safety of the nation, Theo finally left his job and approached them.

"Fathers and mothers, this stranded whale is called Billie. Billie is a very healthy blue whale. We've been watching him for the past few months on satellite." Theo pointed upwards. "Pope like Billie does not harm humans. They only eat small marine animals, such as krill shrimp, in very large quantities. It takes about four tons of krill shrimp every day for them to strongly swim around the ocean. While the corpse -" Now he points to the human corpse in Billie's stomach "although it is not certain yet, yet, but we believe that Billie accidentally swallowed the body while hunting krill shrimp and choked to death. It could have happened."

From his expression, Theo was almost certain that this local resident did not immediately believe what he had just said. Legends and myths are still easier to digest than science.

"Who is this?" Ask a woman with gray hair to him.

"My name is Theodore. I'm one of the members of the marine research team that built a small laboratory not far from here. Our focus is on preserving the marine ecosystem by keeping a close eye on what happens in the ocean every day." Theo replied with a makeshift smile. Hearing the explanation, the citizens who were skeptical began to understand. Theo hopes that the research team in this area can educate the public to participate in maintaining the sea. That desire was the ideals of Theo since childhood which was considered too noble by Christian.

Theo felt his shoulder being patted by someone. He turned his head and found that Voni had taken off his rubber gloves.

"We're done here. We will bring the body with us. The officers will remain here under detective Rudi. If there's anything else you found while sampling the whale, tell detective Rudi right away, okay?" Voni shook his hand to say goodbye. They also exchanged business cards. Shortly after, the forensic team left the site with the unidentified body in an orange helicopter belonging to the SAR.

***