[00:00.09] Chapter four.
[00:02.02] Blood in the water.
[00:05.79] We sailed for days across the Pacific Ocean.
[00:10.77] We passed the Galapagos Islands, where Charles Darwin had done research for his famous book, The Origin of Species.
[00:19.83] Giant tortoises, big enough to carry a man on their backs, swam past the window in Nemo's saloon.
[00:28.66] I watched them with joy, delighted to be following Darwin's trail.
[00:36.98] Conceal was happy organizing my notes, but Ned was restless.
[00:42.81] He paced up and down like a caged animal.
[00:47.57] He was a man of action, not books.
[00:52.80] Even the sight of the giant tortoises didn't interest him for long.
[00:58.18] I worried that he might do something to upset Nemo, and spoil my chance of studying this beautiful underwater world.
[01:09.15] We carried on sailing west along the equator.
[01:13.43] Then we headed north until we were 150 miles off the shores of Japan.
[01:21.84] Ned's mood improved when we spotted a small group of sperm whales.
[01:28.07] Ah, he sighed.
[01:31.80] How beautiful they are.
[01:35.19] It really lifts me up to see them.
[01:42.80] And yet you make your living killing them, Captain Nemo said, joining us on deck.
[01:51.61] They give us meat and oil, Ned replied.
[01:56.94] We need meat and oil to live.
[02:03.88] Are you sure you only kill for need, and not for profit?
[02:10.02] Nemo said.
[02:13.78] Talking of reasons for doing things, Ned said, what's your reason for hunting down and sinking ships?
[02:25.91] Nemo looked angry, but he didn't answer Ned's question.
[02:32.74] Wales have enough trouble surviving without you hunting them, Ned Land, Nemo continued.
[02:41.62] Take this school of whales, for example.
[02:45.59] It's a group of females with their young.
[02:49.89] And there, on the horizon, is a pod of orcas, killer whales, circling for the attack.
[03:00.30] They will eat the young sperm whales if they can get at them.
[03:08.26] Then I'll take a harpoon to the orcas, Ned said.
[03:13.60] Let me save the baby whales, captain.
[03:18.92] There's no need for you to risk your life, Nemo said.
[03:25.29] The Nautilus will see them off.
[03:29.29] It's steel spur is more accurate than your harpoon.
[03:36.63] The Nautilus against the orcas?
[03:39.90] But that'll be a massacre, Ned cried.
[03:44.78] What difference does it make if I kill them, or you do?
[03:50.47] Nemo said.
[03:53.57] They'd have a fair chance against my harpoon, Ned said.
[04:01.35] This is not a game, Ned Land.
[04:06.39] It's a matter of life and death, said Nemo shortly.
[04:14.58] The Nautilus dived underwater.
[04:18.81] Conceal, Ned and I went below to the window in the saloon, and Captain Nemo took the controls of the Nautilus.
[04:30.54] I soon felt the engines beating faster as we increased our speed.
[04:38.46] The female sperm whales swam in a circle with their calves in the middle.
[04:45.51] They beat their tails to keep the orcas away.
[04:53.65] The Nautilus moved through the water like a giant harpoon.
[04:59.03] It hurled itself against the orcas, cutting through them with its deadly spur.
[05:09.50] The massacre went on for an hour.
[05:14.09] There was no escape for the orcas.
[05:18.85] Several times they tried to crush the Nautilus.
[05:24.86] From the window, we could see their large mouths studded with teeth.
[05:31.00] We could feel them clinging to the nautilus like a pack of wild dogs.
[05:39.96] After a while, the waves became quiet, and we rose to the surface.
[05:48.34] The panel opened, and we hurried onto the deck.
[05:53.96] The sea was covered with dead whales.
[06:01.75] Well, master land, Nemo said to Ned.
[06:09.36] I am a hunter, said Ned coldly.
[06:19.39] Not a butcher.
[06:22.56] And what you've done is butchery.
[06:28.64] I saved the young whales, replied the captain.
[06:34.98] Orcas show no mercy, and they received none.
[06:41.86] The orcas wouldn't have killed all the calves, Ned said.
[06:49.15] They would have just taken what they needed to eat, but you didn't leave one orca alive.
[06:59.91] You went too far.
[07:07.26] A dead sperm whale rose to the surface of the water in front of us.
[07:14.55] It lay on its side, full of holes from the bites of the attacking orcas.
[07:22.60] A dead calf hung from its mother's fin.
[07:29.73] The sea lapped quietly over the two dead creatures.
[07:36.70] Nemo's action had been cruel, but there was some sense in it.
[07:43.27] He was protecting the calves.
[07:50.00] But Ned only saw the butchery.
[07:56.52] Conceal usually agreed with me, but this time he looked unsure what to think.
[08:06.88] Was Nemo helping nature, or did he commit a crime against it?
[08:13.42] He asked.
[08:16.79] I am not sure why I defended Nemo, but I did.
[08:25.47] Nemo is a brilliant man, and like a lot of brilliant men, he is misunderstood, I said.
[08:37.03] And like a lot of brilliant men, he's also crazy and dangerous, Ned argued.
[08:47.96] Perhaps you're both right, said Conceal wisely.
[08:55.71] But until we know exactly what he means to do, I think we should be careful.
[09:04.85] Ned and I scoled at each other and said nothing.