http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/baleen-whale-humpback-tonga/

Daily Logs of Dr. J.B. Stirling
Day 478
Morning log: Submitted 0830 hrs
Ryder remains vibrant. The subtropical waters appear to agree with her, and she’s had more than enough energy to keep pace with young Jinx. None of the readings from her monitors indicate any residual health issues. The scares from the pregnancy seem to be entirely in the past.

Jinx is as healthy as we could hope. She’s formed a healthy bond with Ryder. She’s been observed dashing over and under and around her mother. The ravenous feeding remains an issue. The measurements, as I’ve noted in previous logs, are not nearly as precise as I would like – that said, we estimate Jinx consumes somewhere between 104% and 108% of the standard milk volume (of calves in her age range). Her growth rate is unremarkable, suggesting she requires more energy than a naturally born calf to produce similar growth.

Today we will collect samples from both mother & calf and run them to through the DNA scanner. This has not been done since one week after Jinx’s birth. There is no reason to believe the DNA will have deteriorated in the interim. But when dealing with clones, it is my position that we monitor absolutely everything.

Day 479
Morning log: Submitted 0845
Yesterday’s DNA samples were lost before they could be properly secured. I fear it was my own fault. While I collected the samples, Jinx was fidgety and curious. She looped around on me a few times. I became caught up in the moment, and an unprofessional desire to play with the sprightly young lady overtook me. I grabbed on for a dorsal rise which I’m pleased to report Jinx had little trouble providing despite being just a few months old. Ryder, normally calm around me after so many dives with her over the past 3 years, became immediately stressed. The team warned me of her erratic behavior, so I disengaged and made for the boat. I surfaced too far from the launch, and Ryder came up beside me and gave me a wallop with her pectoral fin. I made it out of the water, and I’ll be bruised for a week for which I have no one to blame but myself. The impact jarred me, as it would anyone, and I dropped the samples which sank before I could recover my bearings.

There was no reason to attempt a second collection yesterday. Jinx showed no ill effects from the needle. As I recovered and the team motored over to retrieve me, the calf gave out a few low sounds. I know it’s selfish, or self-serving, but I cannot help but feel they were an apology from her to me. More likely, they were a simple reset call to her mother, so Ryder wouldn’t lose track.

I’ll try again for another sample tomorrow.

Afternoon log: Submitted 1710
Two fishing ships approached our vessel around 1400. The captain spoke with them, and they seemed innocent enough. They were following a school that had disappeared on them. They made us for scientists, and they know these waters are rife with humpbacks this time of year. They had hoped our whales might have attempted to track the school. Humpbacks, not being prone to feeding at all in these warm waters and not predators of larger fish, offered them no help. The fishermen departed shortly thereafter.

This encounter is, by all accounts, innocuous. But it reminds me how dangerous it is to use secrecy as our only defense out here. The technology to clone a creature as complex as a humpback whale is imprecise and, as anyone reading this knows, entirely unreliable. If the wrong people were to find out, to find us and mark us for what we are… I cannot think of a worse consequence. I will again urge the captain to request a naval presence in the area, but I’m told there are geopolitical factors at work that will prevent any such escort from being dispatched.

Day 480
Afternoon log: Submitted 1400
DNA sample successfully acquired. I took no detours today, and Ryder had no negative response to my quick sojourn. My assistants are running the tests now.

Jinx’s curiosity about our ship has continued. Today is the 4th day in the last 6 that she’s examined our hull. She bumps against it, slaps her fins at its water line, bounces a few song notes against it. It’s possible she views it as a threat, but I like to think otherwise. It’s a great big ocean out here with nothing but her, her mother, and us. A child needs toys, so perhaps our ship, and us when we don our diving gear and go overboard, are helping a curious young mind explore.

A young male came calling early in the morning, before I took the sample. He did some sniffing around, but Ryder did not give off any sign that she was interested in becoming immediately pregnant again. Jinx seemed eager to interact with the interloper though Ryder did her best to keep her bulk between the male and her calf. The male must have sensed Ryder’s disinterest, or perhaps he acted as so many newly adult males act when they see an attractive woman with a young child – he booked it posthaste.

Day 482
Afternoon log: Submitted 1330
Worst case scenario. The samples have confirmed there are problems with Jinx’s DNA. They are very minor, but a perfect clone should show no signs of differentiation from their source. These blips appear to be in the set of coding that instructs behavior, specifically behavior related to self-preservation. The precocious young humpback that has captured the hearts of my team and the crew is, in fact, precocious as a defect of the cloning process. It is far too early to tell for certain, but I fear those few misapplied DNA connectors will render Jinx incapable of perceiving danger when she will very much need to in order to avert catastrophe.

Day 483
Morning log: Submitted 0600
Ryder and Jinx are gone.

I was awoken 20 minutes ago to find the ship blacked out. Something happened, and all the electronics were knocked out at some point during the night. They were reset immediately, and all seems to be restored. However, the GPA tags affixed to our girls are no longer broadcasting a signal. The captain believes this may have been the work of saboteurs. If an EMP was set off in the area, it would have disabled all equipment within its blast radius, both aboard our vessel and the tags stuck in Ryder and Jinx. It is unlikely they have wandered off too far, but the ocean is vast and we are but one ship. Now we have two enormous problems.

(1) If we cannot find them again, we cannot continue our research. The mission will have to be deemed a failure. Worse, if we can confirm an EMP knocked out our electronics, we have to assume the secret is out. Someone knows we have advanced clone technology, they know we’re out here, and that means none of us are safe. The captain has requested naval support, geopolitics be damned, and a cutter will be dispatched. For now, we’re alone in subtropical waters, land nowhere in sight, and enemies unknown could be circling just beyond the horizon or just below the surface.

(2) Jinx’s DNA studies have come further into focus. The self-preservation genes are surely corrupted. We won’t be able to leave her unattended in the wild. Her mother cannot possibly watch her every minute of every day for the rest of Jinx’s life. Eventually, Jinx will find herself alone in an endless ocean, and her own body will be hardwired to doom her. I… I can’t leave her out here like that. Not after I made her this way. If she died out here, or god forbid if she’s wrangled by however knocked out our power, I would never forgive myself.

We have to find her. I’m the only one that can save her.