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unusual. The ocean is full of life,” said the secretary of the defence, his tone implying that his time was being wasted.
    “That’s true, sir,” Andrews said, “however, nothing about this signal was normal.”
    Andrews paused for effect, but if his audience was captivated, they were doing a great job of hiding it. He continued.
    “This… ‘Bloop’, was thoroughly analysed and concluded to be not only organic, but made by a creature far larger than any species we currently know of.”
    “How big exactly?” the white haired major asked, his eyes showing a flicker of interest.
    “Well, sir, if you imagine the blue whale is the largest known creature to inhabit the oceans at somewhere between eighty five and ninety feet, based on the signal we recorded, this creature would have to be at least three times that length.”
    “Are you saying this is some kind of god-damn dinosaur?” a thin, wiry man said from behind oversized glasses.
    “No, not a dinosaur. An unknown species.”
    “Dr Andrews,” the secretary of defence said, “if this is as big as you say it is, why has nobody ever seen it? Why has its presence not been felt? What I’m asking is how can this one encounter back in 97’, lead you to such a speculative conclusion?”
    “Well, sir, until a few weeks ago, we were prepared to dismiss the Bloop as an anomaly. Maybe an ice quake of some kind, or an expulsion of gas escaping from a rupture on the seabed. However, recent events came to light that changed things, which is why I come to you now.”
    “Go on,” the major said, now giving his full attention to Andrews.
    “Back in September, a huge portion of the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica fell into the sea. We believe the force of impact as the ice hit the water and the subsequent vibrations stirred the creature from some kind of long term hibernation”
    “Forgive me, Doctor,” the secretary of defence said with a smug grin, “I fail to see how this is anything other than speculation and fantasy. If you want to convince us, we need facts.”
    “I was getting to that, sir.”
    Andrews took a breath and continued.
    “As I was saying, we think this creature was roused by the falling ice shelf from some kind of hibernation. Following the quake, we recorded another sound in the area that was at the same frequency of the Bloop. Later, partial remains of a killer whale were discovered close to where the signal emanated from.”
    “The ocean is a big place, surely you can’t speculate that this creature killed the whale. It could have been a shark, or even another whale.” The thin man in glasses said as he shot an agitated look towards the secretary of defence.
    “Forgive my bluntness, sir,” Andrews said, “but we do know. We recovered the carcass. Its entire lower half was missing. No shark would be able to do that. We also measured the bite radius of some of the wounds on the Orca, and although there was some decomposition and the feeding of other smaller scavengers to consider, the findings were astonishing.”
    “And what were they?” the general said, folding his hands on the desk.
    “Well, sir, we estimate this creature would have a bite radius of around eighteen to twenty five feet.
    “Impossible,” the general said, rolling his wedding ring around his finger, “that’s very hard to believe, Dr Andrews.”
    “I agree, but please, allow me to finish. Immediately following the ice quake, countless species of whales and fish altered their normal migratory and feeding patterns. When we analysed the changes, it was evident that all species from the smallest fish to the largest whales were trying to avoid something.  A few weeks ago, I was on board the research vessel Neptune in the Bering Sea, attempting to track the source of the disturbance when a distress signal came in from a stricken fishing boat reporting something had hit them. We of course abandoned the search and responded. By the time we arrived, the boat had sunk, we did