As the island of garbage diminished to a scattering of trash too thinly spread for the monstrous leopard seal to bother with, its place was taken by an increasing number of garbage barges and derelict ships. There was no need any more to drain the oils and toxic chemicals from a rusted hulk; it was simply towed to the exclusion zone and down her gullet it went. Garbage dumps around the rim of the Pacific and even elsewhere began to diminish, for the seal would eat anything with an organic component and digest it without difficulty. It went in harmful, including vast quantities of toxic waste, and came out as harmless seal droppings, broken down to a simpler state and enriching the local waters.

Radioactive waste was considered as a component of the seal's diet, but thoroughly as she digested her meals no change was made to the elements - just their arrangement. The possibility of polluting the Pacific with vast quantities of radioactive seal poop brought that plan to a quick halt.

The arrangement benefited everyone...almost. As new industries devoted to garbage disposal via monster seal sprang up, the ones devoted to running dumps or recycling withered on the vine. Or perhaps the seal, now larger than the largest container ship afloat, frightened a government to the point that it took action.

In any case, one summer day the seal was swallowing a derelict oil tanker packed full of garbage and it exploded in her gullet. An estimated thirty thousand tons of ammonium nitrate wired to detonate went up in the largest non-nuclear blast in world history. It should have blown the seal to bits. Instead the only result was a momentary bulge in her flanks and a belch so loud it killed seabirds in midair and blew the windows out of dozens of ships awaiting disposal. One of the propellers of the tanker was blown out of her gullet and demolished the superstructure of a small ship over three miles away.

It was already known the seal broke known physics in unknown ways. Nothing so huge should be able to move under its own power, much less as rapidly as she did. Now it seemed even a blast in her most vulnerable spot that approached a nuclear blast had little or no effect. Suddenly existing contingency plans to kill her if needed with antiship missiles had to be reexamined. If she could survive that blast, perhaps even a hydrogen bomb might not work.

By this time subsonic and audio range emanations from the seal and from the much smaller leopard seal that always accompanied her had been analyzed by researchers. While a closely held secret, it was already known that she, her dolphin companion, the smaller sea leopard, and various other sea mammals nearby were fully intelligent and talking to one another. Communications had already been established and now she wanted to talk. A treaty was hammered out via drone and a few brave negotiators willing to meet with her in person. The dolphin and normal sized leopard seal, who fortunately were elsewhere during the blast, acted as negotiators since it was much easier to meet face to face with them than the multi-million-ton seal. The following points were codified by treaty:

1. Selene, as the creature called itself, would continue to dispose of garbage and could be asked to dispose of major shipwrecks or seafloor garbage sites if given time to travel there and back. Her dolphin, orca, seal and sea lion scouts had already informed her of many such, some of which she had already swum to and eaten.

2. She would relocate to an uninhabited island off the coast of Mexico instead of the deep ocean to simplify delivery of garbage barges and other refuse. A two hundred kilometer wide zone around the island was now a no-go zone save for marked lanes to be used to deliver her "Things to be disposed of." The loss of a prime fishing ahead provoked some Ill will but the next point was even more contentious.

3. Negotiations with Selene and her advisors finally proved that certain dolphins, orcas, fin whales and even some other sea mammals were fully intelligent and able to communicate. These animals were now under her protection and any action against them, anywhere in the world, would provoke her retaliation. There were holdouts but even Norway and Japan were forced to agree after Selene swam to a remote whaling station and devoured the port infrastructure, housing, workers, the attendant whaling ships, and three Japanese Self Defense Force warships (including a 3,000 ton submarine) that attempted to defend it. The fate of the sub was particularly horrific as it and its crew were sucked into one of Selene's lower orifices and digested. (Selene was reported to have said, "Send more subs.") The few survivors took to the ocean in boats only to end up in the equally unforgiving insides of Selene's followers. From the perspective of a person being digested there is little difference between the intestinal tract of a giant leopard seal versus a smaller one, dolphin. orca or whatnot. In all cases you go in, there is a brief struggle, and then the gurgling begins.

The result of this event was the establishment of the Maritime Dominion of Selene. The exclusion zone was expanded and became a thriving marine habitat as sea mammals and seabirds flocked to the area to take advantage of the fertile waters and vast quantities of garbage being shipped there on a daily basis.

Worldwide opinions were varied. On the one hand new religions sprang up around the colossus and her followers. Now that communication was possible, interspecies relationships between humans and various sea mammals became commonplace in many countries. Dolphins were now commonly employed as sea workers, equipped with manipulative waldos and radios.

Other people, for various reasons, voluntarily fed themselves to Selene or her followers. New laws were hammered out to legislate "suicide by dolphin" (or leopard seal, sea lion, et cetera).

There was now more than one recognized sapient species on Earth and this changed things. Generally this was good news for everyone concerned.

On the other hand the ship bomb and Japanese Incident (as it is now known) pointed out that Selene was impervious to conventional weapons and possibly nuclear ones as well. She most likely could have been easily dealt with when smaller, but now it was too late. Poison definitely would not work. Bombs seemed unlikely to work. What would?


The convenience of a disposal site for the worldwide production of garbage and hazardous chemicals was undeniable, but what would happen if one day the ships full of trash failed to arrive?

The conclusion was that the presence of Selene on her island was, in the short term, a very good thing. Long term? Time would tell.

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