Behemoth, the Sea Monster (The Giant Behemoth)

And the Lord said, "Behold now the behemoth."

And afterwards, these mysterious figures

faces masked with lead.

These are ourselves.

Men, the kings of the Earth

trying to measure the extent of the destruction

they themselves have created.

Since the beginning of the Atomic Age

we've had 143 explosions

such as these you've just seen here on the screen.

Now, one millionth part of a gram of radium

is the safety limit.

The amount one human can tolerate.

And yet, with each of these explosions

we are hurling into our atmosphere

hundreds of tons of radioactive materials.

Who is it?

But it isn't only with dramatic explosions such as these

that we're poisoning this planet.

What about the dumping in our oceans of our atomic wastes?

Granted, we are sealing them in lead containers

but lead disintegrates and corrodes

at the bottom of the sea.

Gentlemen, I was attached to Operation Crossroads

as a marine biologist.

As you all no doubt know that was Bikini.

And if there's one thing we found out

it was that there's no such thing

as an even statistical dispersion

of radioactive materials.

Now, we checked samples of the sea water in this area

and the radiation was insignificant.

But in the tiny plankton living in this water

it was 2000 times greater.

And in the fish that ate this plankton, 40,000 times greater.

And in the seabirds that fed upon these fish

the radioactivity was 500,000 times greater.

Gentlemen, we are witnessing a biological chain reaction.

A geometrical progression of deadly menace.

I am in no position to question your findings, Mr. Karnes

but may I point out that these things occurred

in the most desolate, uninhabited spot of the globe?

But I refuse to be panicked.

I do not believe that Mr. Karnes wishes to panic us

as you put it.

But if you remember, in Japan

boatloads of fish had to be destroyed

many thousands of miles away from the test area.

That's exactly what I mean.

We cannot fence off the ocean.

These radioactive particles are absorbed by the plankton

and then in a kind of biological progression

from fish to bigger fish

or by the strange attraction of protoplasmic masses

they form radioactive conglomerates

unbelievably deadly.

The ocean is my province, gentlemen,

but how little we know about it.

We only touch the surface with our lines and our dragnets

our diving suits and bathyscopes.

For all we know

what we have started may have already matured.

And who can tell when this, this, whatever it is...

...will rise to the surface and strike back at us?

Make for the rock.

Now, my fine friends, out with you.

Now... Oh, this little beauty's for us.

Run it up to the house and put it on the fire

while I haul the rest up to the village.

And past the pub to brag to your cronies?

I cannot imagine what you're referring to.

What's that for?

For the best fisherman in all Cornwall.

Oh, get away.

Dad, don't be late!

Be off with you!

Father?

Is that you, dad?

He'll be as drunk as a lord.

That makes it your round then, Charlie.

- Hello, John. - Hello, Jean.

Have you seen dad?

Not since this morning.

- He hasn't been by at all? - No.

That's strange.

I thought he'd come by to show off his whitefish.

So the old devil did it again, did he?

Well, you see, we beached in the cove

then I went on up to the house to start the dinner,

and he was going to the village.

Well, he couldn't have come through town

not with a whitefish, otherwise the whole world

would've known of it.

I'll tell you what? Let's go and look for him, shall we?

Dad!

Dad!

Tom!

Dad!

Tom! Tom!

Dad! Dad!

- John! - Wait here. I'll look around.

- Get back, Jean! Don't look! - Let me go!

Dad.

What happened, man?

Can-can you talk to us?

Can you hear us, Tom?

Dad. Dad.

From the sea, burning like fire.

What was it?

Behemoth.

"Man that is born of woman

"is of few days and full of trouble."

"He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down."

Job, chapter 14, the first verse.

And if any man could know the sufferings of Job,

it was Thomas Trevethan.

Job and his suffering turned to God for an answer.

Then answered the Lord unto Job and said

"Behold now the behemoth which I made with thee."

"He moveth his tail like a cedar,"

"out of his mouth go burning lamps."

"And sparks of fire leap out from the behemoth."

"He maketh the oceans to boil like a pot."

"His breath kindleth coals"

"and a flame goeth out of his mouth."

But in the words of the Lord,

"There is comfort for those Thomas Trevethan left behind."

For the Lord said to Job,

"Gird up thy loins like a man."

"Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath."

"Then I will confess to thee"

"thine own right hand can save thee."

Shall we be going now?

Not home.

I wouldn't want to go there yet.

Let's go for a walk then.

Look!

Thousands of them.

Thousands upon thousands.

Let's come away, John.

No. Wait a minute.

What's this stuff?

John! Your hand!

Any luck with my tickets?

Well, I'm still working on your plane reservation, Mr. Karnes.

- Pretty crowded, are they? - Jammed.

We'd hoped you'd be with us longer, sir.

Wish, I could be.

Would you care to watch the television?

I'll have you paged the moment I know anything.

Alright. Thank you.

And therefore, all the news from the Middle East

is at the moment most inconclusive.

And now our closing piece for the afternoon

is an item of news from Cornwall.

It appears that the fishing industry there

has come to a complete standstill.

All the beaches are clogged up with dead fish,

and nobody can tell why these fish are dead.

However, it has its more amusing side to it.

For from Looe comes a report

that a sea monster has been sighted.

Uh, no doubt one of the Loch Ness variety

with fire-breathing and all that,

but it does prove one point, ladies and gentlemen.

It proves that all the Scotch whiskey

has not been exported to America.

Well, I'll say farewell now...

Oh, Mr. Karnes, I think I have your reservation.

What? Oh, I'm sorry. Cancel it.

Cancel it?

I'm sorry. The reservation has just been canceled.

Is Professor Bickford still in the lab?

Good. May I speak to him, please?

Yes, very urgent.

Yes. Come in.

Oh, Mr. Karnes. Ah, sit down.

You were halfway across London a minute ago.

- Subway. - Subway?

Oh, I see. The underground.

You've mastered the intricacies of that system, have you?

- Have a cup of tea? - No, thanks.

I came to talk to you about that Cornwall report.

Yes. Yes. There's rather more in it than the press reports.

- A man is dead. - Dead?

Yes. A fisherman from Looe, died of burns.

It's very peculiar. The report's a little vague unfortunately.

You know how these village doctors are?

But there were burns, spotting of the skin

and perforating ulcers.

Hmm. Same symptoms as Hiroshima.

No, no, no, no. Don't let's jump to conclusions.