Chapter 93 Killer Whale (XVIII)
Laura's happy and innocent childhood ended one day when she was four years old.
That day, she was carefree as usual, happily playing in the protective circle of her family.
When he was hungry after playing, he would act coquettishly to his parents in a childish voice.
Mom and her brothers and sisters all took great care of little Lola and would tear up the most delicious tongue and liver to feed her.
Just when Laura thought that she would grow up happily and become a great killer whale like her mother.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound came from the sea, breaking all the happiness.
All the whales nearby were scared away when they heard the sound, and even the sea turtles swam very fast by sliding their limbs.
Four-year-old Laura had never seen such a scene and had no idea what was happening.
At her mother's urging, she followed her older brothers and sisters in a daze, trying to swim towards the sea away from the roaring sound.
"Hmm?" Where are you going?
"Coo coo!" Don't ask, just swim!
No matter how hard Laura swam, the noisy roar still followed her, repeatedly irritating her eardrums.
Laura couldn't stand it.
She was so tired that she gradually slowed down and made a whimpering sound again, asking her mother why she wanted to run away.
The mother, who was always gentle and indulgent, was unusually strict that day. She ignored Laura's coquettish behavior and urged her to swim faster and not to stop.
The 4-year-old Lola was frightened by her mother's behavior, and she was really tired, so she was slow and refused to swim seriously.
If Laura knew what was going to happen next, she would try her best to escape from the net.
The target of whaling ships has always been young killer whales.
Because baby whales are small, they are easy to catch and relatively easy to tame.
There is a lot of data showing that the lifespan of captive killer whales is shortened, and more value can be obtained by capturing young whales.
Laura was caught in a huge fishing net and couldn't get out no matter how hard she struggled. She could only watch her mother and brothers and sisters moving further and further away from her.
She was dragged out of the sea, feeling more and more frightened, and cried out the sharpest cry out of control, trying to get help from the whales and other whales around her.
Mom and sister kept jumping out of the sea, and her brother followed the whaling ship all the way, begging the humans on the ship to let Laura go.
Even so, it still couldn't stop the ocean from gradually moving farther and farther away in front of Laura's eyes... until it disappeared completely.
Just like that, Lola was brought to an environment created by humans.
The new living space was small, shallow, and the bright light made it difficult for her to adapt.
Lola explored the unfamiliar environment, as usual, making 'clicking' sounds to locate each other and prey.
The sound came back quickly, only to hit the surrounding walls.
The swimming pool that imprisoned her was as closed as it looked, with no room for any hope.
Laura stayed in a closed environment day after day and came into contact with many humans.
Some people wanted to teach her something.
Some people surrounded Laura and explored her repeatedly, drawing her blood for research.
Some people even screamed and clapped their hands excitedly, and used flashlights to stimulate her eyes...
In Laura's eyes, humans seemed to be no different. They were all doing strange things and completely ignoring her calls for help.
Laura floated in a small swimming pool with no one like her, spinning in circles.
As she grew older, her emotions gradually became numb.
The ocean and the domestic whales in my memory gradually faded away, as if they had never existed.
After leaving the ocean, Laura could no longer use the tides of the sea to judge the time.
I can only feel the torment of living day by day like a year, and think blankly:
'How long have I been away? Longer than I was in the ocean?'
'Mom, brothers and sisters, are you still looking for me?'
'Will it be like this again?'
Reality answers the third question:
The same thing will happen next time.
As long as she can still create value, the torture will never end.
The clever Lola was slowly domesticated by humans, learning how to greet guests, cruise on the water, and interact with the audience...
Performing all sorts of unnatural acts just to get a few small fish from the trainer's bucket.
After a decade of long and painful torture, Lola's mental state became increasingly worse, and she began to suffer from long periods of woodenness and emotional disorder, as many captive killer whales experience.
Just when she was thinking of ending the cruel loneliness through extreme means, the baby was born.
That was Lola's first baby.
Laura left her mother too early and had no idea how to welcome a new life.
She didn't even know why she gave birth to a baby when she had never had any contact with her own kind.
In any case, the birth of the baby still makes Laura happy.
From today on, she is no longer a lonely whale because she has her baby by her side.
The long and painful loneliness seemed to finally see the light of day.
Laura poured all her energy and love into her baby, staying by her side every day and teaching her the few languages and killer whale skills she still remembered.
Laura used scarce language to tell the baby what happened in the past.
“Hmm.”
The baby repeated the word 'ocean' awkwardly, as if asking what it was.
Laura fell silent.
ocean.
That was the home she could never return to.
Laura optimistically thought that as long as her baby was with her, she would not be lonely in the rest of her whale life.
But who would have thought that when the baby was two years old, Laura fed her last breast milk.
Then, two staff members entered the pool, tied the baby's head and tail, and lifted him up with a crane.
“Hmm——!”
Laura realized something and made a sharp and shrill sound again, trying to stop the cruel behavior of humans.
However, just as she was taken away from her mother, the baby was also taken away from Laura.
Laura felt unbearable pain. She stopped eating and performing, wailing day and night, and wandering in circles in the swimming pool where she once lived with the baby.
The keeper who was usually responsible for feeding Laura couldn't bear it, so he brought the fish to Laura and made up a white lie.
"Lola, don't be sad."
"Your baby has returned to the ocean."
"Hmm?"
Lola has lived with humans for more than ten years and can understand human language, and her reaction to the word "ocean" is the most obvious.
Baby is back in the ocean, is that true?
Will he be able to see his mother and his brothers and sisters?
Laura couldn't help but feel worried when she thought of this.
Although she didn't know why, she vaguely realized that the baby looked different from others of its kind.
If he returns to the ocean, will he be bullied by other killer whales?
When the breeder heard Laura stop crying, he gritted his teeth and continued to lie.
"Yes, the baby has returned to the ocean."
"You have to eat well and keep yourself healthy so that you have a chance to meet the baby in the ocean."
It was obvious that Lola took his words to heart and opened her mouth to eat the fish that the keeper fed her.
In the days that followed, Laura stopped all self-harming behaviors and her mental state seemed to have recovered.
People around her thought that Laura had forgotten her sadness.
Only the breeder had a thorn in his heart.
He knew that Laura was working hard now just for the illusory hope of "meeting her baby in the ocean".
Finally, the keeper could no longer bear the condemnation of his conscience, so he quit his job and resolutely joined the ranks of those boycotting captive killer whales.
When he learned that the aquarium that kept Lola in captivity had tasted success, he actually tried to artificially breed killer whales for a second time.
Thinking of the fate of breeding killer whales, the keepers, who couldn't bear to let Laura fall into sadness and pain again, ran around everywhere, hoping to save the persecuted killer whales.
It happened that during that time, the Hill incident attracted much attention, triggering rejection of captive killer whales around the world.
The keeper handed over all the information he collected to the marine rescue organization, praying that they could save Laura.
Through public pressure and lengthy negotiations, the aquarium finally gave in and agreed to release Laura in exchange for the original purchase amount.
Even over the years, the profits that Lola has created for the aquarium far exceed that amount by several times.
After repeated negotiations, the rescue agency emphasized that Laura's baby must be taken away as well before they agreed to the conditions.
After several more tugs, they finally got the so-called 'ownership of the killer whale'.
After being imprisoned for twenty years, Lola finally moved with her cub to an ocean base set up by an ocean rescue organization.
The rescue base has increased the killer whales' range of activities by dozens of times, and there are other killer whales that have been rescued nearby.
It was the first time for the young baby whale to experience the ocean and see so many killer whales. He was so excited that he thought this was paradise.
Laura should have been happy too.
If she had never actually seen the ocean.
No matter what, life at the rescue base is much better than in the aquarium.
Laura also met the familiar keeper, who would chat with her every day and tell her all kinds of interesting things.
Lola likes chatting with him.
For the past twenty years, this is the only human being around me who is willing to face the pain he has experienced.
However, every time Laura asked him about the baby and when she could see the baby.
Humans clearly told her that as long as she lived a good life, she would be able to reunite with her baby in the ocean.
That's why she endured so much loneliness and missed her baby so much that she finally made it to this day.
...Where is the baby?
Humans didn't mention it.
Laura slowly realized that she had not yet returned to the real ocean.
Maybe even if I return to the ocean, I won’t see the baby anymore.
The spiritual strength that supported me through the long period of loneliness seemed to collapse in an instant.
This time, Laura did not cry out.
She realized that her crying wouldn't solve anything.
Besides, Laura has a baby with her, and she must do her best to let her daughter see the real ocean.
Lola used her limited survival experience to try to teach the cubs.
As the cub grew older, Laura felt more and more powerless.
She had nothing left to teach and the baby still had a long way to go.
If this continues, will they be able to return to the ocean?
Even though she can't go back, Laura sincerely hopes that her baby can be accepted by the sea again.
She hopes that the baby can go home, see his mother, brothers and sisters, and see his beautiful and magnificent home.
“Hmm.”
Laura called her baby lovingly, encouraging her to be stronger and not be defeated by the wind and waves.
"Lola, come here."
Suddenly, Lola heard the keeper calling her.
Although the breeder was unable to reunite him with his baby.
But Laura felt his kindness and swam over on her own initiative.
The breeder took out a tablet, which was familiar to Laura.
Humans are able to retain their own time and that of other humans in incredible ways.
Whenever Lola feels lonely, the keeper will play videos of similar animals for her.
I thought it was a similar situation again this time.
Unexpectedly, the keeper poked the screen and a handsome young killer whale appeared.
Laura looked at him and was immediately attracted by an inexplicable force, staring at him intently.
Then she heard the call of a young whale, resonating deep in her memory.
The keeper said: That's Hill, her son.
Laura's suppressed emotions suddenly erupted, and she cried uncontrollably. She lowered her head and rubbed against the breeder, begging him to let her see her son.
The keeper was a little embarrassed and told her that her son had returned to the ocean.
This is a rescue organization and a place to protect killer whales.
It is impossible to recapture a whale that has already adapted to the wild.
However, the breeder said that Lola's voice could be transmitted to the baby and she could be asked what she wanted to say.
Laura was taken away by humans at the age of four, and she has not yet fully mastered the family language system.
It usually takes a killer whale calf at least five years to fully master the family language.
For the past twenty years, Laura has lived alone in the aquarium, with no one like her around, and her sonar system and language function have gradually degenerated.
All she could teach her cubs were the simplest words.
Even though her language was very poor, Lola still tried her best to convey her message, wanting the cub to feel: Mom has not forgotten you.
And, mom will always love you.
Lola was both happy and sad to see the video of her baby returning to the ocean.
She can understand human speech.
Lately, humans have been sighing at her.
"Alas...Lola's survival skills have deteriorated too badly."
"She's a Type 2 killer whale in the North Atlantic, where there are lots of sperm whales, pilot whales, and humpback whales, and they all attack killer whales."
"Oh my god...how's her baby?"
"Her baby is very smart and has a strong learning ability. But... we can't teach him anything."
"I consulted the Tiger Return Team, and they said that all the South China tigers that were successfully rewilded were raised by tigers. But the ecological environment of tigers and killer whales is very different. Where can we find a killer whale teacher to teach her?"
Several people squatted on the shore, sighing louder and louder.
Laura couldn't help but panic when she heard their conversation.
If she could speak human language, she would certainly beg the researchers:
It doesn’t matter if I can’t return to the ocean in my lifetime, it doesn’t matter as long as I continue to perform for humans.
At least let her daughter see the magnificence of the sea.
"Well, let's have a discussion."
"Okay, let's contact foreign killer whale rescue experts online. Maybe we can find a solution."
The researchers entered the conference room with worried looks on their faces.
Laura anxiously wandered around the coast, waiting for the humans to finish their discussion meeting, which would bring her a new turn of events.
At this moment, she heard a very faint voice coming from far away:
'Click'
Twenty years later, Laura was still sensitive enough to tell that it was a family member looking for her.
Laura immediately turned around and swam in the direction of the sound to the huge net that divided the coast.
The net was very large and stretched for dozens of kilometers along the coastline, allowing the killer whales to move within the range of the rope net.
Lola and her companions, who have adapted to living in shallow waters and are accustomed to being fed by humans, have not thought about crossing the net in the past year.
Killer whales are smart.
They knew that once they passed through this net, they would lose their survival skills and be unable to hunt, making it difficult for them to survive in the ocean.
The net is not strong, but it is as solid and indestructible as the Berlin Wall in the past.
It was not until this moment that Laura truly realized that she still longed for the ocean behind the rope net.
Even if it's broken into pieces.
After a few minutes, there was another 'click' sound.
The group of whales that have traveled thousands of miles are confirming the correct location of the base through repeated positioning.
About half a month ago, Yu Yiyun got the correct route to the base from Xiao Renmi, and immediately returned to his companions, showing his language talent to the fullest.
Finally, from the little guy's complicated description, his companions confirmed the exact location of the sea area, and a large group of whales set off in a mighty stream.
For the next ten days, Yu Yiyun worked day and night, even saving time for eating and sleeping, and worked hard.
After each hunt, the whales would imitate the little guy, putting the fish or leftover dolphins on their heads and eating while swimming.
Many people met them along the way. Seeing that these killer whales were wearing food on their foreheads, they thought it was the latest fashion in the whale world, black suits with new salmon.
Thanks to the little guy, the whale group swam for only ten days to reach the sea area near the base, covering a sea distance of nearly 3,000 kilometers, including the time for hunting and confirming the direction.
The rescue base was built near the coast, which is full of reefs and has too many interference factors.
Hundreds of killer whales participated in the search, using sonar systems to scan along the long coastline.
Finally, on the fourth day after arriving at the Asian coast, grandma tirelessly made low-frequency sounds for the umpteenth time to locate the target.
After 21 years.
This time, she finally received a familiar response!
All the killer whales near the bay were ecstatic. They instantly forgot about their tiredness and quickly rushed towards the sea where the base was located.
The one swimming in the front is the little guy who is considered "weak, pitiful, and particularly greedy" by the whales.
After two years of growth, the little guy unknowingly turned into a handsome young male whale.
He followed the Black Fin Gang from south to north, and then from north to south, circling the earth completely.
After swimming tens of thousands of kilometers in the sea, the little guy's swimming speed is not only far ahead of killer whales of the same age, but even killer whales older than him are left far behind.
Yu Yiyun swam at his fastest speed and finished the dozens of kilometers of sea in less than an hour.
Seeing the fishing net stuck on the seabed from afar, Fat Tiger happily jumped out of the sea, making a whimpering sound.
“Oh my!”
Laura responded with the same sound.
She is clearly a killer whale, but her tail shakes like a propeller, which makes people wonder if Laura is born in the Year of the Dog.
The mother and son whale finally met, and they kept whimpering, as if they were saying a lot.
The killer whale following closely behind swam over and listened, and found that they were just whimpering, with no content at all.
After crying for five minutes, the sister who was raised by her mother also swam over, blinking her big eyes and joining the crying army.
Fat Tiger observed his sister carefully from a close distance and breathed a sigh of relief.
With the popularization of technology and genetics, people engaged in killer whale breeding have finally realized the necessity of genotype matching in the killer whale world. My sister is a pure North Atlantic Type 2 killer whale.
As long as she returns to the ocean, she will have many of her kind.
It would certainly be easier to learn the survival skills of North Atlantic Type 2 whales.
"Hmm~"
Fat Tiger twisted his tail and excitedly told Sister Whale: Little cutie, I am your brother~
"Bing!"
Sister Whale's language talent was fully utilized and she immediately learned the word "brother".
"Eeh~" What a cute sound!
"Chirp?" Isn't that a little guy?
"Oh oh!" The little guy is older now, and his voice is not as cute as before.
"Woo." That's cuter than you.
The black fin sharks, who were exhausted and out of breath, heard the lovely voice and came over to watch the little whale.
They discovered that there was a net blocking the little whale. Four handsome male whales, who were experienced in removing nets and had saved countless trapped whales along the way, were preparing to remove a horn tooth from the groove of the dorsal fin and forcibly destroy the rope net.
Yu Yiyun thought for a few seconds and stopped them.
"Eh?" Little guy, your mother and sister are trapped, don't you want to rescue them?
"Chirp!" I can bite this net apart with my teeth.
"Woo." Don't bite, it will damage your teeth.
His companions were deeply puzzled.
You know, if they encounter a killer whale or other whale trapped in a fishing net during the journey, the little guy will definitely be the first to rush over to help.
Once, he even saved a dolphin from drowning.
My companions didn't understand.
It's a dolphin, just eat it!
The little guy not only rescued the dolphin, but also set it free.
In response to this, the little guy gave a profound explanation: "Hunting and man-made disasters are two different things."
Killer whales and dolphins are at the upper and lower levels of the food chain, but they share a shared future in the ocean.
Dolphins are also very intelligent. Yu Yiyun saved it, and perhaps the dolphin will teach its peers how to escape from trouble.
Over time, dolphins in the ocean were no longer caught in fishing nets, and the species expanded in size.
The living environment of killer whales, which are at the top of the food chain of dolphins, will also improve accordingly.
The passing whale could not understand the profound meaning behind it, he just thought that the little guy was willing to help the dolphin.
Now, the little guy's mother and sister are also trapped in the fishing net, but he stops other whales from helping.
"Hmm?" The foodie asked doubtfully: "Little guy, are you sick?"
"Hmm." No.
Yu Yiyun told them seriously: Mom and sister, you can't leave this network for the time being.
The rescue base provided by humans for killer whales covers an area of about dozens of square kilometers and the deepest does not exceed 150 meters.
Yu Yiyun observed her surroundings and discovered that her mother and sister did not breathe by floating up and down, but by swimming to shallow water to breathe.
Being kept in captivity by humans for a long time has changed the way they breathe, not to mention other aspects.
If they now leave the safe zone created by humans and enter the marine environment directly, their situation will be very difficult.
Yu Yiyun told her grandmother and other killer whales who came later about her observation results.
The grandmother observed quietly for a few minutes and confirmed that her daughter's breathing pattern had indeed changed.
The waters where they live do not have shallow waters that allow killer whales to swim to the shore to breathe.
After a brief thought, grandma decided to agree to the little one's plan and let her daughter and granddaughter stay in the rescue base temporarily.
Of course, I will stay and wait for them to learn survival skills, and then go home together.
Just as the whales were gradually reaching a consensus, the keeper who first observed the whales called out all the researchers in the conference room to watch this miraculous scene.
"Oh my god... the family bond of killer whales is incredible."
"So, the whalers who took the baby killer whale away from its family are truly sinning deeply."
"Is this the time to discuss that? The wild killer whale teacher is here, and we're going to teach one-on-one. Why don't you arrange the class schedule quickly?"
Yu Yijun heard the conversation between the little guys from afar and raised his round head proudly.
Looking across the seven continents and five oceans, no one is a better teacher than Yunyun~!
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