Chapter 77 Killer Whale (Part 2)
As we all know, the ocean area accounts for more than 70% of the earth's total area.
The history of marine life can be traced back to 3.5 billion years ago, when the first single-celled life was born in the primitive ocean. It is the ancestor of all terrestrial life.
However, humans know very little about the ocean, even less than we do about distant Mars.
Even experienced terrestrial biology researchers find it difficult to figure out how a juvenile killer whale lives in the sea.
——I’m talking about Yu Yiyun!
With two loud "plops", the two-and-a-half-ton body of the little fat tiger was pushed into the vast ocean, splashing up overwhelming waves.
Yu Yijun clearly saw that he was pushed into the water by dozens of big men.
The first 'plop' is the head hitting the water, and the second 'plop' is the tail hitting the water heavily.
Although the water tank is located seven or eight meters above the sea surface, people would definitely get injured if they fell down.
But the killer whale's streamlined body, which was born for the ocean, and its thick layer of blubber defense did not cause the delicate little fat tiger to feel any pain.
The problem is…
“Oh!”
Help!
“Oh my!”
The baby is drowning!
The black-hearted circus owner just wanted to get rid of the killer whale as soon as possible because he couldn't make money and had a lot of bad habits.
He threw the little fat tiger into the deep sea like marine garbage, then turned the boat around and sailed away.
Except for the volunteer who had been arguing for little Hill, the other people on the boat had no intention of turning back and did not care at all about the life or death of the killer whale.
Maybe they simply cannot imagine how it is possible for killer whales living in the ocean to drown?
——It’s really possible!
Killer whales do live in the ocean, but they are not fish and cannot stay underwater for long periods of time and breathe with their gills.
When ordinary killer whales dive, they will surface to breathe every 10-20 minutes.
If a baby killer whale does not get fresh air for a long time, it will drown like all mammals.
"Bing!"
The little fat tiger cried very loudly when he felt the deep sea for the first time in his life.
Apparently, Hill, who was captive-bred, had never experienced the joy of diving.
Oceanic killer whales can dive to deep sea areas hundreds of meters below and move freely at this depth.
But in order to control the budget, the circus gave the orcas a very shallow pool, so shallow that there was almost no room for them to dive, and naturally there was no need for them to surface to breathe.
Hill himself did not master the secret of breathing, and it was certainly impossible for Yu Yiyun, who took over temporarily, to learn it!
Back then, he secretly followed the tiger overlord and finally learned the skill of "crossing a 100-meter river in one minute".
Later, he turned into a gray wolf and a lion. Yu Yiyun had his own natural skills and became a veritable swimming expert in the world of wild animals.
If he were to become another cat or dog, Yu Yiyun would definitely be able to quickly master swimming skills.
Unexpectedly, he turned into a killer whale without claws!
Who can tell him how to swim without claws?
“Oh…”
The little fat tiger tried very hard, but finally learned how to use his tail and body strength to control his balance and avoid the tragic fate of being drifted with the tide.
But a wild tail that has just been tamed is particularly difficult to control.
Yu Yiyun had never been a fish before, so she couldn’t float up or dive down accurately for a while.
Yu Yiyun, who was humbly seeking advice, opened her big black eyes wide and observed her surroundings from all angles.
A killer whale's eyes are located on the sides of its head, in front of the white eye spots.
Because he has small eyes which are the same color as his skin, it is easy for people to overlook him and think that Fat Tiger has no eyes.
In fact, in the deep sea where most animals are blind, killer whales are definitely a typical representative of the full development of five senses.
Each of his eyes has a clear lens that provides a wide 360° field of vision.
Also, killer whales' eyes can adapt to changes in light.
Even though the light is getting dim below the sea level, the baby killer whale can still see its surroundings clearly.
The most amazing thing is that killer whales, as mammals, can actually blink!
This is a little-known fact that Yu Yiyun learned after she turned into a killer whale.
Before this, he wasn't even sure whether the killer whale's big eyes were nostrils.
Killer Whale: Bad manners! Your eyes are the only nostrils!
[getting fat.jpg]
Yu Yiyun secretly said "sorry" to all the fat tigers, blinked her big black eyes, and carefully observed the fish swimming around.
God can bear witness!
At the beginning, Yu Yiyun really just wanted to learn swimming skills.
However, he stared at the clownfish swimming by him and couldn't help but open his mouth and warmly welcome it into his stomach.
As the clownfish was swimming, it noticed the top predator had opened its huge mouth into the abyss. It was so scared that it turned around and slipped away.
The other fish sensed the presence of a killer whale and did not dare to swim over.
"Hmm..."
Fat Tiger watched the clownfish swim away, but he couldn't control his body to chase it. He closed his big mouth helplessly and made a pitiful, weak and helpless sound again.
At this moment, he couldn't even tell which was more urgent, breathing or eating.
I heard from people on the boat that little Hill had been on a hunger strike for several days.
Killer whales have a big appetite and can eat several hundred kilograms in one meal. The unscrupulous boss planned to throw Hill away as marine garbage, so he could not continue to feed him.
The last bit of his conscience that had not yet turned black was probably not throwing the baby killer whale into the Bikini Reef (a US nuclear test area where 23 nuclear bombs were detonated).
Even if she had not been thrown into the Bikini Reef, Yu Yiyun's situation was not much better.
Hunger and the fear of drowning both came over Yu Yiyun, forcing her to swing her tail hard and practice floating upwards, while making more and more whimpering sounds.
At the fifth minute, he suddenly heard a distinct 'click' sound.
It's the same kind of sound.
It has no meaning and is only used to determine the location.
The deep sea is not like land. It is full of water and has no signposts to indicate the direction.
Fortunately, killer whales have very sophisticated sonar systems.
They emit sounds at 20-60 Hz that can travel tens of kilometers or more in the sea.
By relying on the echoes generated after sounds hit objects, killer whales can accurately determine the location of prey and companions in an ocean without coordinates.
After the 'click' sound was transmitted back, Yu Yiyun felt the surrounding water flow vibrating rapidly.
Soon, two giant killer whales with smooth lines, several times larger than himself, appeared in front of Yu Yiyun. They seemed to be the advance troops of some family.
Killer whales belong to a standard matriarchal society, in which a family of killer whales lives together with their grandmother or mother as the center.
When encountering a strange group or individual of whales, the stronger whales in the family usually take the lead, while the others observe from behind, similar to the "advance troops" and "main force" in the military field.
At this moment, the advance team came to Yu Yiyun and found that there was only a malnourished baby whale here.
Although Yu Yiyun is already eight years old, this age can even be considered old among cats or dogs.
But killer whales have a very long lifespan. Under natural conditions, male killer whales can live to 40 or 50 years old, while long-lived female killer whales can live to 80, 90, or even 100 years old.
The speed of time flow for killer whales is similar to that of humans. In their eyes, an eight-year-old killer whale is like an elementary school child who needs care.
The two killer whales circled around Yu Yiyun and soon discovered that the baby whale had separated from the group for some reason and was spinning in circles on its own, wagging its tail. It didn't look like it was playing some kind of game.
"Squeak?"
“Chirp?”
The two killer whales made high-frequency sounds, which are generally used for close communication among their own kind.
Previously, through repeated observations and studies, humans have discovered that there are dozens or even more ways of communication within killer whale groups, and therefore inferred that killer whale groups have a "language" within them.
In human society, mastering 26 letters allows for barrier-free communication.
Killer whales that have mastered a variety of vocalization methods can theoretically communicate accurately.
Unfortunately, current animal researchers are unable to decipher the language of killer whales.
Before Yu Yiyun fell into the deep sea, he was still complaining that the "mission rewards" were too useless, just as he complained that "mastering basic survival skills" was too easy.
Now, Yu Yiyun, who felt the beating from the ocean, has completely learned his lesson!
Who said mission rewards are useless?
This is so useful!!!
This is different from the previous worlds, where one can only rely on body movements and tacit understanding to understand the general meaning of meow meow meow and woof woof woof.
When Yu Yiyun heard the killer whale's voice, he immediately realized:
The big killer whale 'squeaked' asked himself if he was lost.
The big killer whale chirped and asked himself what was happening.
After being a beast for many years, this was the first time Yu Yijun felt such smooth communication, and she was deeply moved!
Little Fat Tiger muttered a lot of nonsense, telling them that he was almost starving to death and couldn't float to the surface to breathe.
Killer whales are highly intelligent and cherish their young very much.
A female killer whale was once captured on camera swimming in the vast ocean for more than a month with her dead baby.
According to the recollections of sailors who participated in the killer whale hunting, when they hunted killer whales, the entire family would protect the baby killer whales and move them to a safe place.
If a baby killer whale is captured, the group of whales will follow the boat, making calls similar to pleading, and try every means to rescue the baby.
When humans take killer whale calves away from their mothers in captivity in oceanariums, female killer whales will cry and wail day and night...
Killer whales have emotions very similar to humans and usually do not kill their young.
Some families will even take care of lone baby whales, teach them how to hunt, and treat their "adopted children" as if they were their own flesh and blood.
The two big killer whales heard the malnourished calf crying, so weak and so pitiful.
Without saying a word, he swam under the little fat tiger and skillfully lifted the cub to the surface of the water so that he could breathe.
"Oh oh oh~" After finally breathing some fresh air, Yu Yiyun wagged her tail and thanked excitedly.
Before he could finish his thanks, the kind female killer whale raised her tail, knocked out a bunch of small fish and shrimps, and sprayed bubbles to create waves, making them all float into Fat Tiger's mouth.
Real seafood buffet.
Yu Yiyun excitedly swung his tail, and fountains of water came out from the blowhole on the top of his head, trying to express his gratitude to the two killer whales.
“Squeak!”
Baby, eat quickly!
“Chirp~”
If it’s not enough, I’ll take another photo for you~
Large killer whales that live in family groups all participate in raising their young.
For them, holding up the baby and teaching it to breathe, and stunning small fish and feeding them to the baby, are only for baby whales under three years old.
Killer whales have a similar lifespan to humans, and their young develop at roughly the same rate as human babies.
'Breathing by oneself' is similar to 'rolling over at three months and sitting up at six months' (babies can roll over at three months and sit up at six months)', and is a basic ability that must be mastered in the infant stage.
After the age of two, the baby killer whale is gradually weaned and begins a long learning period.
They can easily catch baby foods such as small fish and shrimps by themselves.
Two large killer whales observed the malnourished calf and estimated that he was about six years old, maybe younger.
The dorsal fin was limp and collapsed to one side, and it could neither breathe nor catch fish.
It looked like it was his first day as a whale.
Yu Yiyun: To be honest, I was only a QAQ for half an hour.
The advance team confirmed that the little killer whale posed no threat and sent a signal to the main force in the rear.
Soon, the grandmother whale of the whale group swam over with her family members.
At first glance, the killer whales look the same and it is difficult to tell the ages.
Humans judge the generation of killer whales by generally observing the surface and interior of the teeth that grow layer by layer, and estimating the age by the growth texture.
Yu Yiyun successfully infiltrated the killer whales and was able to easily determine the specific relationships within this large family of eight killer whales from their way of getting along and the sounds they made.
The oldest grandmother whale is estimated to be sixty years old and still looks very healthy.
Swimming beside her were her two daughters and her adult son.
The proportion of "mama's boys" in the killer whale world is also very high. Many male killer whales are unwilling to be independent and will stay with their mothers for their entire lives.
When they reach breeding age, the worried old mother will take the adult male whales to social events and meet the beautiful female whales from other whale groups, which is similar to the blind date conference in the human world.
Female killer whales will stay with their mothers for a long time.
During the breeding season, after a female killer whale has successfully "matched", she will return to her native group of whales alone and give birth to the next generation of the group.
In simple terms, unlike the mainstream human practice of "marrying a daughter", the killer whale family "marries a husband" and then directly kills the father and keeps the son.
The two big killer whales that just lifted me up were one male and one female, and they seemed to be the younger generation of the whale group.
The two baby whales swimming at the end of the team were about the same age as Yu Yiyun, but their body sizes were almost 0.5 times smaller.
Seven or eight-year-old baby whales are very lively and love to play and make noises.
If the big whale is not careful, they will chase the bubbles and leave the team, and they will definitely become two whale kids.
The main force of the whale group swam in front of Yu Yiyun, circled around him and observed him.
At the same time, Yu Yiyun was also observing the killer whale family.
Although he knows little about marine life, killer whales are very popular as the "gai slide" of the ocean.
The word "tiger" is in its name, so it can be considered a distant relative of the South China tiger.
As a scholar in the field of biology, Yu Yiyun has some understanding of the general ecotype differences and distribution ranges of killer whales.
Based on the eye spots, dorsal fins, family composition, fish-eating habits, and the water temperature of the whales in front of him, Yu Yiyun guessed that they were probably resident killer whales.
There are currently three major populations of resident whales: the Southern Population, the Northern Population, and the Alaskan Population.
Sherlock Holmes Fat Tiger combined all the clues and tasted the accents of the group of people just now...
Confirmed!
This wave is the Southern Resident Whales, which live mainly between Vancouver Island and Puget Sound.
As the name "resident whale" suggests, resident killer whales are more home-based and will not move easily.
Even the three major populations rarely visit each other.
Each group is closely connected and highly socialized.
In other words, resident whales are less aggressive than transient whales, but they value family ties more, so some...
xenophobic.
Unfortunately, Fat Tiger is now the 'outsider'.
Although he was not sure what kind of killer whale he was, he could conclude from the difference in body size that he was most likely not a Southern Resident Whale.
No matter how malnourished they are, a one-ton weight difference from killer whales of the same age is too outrageous.
Converted to human standards, it's like the other boy is 1.4 meters tall at the age of eight, while I'm less than 1 meter tall.
From cats to dogs and then back to cats, Yu Yiyun, who has always been the biggest in the group, now hangs her tail and falls into deep inferiority.
Grandma Whale led her family members to observe the little fat tiger from all angles and asked the first question.
"Buzz?"
She asked in a low voice seriously whose child Yu Yiyun was.
The resident whales communicate closely among themselves, and the grandmother whale is very sure that she has never seen Fat Tiger in the nearby waters.
Although killer whales have the habit of 'picking up cubs', different ecotypes hardly communicate with each other, let alone accept each other.
Even if they live in the same sea area, resident whales will collectively expel tourist whales when they encounter them.
"Hmm..."
I would also like to know...
Since Hill is a captive-bred killer whale calf, he has no home in the ocean.
Even though his parents had a family, they had been separated for too long.
Facing the vast ocean, the lonely little fat tiger had no idea where to go to find companions.
When Grandma Whale heard Fat Tiger's aggrieved cry, she felt strange and asked him where he came from.
"Oh!" Thrown down by humans!
"Hmm?" Do you know humans? They are the guys with two legs standing on metal monsters.
"Boohoo!" The most terrifying creature on earth, the horrific upright ape!
The two little killer whales were attracted by the bubbles. After hearing Yu Yiyun's vivid description of humans, they were instantly attracted and swam over with great interest.
"Chirp~" I know~
"Wow~" Little man! So good~
“…”
Yu Yiyun was speechless when faced with two young whales that had grown up in the sea and were completely unaware of the dangers of humans.
He almost forgot that Southern Resident Whales are relatively gentle and have the most frequent contact with humans.
There are often whale watching boats full of tourists coming here to admire killer whales.
At least, that’s what humans think they admire.
In the eyes of killer whales, humans are the ones being visited.
Killer whales are highly intelligent and curious. When they have nothing to do, they like to use their tails to give manta rays the "wings of freedom" and to surface to rub bipeds.
In the eyes of some killer whales, humans may be like cats, mysterious and cute.
“Oh my god!” Humans are scary!
Yu Yiyun told them in the most serious tone that they should stay away from humans in the future, especially those who drove whaling ships.
Although the two little killer whales could understand Yu Yiyun's words, they did not understand what "whaling ship" meant.
They chattered and happily told Fat Tiger, "It's fun to hit the boat with our bodies."
For the huge killer whales, using their bodies to hit a moving boat is similar to humans using a fascia gun for massage.
There was a time when it was very popular among killer whales to ram ships with their bodies, which resulted in several shipwrecks.
The two calves were born not long ago, and it was a good time when killer whale hunting was banned in most sea areas, so they didn't know what "whaling ship" meant.
Grandma Whale gave an obvious reaction after hearing what Yu Yiyun said.
She had seen families torn apart by whale calves being taken away by whaling ships, spending long hours traversing the ocean in search of their own children.
The grandmother whale also knew that the young whales that were taken away by whaling ships were never seen again.
“Oh…”
Humans locked me in a tiny swimming pool.
“Oh…”
It's only this big.
Yu Yiyun swung her wild tail, which she didn't know how to use very well, and made a small circle.
"Momo!"
Poor little guy, you can only go downstairs to play.
“Oh my!”
Yu Yiyun cried and told them that she couldn't go down because the water was too shallow.
The two big killer whales that had just lifted up Fat Tiger immediately told their companions: Little Fat Tiger can't dive.
“Ohh! Ohh!”
Yu Yiyun continued to exaggerate, telling them that she had been away from her mother since she was young, did not have enough food to eat every day, and was forced to learn talents that killer whales did not need at all.
Because he behaved badly, humans threw him back into the ocean.
The world described by Yu Yiyun is a completely unfamiliar world for killer whales.
The killer whales couldn't even imagine what the hell this place called 'Ocean Circus' was.
But Fat Tiger's poor physical condition tells it all.
He was a little boy of eight years old, but he weighed less than three tons.
A young resident whale of the same age as him weighed almost four tons, with a dorsal fin standing straight like a beautiful scimitar.
Look at poor Fat Tiger again, his dorsal fin has completely fallen to the side.
While the teeth looked new and showed few signs of wear, the skin was not even as smooth as that of the grandmother whale.
The black skin became extremely rough, perhaps because of shedding or illness.
"Squeak." Poor little guy.
The two giant killer whales that were holding up Fat Tiger made sounds of pity.
The young killer whale circled around Yu Yiyun and seemed to like this new friend who spoke rich language.
Next to the grandmother whale, the older daughter asked her mother if she would like to adopt this poor homeless creature.
The grandmother whale thought for a moment, then made a sound, asking her family members to leave with her, leaving the baby killer whale there.
"Chiu?" Mom?
The female killer whale, who had just used her tail to stun the fish and shrimp and fed the little fat tiger, made a sound of confusion.
The little guy is so pitiful. It's not easy to return to the ocean and now he needs care.
Not only was he unable to hunt, he couldn't even swim very well.
Without the big whale to take care of it, the little guy would not have lived for long.
My family clearly has the ability to adopt the killer whale baby, so why doesn’t my grandmother want to take it in?
The grandmother whale remained calm and serious, and told her companions in a muffled voice:
'He is a human child'.
The whale group is willing to raise a lone killer whale calf, but only those of its own kind.
More strictly speaking, they can only accept cubs of the same ecological type.
Little Fat Tiger was born with the help of humans and is not considered one of the same kind in the eyes of the grandmother whale.
The two older whales vocalized support for the grandmother whale.
It is troublesome to provoke other whales, and resident whales don't want to deal with other whales.
In comparison, humans are more troublesome than whales.
The grandmother whale refused to accept the "human child" for the sake of the entire family.
Yu Yiyun cried and cried so much, but in the end, her grandmother Jing still led the family away.
He knew that Grandma Whale had her own considerations.
Although the result is very cruel to me, I must respect wise and rational people... gulu gulu.
"Bing!"
Save the baby!
Fat Tiger felt the air in his lungs running out again. The terrible feeling of drowning surrounded him, and he was so scared that he shouted for help.
“Hmm——!”
Hearing the unique cry of a calf of its own kind, the grandmother whale, who had raised several litters of calves, moved and almost immediately turned back to lift the calf from below.
The two big whales that were left at the end were reluctant to abandon Fat Tiger.
Seeing the grandmother whale turning back, they immediately turned around and together lifted the baby whale, which was about to suffocate, to the surface of the water.
That was a close call!
The baby was only 0.1 second away from drowning!
Yu Yiyun once again let out a fountain from her blowhole, slapping the water with her big tail, expressing her gratitude to the killer whale who had helped her even though she had no intention of adopting him.
"Bing!"
Don't worry!
“Oh my!”
When I learn how to swim and breathe, I will go out and fool around like a whale... No, wander around. I will definitely not bother you guys!
Grandma Whale was even more worried!
She knew very well that this whale came from an unknown source and God knew where it must be a wild child.
However, because she could understand the language of the baby whale, the grandmother whale became somewhat divided.
Brain: He is an alien, throw him away!
Body: Hang on, dear. Grandma will catch some fish for you to eat.
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