He had seen coral reefs before, but few were as beautiful as this, and he was momentarily overwhelmed by the sight.
Besides the damselfish that brought him there, he also saw many other kinds of fish, shrimp, crabs, shellfish, as well as various algae and seaweed...
Among them are some rare species, as well as brightly colored small fish that can be kept as ornamental fish.
This is truly a treasure trove!
Unfortunately, this coral reef is now covered with countless sea urchins.
Moreover, the types of sea urchins are no longer limited, but are more diverse, and you can see all the common sea urchins here.
Their spines, as dense as needles, cover every corner of the coral, destroying this beautiful ecosystem.
Sea urchins are an important part of coral reef ecosystems, with both positive and potential negative effects.
They help maintain the balance of the ecosystem by consuming algae on coral reefs, thus controlling the excessive growth of macroalgae.
This behavior helps provide space for coral growth and development, while also providing conditions for the replenishment of coral reef larvae.
However, when sea urchin density is too high, they may prey on coral polyps and erode coral skeletons, negatively impacting coral reefs.
The density of sea urchins in this coral reef is excessively high, far too high, like a persistent, malignant infection.
It's conceivable that without human intervention, this coral reef might lose its beauty in just a few years.
But for him, the damselfish led him into a treasure trove.
Leaving aside the precious fish and shrimp, the sea urchins alone here are a considerable fortune.
Of course, even without the damselfish leading the way, they would slowly find their way here.
Because we've seen plenty of sea urchins on the underwater reefs along the way, but not as many as on this coral reef.
Now that he was here, he couldn't let the damselfish's "kindness" go to waste.
They immediately opened the net, picked up the small hooks, and got to work.
One by one, the sea urchins were hooked down and floated into the net below...
Feng Ye stayed in the coral reef for less than ten minutes, before his net was even full, when he felt he couldn't take it anymore and reached his limit.
He had to use his flippers to float.
No rush, come back tomorrow. Sea urchins move extremely slowly anyway, they can't escape.
When he surfaced, he realized that he was quite a distance from the Rising Sun.
Even the Rising Sun seemed much smaller to him.
There weren't many waves today, and the other end of their air hoses was fixed to buoys, not on the boat, otherwise they wouldn't be this long.
He took a deep breath and swam toward the distant Rising Sun.
Ah-chan had already returned to the ship and saw where he had surfaced from.
When he swam to the boat, he asked curiously, "How did you get so far away?"
"I encountered a group of damselfish, fed them some sea urchins, and they led me to a coral reef."
Feng Ye took off his breathing mask, threw it onto the boat, and then climbed onto the boat by clinging to the edge.
Ah-Can took the breathing mask, casually tossed it onto the deck, then reached out and pulled Feng Ye up, helping him stand steadily on the boat.
He pressed on with curiosity, "What about the coral reef? Did you find anything special?"
"That coral reef is absolutely gorgeous, it's like an underwater garden, and there are so many sea urchins, even more densely packed than down here."
Feng Ye wiped the water droplets from his face and said with a smile, "In addition, I also saw a lot of good stuff. It's a pity I didn't bring any tools, so I can only go and take a look tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Ah-Can's eyes lit up, and he excitedly said, "Then let's go take a look together tomorrow. Maybe we can find something good."
"Um."
Feng Ye plopped down on the deck. "I'm going to rest for a bit. You bring the sea urchins up, then go over there and set a new buoy."
"good."
Ah-chan picked up a long hook, hooked the buoy up, and started pulling the rope back in.
"Huh, it's not heavy."
After they had collected most of the sea urchins, he asked in confusion, "Brother Ye, didn't you say there were lots of sea urchins in the coral reef? Why is the net so light? It probably doesn't even weigh thirty pounds."
"Following the damselfish all that way, doesn't that take time?"
While drying his hair, Feng Ye explained, "I only spent less than ten minutes catching coral on the reef, so of course there won't be many."
"Oh, I see."
Ah-Can nodded and continued to pull in the rope, hoisting the net onto the boat.
He then went to the wheelhouse and started the boat.
Upon reaching the sea where the coral reef was located, Feng Ye took a buoy with a small anchor attached from the cabin and threw it down.
After finishing, the Rising Sun turned around and headed back to port.
Both of them were quite satisfied with what they had gained from the trip.
After all, it came out relatively late and could only dive into the sea twice. It's already quite good that it weighs 160 or 170 pounds.
As the sun gradually sets in the west, its rays shimmer on the sea.
When they reached the waters outside White Stone Island, they saw many small wooden boats diligently fishing for jellyfish in the sea. They didn't know how many trips this was.
However, the jellyfish season is almost over, and there's only about a week left to catch them.
Actually, it's still early, not even five o'clock yet.
Almost none of the fishing boats that went out to sea to trawle have returned yet, and only a few fishing boats are docked at the pier.
However, there were quite a few people at the dock, all waiting for their own fishing boats to return so they could deliver their catch home.
They naturally saw the several baskets of sea urchins being unloaded from the ship.
This is the third time already, so I'm used to it, but I still can't help feeling envious.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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