Just as the net was being hauled into the boat, Ah-Can began to slow down and stop the boat.
Feng Ye took off his clothes, walked to the side of the boat, and was about to jump when he heard A-Can shout from above: "Brother Ye, wait a minute, I'll go with you."
"Okay, hurry up and come down."
Fang Yi was also somewhat tempted, but looking at the waves in the sea, he ultimately dared not, and reminded them, "The waves are a bit big, be careful."
Ye Chenliang's heart skipped a beat: "Aye, wait for me."
He shouted hurriedly, turned around, and quickly ran into the cabin.
A little while later, he returned with two ropes and handed them to Feng Ye and A Can: "For safety, tie the ropes around your waist."
Feng Ye and A-Can nodded, each tying one end of the rope around their waist, while Ye Chenliang tied the other end to the gunwale.
The waves were indeed quite big, but given their swimming skills, they weren't afraid.
However, it's always good to have more protection.
After taking safety precautions, the two jumped into the sea without hesitation.
The seawater instantly submerged the two of them, leaving only strings of bubbles rolling on the surface.
Feng Ye surfaced, wiped the seawater off his face, looked around, and saw A-Can, who had also just surfaced, pointing in the direction of the command whale.
Ah-chan gave him an OK sign, and the two of them swam forward with all their might.
The distance wasn't very far, only two or three hundred meters, but the waves kept crashing against it, creating considerable resistance.
It took them several minutes to finally get close to the gray whale and step onto the reef.
This reef is quite large, probably one or two hundred square meters, and the water depth is about chest level.
The gray whale's massive body lay horizontally on it, with the part above the water reaching forty or fifty centimeters. It was covered with dense barnacles, which had turned grayish-white from the sunlight.
Because they didn't know its current condition and were afraid that it might still be alive and struggling to hurt them, they didn't dare to get too close and only observed it from a safe distance.
The two circled the gray whale halfway around its head and found that although the whale's eyes were open, they were lifeless and the pupils were cloudy.
"Could this big guy really be dead?"
Ah-Can muttered to himself.
Feng Ye frowned, then boldly approached slowly, waving his hand at the gray whale's eyes.
The gray whale, however, did not react at all.
"There's no reaction at all; it seems he's really dead."
Ah-Can swam over and poked the gray whale's eyeball with his finger, confirming, "It's such a pity that such a big guy is dead."
"It's a real pity, it's not easy for them to grow up like this."
Feng Ye echoed, a phrase popping into his mind: "When a whale falls, all things come to life."
He had only heard of whale falls in his previous life, but had never actually seen one.
He was now eager to see for himself.
Literally, the "fall" in whale fall refers to the process of a whale carcass sinking from the surface of the sea to the seabed.
However, if viewed as an ecological concept, it is often considered more appropriate to understand "fall" as a unique deep-sea biological community supported by whale carcasses as a source of nutrition.
Although the gray whale didn't sink to the bottom of the sea, but only became stranded on a reef, it will likely result in a whale fall.
Without hesitation, Feng Ye plunged into the water.
As soon as he dived into the water, he saw various marine creatures surrounding the gray whale's carcass: small fish, shrimp, clams, starfish, crabs, worms...
Perhaps because the gray whale had not been dead for very long, these creatures had only just begun to gather and were not yet numerous.
Moreover, no large fish have been attracted to come and feed.
However, it is foreseeable that over time, a vibrant micro-ecosystem will eventually form here.
After watching for a while, Feng Ye slowly surfaced: "Let's go back first."
Now that we've confirmed the gray whale is dead and seen the whale fall, we can go back.
Ah-Can didn't ask any more questions and swam back with him.
The people on the ship had been waiting for a long time, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw them return safely.
When they got closer, they lent a hand and pulled them onto the boat.
"What's the situation with the gray whale?"
Fang Yi couldn't wait to ask.
Ah-Can took a few breaths: "Stranded on the reef, already dead."
"He really is dead."
Fang Yi immediately perked up, "They're hard to catch when they're alive, but now that they're dead, can we find a way to drag them back?"
Upon hearing this, Ye Chenliang and the others' eyes lit up, and they all expressed their agreement:
"Yes, such a big fish, it could fetch a good price if we brought it back, right?"
"Exactly, it's a waste to leave it here; we might as well take advantage of it."
"I saw him the day before yesterday. He hasn't been dead for long, so his flesh should still be fresh. If we take him back and process it, we might be able to sell it for a good price..."
Feng Ye had no intention of taking it back, but after hearing everyone's heated discussion, he felt it was feasible.
However, he wasn't thinking about selling it for money.
Selling such a large machine domestically is not easy, and there are also legal risks involved.
His idea was to tow it back and hand it over to a research institution for study, which would be a contribution to the country and another way to respect the life of this gray whale.
As he was thinking, Fang Yi spoke up: "Why sell it? Wouldn't it be better to hand it over to a research institution to make it into a specimen? That way, it can preserve its integrity and be used for research and appreciation, which is more meaningful."
"Hand it over?"
Ah-Can asked hopefully, "Will there be a reward?"
Upon hearing this, everyone else looked at Fang Yi with anticipation.
The four newly recruited boatmen, in particular, had eyes that shone like light bulbs.
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