"This is truly an eye-opener! It's the first time in my life I've ever seen such a big fish!"
"If the tail is this big, how big must the whole whale be!"
What kind of fish is this? Does anyone know?
"Only one tail was visible, so it was unrecognizable."
"Ugh! There are so many barnacles on this tail, so densely packed, it's disgusting..."
The crowd erupted in gasps of amazement.
Most of these people had never seen such a huge creature before, and they started discussing it in small groups.
Many people also shouted loudly to the people on the three ships, asking about the specific situation.
What kind of fish is that?
"What's going on with this fish? Where did you bring it back from?"
"This was a gray whale that had run aground on a reef and died, so we towed it back..."
Most of the boatmen had nothing to do, so they proudly explained loudly to the crowd, their intention to show off obvious.
Although he already knew that gray whales had a lot of barnacles, Feng Ye was still shocked when he saw them up close, and almost had a phobia of trypophobia.
He didn't pay much attention to the barnacles on its body when it went into the water twice yesterday; he didn't expect them to be so dense.
The tail that was exposed above the water looked shocking; there were hardly any bare patches of skin, only a few scattered small pieces.
If this gray whale hadn't stranded and died, it wouldn't have been long before its tail was completely covered by barnacles, and its original skin would never have been visible again.
Over his two lifetimes, Feng Ye has seen quite a few whales, including some that were parasitized by barnacles.
However, this is the first time I've seen a whale with such a dense covering of barnacles; it looks terrifying.
Barnacle attachment is undoubtedly a disaster for marine life.
Whales are among the victims.
They generally swim slowly and have rough skin, making them highly susceptible to barnacle parasitism.
Some whales die because of barnacle parasites.
Even if this gray whale doesn't die this time, it will likely succumb to the burden of its barnacles in the near future and eventually die.
The first time they encountered it, it was ramming the Dong Sheng. Feng Ye guessed at the time that it was trying to brush off the barnacles on its body.
In retrospect, this guess was entirely correct.
As the towline continued to be retrieved, the gray whale's tail was already touching the stern of the Dong Sheng, while its head and body remained submerged in seawater.
At this point, the winches of all three ships stopped turning and ceased retrieving the traction line.
The gray whale's tail remained suspended in mid-air, neither rising nor falling.
After taking a few more photos, the reporters were still not satisfied and asked if the gray whale could be pulled up a little more so they could capture more footage.
"no."
Feng Ye firmly refused, "This gray whale is too big and too heavy, and all the weight is concentrated at the stern. It's already tilting its head up a bit. If we pull it up any further, the boat might lose its balance, which would be very dangerous."
After observing the situation of the Dong Sheng, the reporters realized that it was indeed tilting its head upwards, so they had to give up and instead continued to take photos from multiple angles around the gray whale's tail.
The crowd was still chattering away, but now the topic had changed; they were all discussing the barnacles on the gray whale.
"With so many barnacles on its tail, there must be plenty in other places as well. It's enough to make your scalp tingle."
"Yeah, it's really disgusting. I've never seen a fish with so many barnacles on it."
“I once encountered a sea turtle that was also covered in barnacles, but only on its back, and it wasn’t this scary.”
"Tsk tsk, not a single patch of skin is intact. I can't imagine how much pain he must be in..."
Just then, a policeman who had been guarding the cordon suddenly ran onto the boat.
"What happened?"
Fang Yi looked at the person who had come in and asked with a frown.
"Fangsuo, two people have arrived, claiming to be the ship owner's father and uncle, and they want to board the ship."
"It should be my dad and A-Can's dad. I'll go check."
After Feng Ye finished speaking, he turned around and walked quickly towards the bow of the ship.
Fang Yi quickly said, "I'll go with you."
Upon reaching the bow of the boat, they saw two people being stopped by the police outside the cordon, anxiously trying to board the boat.
If it wasn't Feng Jiaqing and Feng Jialing, then who else could it be?
"Father, Uncle."
Feng Ye called out and quickly stepped forward.
"Hello, uncles."
Fang Yi also greeted them and immediately waved to signal the police to let them pass.
"Ah Ye, what's going on? Did you guys find something again?"
As soon as Feng Jiaqing climbed onto the boat, he couldn't wait to ask.
He and Feng Jialing had just arrived at the dock and hadn't figured out the situation or asked anyone else for information.
"We dragged back a gray whale."
"Gray whale?"
Feng Jiaqing and Feng Jialing were both taken aback, their faces showing surprise.
"Yes, a stranded and dead gray whale, we towed it back."
Feng Ye patted Fang Yi on the shoulder again, "Old Fang has contacted the Provincial Oceanographic Institute and is preparing to hand it over to them. He's waiting for someone to come over."
"No, we didn't see anything unusual when we came here this morning. Where did this gray whale come from?"
Feng Jialing asked in confusion.
When did you arrive?
"We arrived around six o'clock. We even went up on the boat to check, but we didn't see anyone. We thought you had all gone to the market, but we couldn't find you there either."
"Then we must have missed it. Big Brother and Uncle Jun came back around seven o'clock. Ah Can and I were sleeping on the boat, but we didn't hear you boarding."
"We just walked around on the deck, you wouldn't be able to hear us."
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