Chapter 892: Whale Fall
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Pi was very surprised, as Zhang Zian had never revealed any thought about going out on the sea on a boat. Even Zhang Zian himself was surprised.
It was just a spur of the moment decision. In fact, he didn’t have reasons to go out on the sea on a boat, but after he saw that giant whale, he could no longer hold back his curiosity. It was very dangerous for a giant whale to come so close to the sh.o.r.e, as it could strand itself with a slight carelessness. It only belonged out in the deep blue sea.
What made it to approach the sh.o.r.e against its survival instincts? Was it Sihwa’s songs? Or was it hurt, too?
As Sihwa’s songs were calling the hunted whales in northeast Asia to head to Binhai for asylum, in theory, it could be traveling there to get away from being hunted. That would bring up a new question, however––Sihwa was asking the whales to come to the sea near Binhai City, but she didn’t ask them to approach the sh.o.r.e. The minke whale’s earlier stranding was an accident as a result of its injury.
Was that suggesting that was that giant whale injured, as well?
Judging from what he knew, he had to make such a guess.
When he saw it briefly at the beach, it was too far away and there were no reference points nearby. He could not estimate how big the giant whale was, but from a rough look, it measured at least a dozen meters long and weighed over ten tons. It was a fully grown, giant whale.
Had such a giant whale been stranded at the sh.o.r.e and could not return to the water within a short time, it would surely die. To make matters worse, the moment it left the water and stranded itself, it would lose the buoyancy of the sea water. Its skeleton and organs would be crushed by its own body weight, making it beyond any possible rescue.
But if it really approached the sh.o.r.e because of injury, things would have been worse… It would not be as lucky as the minke whale, who got stranded on the beach and waited to be found. It would have to wait for the wound to heal on its own, or someone would have to find out about its injury ahead of time.
Zhang Zian was not impulsive. He knew it was extremely dangerous to approach a giant whale over ten tons on a boat––and it might be a giant whale that had lost its mind under the injury.
Even if the giant whale had no intention to harm it, it could bring the entire boat, and him, into the sea with a careless flip. A tail swing was enough to break the boat frame, along with his bones…
That was the sheer difference of size. There was no room to fight back at all.
Him against the giant whale was like a newborn kitten or puppy against a grown man. Their body sizes were hundreds of times different. He would vanish like smoke in an instant.
Not to mention that ten tons might be an underestimation. It would not be surprising if that giant whale weighed over 20 tons.
Anyone with a clear head would not touch an unfamiliar dog boldly, in case the dog bites. If that was the case with a dog, how much more would it be with an unfamiliar, giant whale? Any normal human being would stay away from it.
Not to mention that his only way of approaching the giant whale was on a motorized, inflatable boat, the type used by deep sea anglers. To save money, the motor might not be included, and he would have to row the boat by hand…
Even the marine biologists that specialized in whales would never approach an unfamiliar, giant whale on an inflatable boat. It was an act of foolishness.
Despite all of that, could he allow the giant whale to live or die on its own?
There was a magical term called “whale fall,” which referred to the slow falling of a whale’s carca.s.s into the seabed after its death. It turned itself into nutrients, which fed a mult.i.tude of marine creatures.
Many marine creatures that lived on the seabed lived on whale falls, as they never received any sunlight throughout the entirety of their lives.
Whales were ma.s.sive. Whale flesh was rich in fat and the degradation was very slow. It was estimated that after one whale’s death, its carca.s.s could feed a mult.i.tude of sea bottom creatures for years, or even decades.
Cherry blossoms fell at a speed of five centimeters per second. What was the speed of a whale fall?
Giant whales didn’t fall into the sea bottom right away. Instead, they floated for a while on the surface and were gnawed on by sea birds, sharks, and polar bears. During the fall, other fish would bite and tear it apart, one after another. After it arrived at the bottom, the still carca.s.s would attract more creatures such as hagfish, sleeper sharks, deep sea crabs, etc., followed by bristle worms and crustaceans. Anaerobic bacteria was the last in line.
During the process, its flesh was torn and degraded, forming a storm of “marine snow” that drifted further away along the currents, feeding more lives.
As each giant whale died, many new lives were born out of it.
Even if the giant whale’s flesh was all gone, its grey white skeleton would always stand at the sea bed, forming grotesque and mysterious scenery. As deep sea divers dove into the deep sea for scientific exploration, they often captured whale skeleton forests, monuments for these giant marine mammals. Marine creatures of all shapes swam through the whale skeleton and hid themselves in a panic after being disturbed by the divers’ lights and the stirred up sand.
However, as a result of whale hunting and pollution, the giant whale population had diminished, which meant the number of whale falls diminished as well. n.o.body would ever know just how many marine creatures that lived on whale falls were slowly disappearing.
Death always followed life. It was the law of nature, both to humans and to whales.
The giant whale that Zhang Zian had seen might also die, but not in that way. It was meaningless to die near the sh.o.r.e. Its final destination needed be the remote, deep sea so it could transform itself into a whale fall like other giant whales had, and thus feed millions of lives. Of course, that should only happen after a few decades. Whales had a long life span.
Therefore, he wanted to sail out to sea on a boat to search for that giant whale.
If it was indeed injured or sick, he wanted to do something to help. Even if he could not do enough, he could ask for help from Ke Shaohui, the Fishery Administration Officer he had just met. After all, that fell within his list of responsibilities. Even if it wasn’t enough, he could still seek help from Liu Ying, the local television reporter. She could ask for charitable donations or volunteers from the society in order to save this giant whale’s life.
When everybody added to the fuel, the flame could rise high enough. One person had very limited strength, but the strength of everybody combined was great. Even for that stranded minke whale, without Huang and Xiao Zhi’s help, he could not have operated on it by himself, nor could he have sent it back to the sea. Most people had good hearts, and most people were full of awe towards giant mammals––they were unwilling to regretfully watch it die.
However, the premise of all of that was to confirm that it was indeed sick or injured, instead of approaching the sh.o.r.e for other reasons, such as Sihwa’s songs. He had to confirm his theory with his own eyes by approaching it on a boat.