Li Du was treading water quickly on both feet, keeping his body roughly afloat.
Ah Meow could swim, although he didn"t like the water after falling in. He flopped his
four paws in disgust but swam decently.
Ah Ow pounded from the back, jumping out of the water like a dolphin.
Ah Meow was looking up and saw with horror a dark cloud over his head. Then, the
cloud crashed on him!
Cras.h.!.+
With a m.u.f.fled sound and a big splash, Ah Ow landed on Ah Meow.
Ah Ow was still floating on the surface, happily swimming like a dog, but Ah Meow was
far from happy!
On the deck, Ali took a gulp of water and was amused to see this: Ah Ow, this stupid
wolf, wasn"t aiming, and could crash into anyone.
A few seconds later, Ah Meow emerged from the water, struggling to keep his head
above the surface and opening his mouth to cough.
An interesting detail about tiger cats was that they coughed by spitting rather than
hacking.
After coughing up the water clogging his mouth and nose, Ah Meow glared angrily at Ah
Ow and called loudly at the top of his lungs: "Meow!"
Ah Ow saw Ah Meow appear and swam as fast as possible, trying to catch up with the
tiger.
Frightened, Ah Meow moved his legs and desperately swam towards the boat. He used
his tail as well, swinging it from side to side like a small oar.
Ah Meow was struggling for his life. Ah Ow tried hard to chase him, but she just wanted
to play, Both swam as hard as they could, but with different speeds.
When Ah Ow caught up with the yacht, Ah Meow finally took the first step to climb up
the escalator. He rushed up the escalator, visibly relieved.
Just as he was about to leap into the boat, Ali jumped forward, his tail aiding his hind
legs, and landed on Ah Meow.
Go ahead, Ali. That"s a powerful foot!
"Meow!" His tail sticking out, Ah Meow"s body streaked a parabola through the air and
fell back into the sea.
Ah Ow was so unhappy to have missed Ah Meow that she tried to catch him. Just as he
emerged from the water, she clapped her paws again!
Seeing Ah Meow punished, Li Du was satisfied. Knowing that Ah Meow could swim very
well, he didn"t have to worry about him, so he put on goggles and dived into the water.
The water here was so clear that sunlight penetrated to the bottom of the sea.
According to general information, sunlight could penetrate seawater up to the depth of
1000 meters, but in most cases, at the depth of ten or twenty meters, the underwater
world was already dark.
Because the sea of Nemo was clear, the sea floor twenty meters below was still very
bright, with patches of coral groups growing underwater in the life-giving suns.h.i.+ne
comfort.
There were many kinds of fish underwater. Li Du was not sure about their species.
If there was a shoal of fish, they would probably be sardines.
The deeper one went it, the more shoals of sardines one could see. Li Du was close to
the edge of the shark net, where the water was deepest and the shoals of sardines
were the largest.
He saw Sophie holding an underwater camera and motioning to take a picture of
herself. He wanted to get into the sardine shoal and take a picture of underwater life.
Sardines were vigilant. They were at the bottom of the ocean food chain. Almost all
meat eaters, including fish and other sea animals, preyed on them.
Li Du took a deep breath and dove down, holding the shark net and floating quietly in
the water, waiting for the fish to approach.
Sophie held up her camera and waited for the right moment to press the b.u.t.ton.
Suddenly, however, Sophie lowered the camera and looked at Li Du in horror.
Li Du sensed something was wrong and reacted quickly. Instead of looking back to see
what was causing Sophie"s panic, he pushed hard against the shark net with his feet
and used the reaction force to swim forward.
Almost at the same time, a strong impact hit his body like a cras.h.i.+ng car. Li Du felt a
sharp pain in his back as his body was thrust forward.
Sophie hastened to catch him. Li Du"s lungs ran out of oxygen, and Sophie dragged him
to the surface of the water.
As he rose to the surface, Li Du took a deep breath. Then he heard Sophie"s anguished
voice: "G.o.d, a bull shark!"
Surprised, he asked, "Was it a bull shark that hit me?"
Sophie nodded vigorously. "Yes, there are bull sharks around. Maybe they are attracted
by sardines."
The scare was real, but the danger was not that great. There was a well-maintained
shark defense net, which the lion hunter took care to check earlier. The net was very
strong, and there was no apprehension that sharks might cross it.
Li Du went back into the water, though his back still ached. His underwater vision was
good, and he saw the shark that had hit him.
The shark"s head was wide and flat, its eyes were round and its trunk was large. Its
whole body had the shape of a spindle, and its back was dark gray. Occasionally, it
rolled in the water and then one could see its abdomen was gray-white.
It looked very strong, but it was less than two meters long and not very bulky. Its impact
was not very strong from a distance.
Li Du and Sophie had seen blue whales in a submarine off Sydney, Australia. NowLi Du
wanted to get a closer look at the bull shark, and as he swam a few meters another bull
shark appeared.
One, two, five, ten...
Li Du was shocked. He looked ahead in disbelief, seeing as many as twenty or thirty
bull sharks.
He hastened to climb aboard the yacht. Although the shark net protected him, he was
still uneasy.
The lion hunter, who was sprawled on the deck enjoying a pleasant ma.s.sage, noticed
the school of sharks under the water and got up at once, saying excitedly, "Go, bring my
fish gun, I want to get a shark!"
Li Du said helplessly, "Your hunting hobby is really extensive."
The lion hunter said, "I don"t have any stuffed sharks in my castle yet."
Killing sharks was not that simple. It was not just about having weapons, but more about
being able to get close enough.
Generally speaking, fishermen in Africa would use steel cages to protect themselves in
the water while they approached sharks and shot them through the bars. The lion
hunter, who had no such cage on his yacht, ventured out into the water to attack the bull
sharks through the shark net.
A shark net could act like a steel cage, but it was fixed in one place and could not
enable one to get close enough to the shark. At a distance, the fish gun had poor aim
and imperfect performance.
Shark group did not stick to the shark net, and the nearest one was about ten meters
away. The lion hunter shot many times but did not hit a shark.