Feng Yi is holding a starfish.
The one I was throwing for fun had already gone far away, so I switched to another one and prepared to throw it again, but after thinking about it, it still didn't swim far away.
Instead of moving forward, Feng Yi simply grabbed the starfish and studied it.
He had seen this creature up close and from all angles in the small exhibition hall next to the dormitory area before. There was also an anatomical diagram of the starfish on the wall. Feng Yi was certainly not curious about its structure.
What interested him was whether the starfish was afraid of him.
Marine organisms mainly rely on the transmission of chemical information in seawater to search and hunt. Amino acids, nucleic acids, organic molecules, etc. that are difficult for the naked eye to see can be sensed by receptors.
Changes in the chemical information in the water can cause them to behave differently.
Behavior is the most direct response of animals to changes in stimuli.
Feng Yi wanted to see if the starfish would be stimulated if it sensed his breath and what kind of behavior it would exhibit.
Feng Yi did not change his body shape, but his inhuman aura passed through his diving suit and spread out with the sea water.
Through these, a close communication between "non-ordinary humans" and "marine creatures" can be carried out.
Although restricted by the diving suit, the information molecules emitted were not strong, but the reactions of the starfish were already obvious. The starfish around Feng Yi all took evasive actions and moved away from where he was.
Feng Yi was surprised.
It's really strange that this group of starfish sensed this signal for the first time in their lives, but they all showed the same evasive behavior.
Could this be the "fear engraved in our DNA"
Feng Yi looked at the starfish in his hand, and his pupils turned into thin vertical lines, which expanded due to the light, but were still vertical ovals. They were completely different from normal human eyes.
There is no one else here, so he can change his eyes as he pleases.
"I really want to see what other important information is hidden in their DNA."
Feng Yi thought, staring at the starfish in his hand, as if he wanted to explore the inside through their skin.
Just as I was thinking about it, the communicator rang.
Feng Yi came to his senses and quickly answered the call.
"Feng Yi, where are you?" asked the diver on the other side.
"Me? Just look around." Feng Yi looked around. He couldn't tell the exact location, but it shouldn't be too far away, right
The two divers choked when they heard this.
What the hell is “just take a look around here”!
Do you have a destructive understanding of the word "nearby"? ! !
However, as long as the people were safe, they felt relieved.
Feng Yi also realized from the diver's tone that he seemed to have exceeded the other party's acceptable range this time.
I was so excited swimming in the sea that I didn’t pay attention to the distance in the eyes of normal people.
But negligence is negligence.
"Sorry, I ran away without noticing." Feng Yi said apologetically.
The diver's tone slowed down slightly, and he asked, "How are you doing?"
Feng Yi said: "A lot of starfish."
"Of course, they are still gathering. Do you feel the tense atmosphere when you are surrounded by starfish?" another diver laughed.
Feng Yi glanced around: "No, the atmosphere is quite... harmonious."
It was so harmonious that there was no space at all.
"Anyway, we get along pretty well." Feng Yi said.
As he was speaking, Feng Yi felt something strange on his hand and looked over.
Originally, he was holding a large starfish in his hand, but now only one arm of the starfish was left.
Feng Yi: “???”
Noticing Feng Yi's silence, the diver asked worriedly, "What happened?"
"Nothing." Feng Yi looked at the starfish that escaped in small steps and let go of the remaining limb in his hand.
The diver wanted to remind Feng Yi not to run away any further, and not to chase after the animals in the water, as it was easy to get lost, and if something happened, it would be too late to rescue them. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Feng Yi continue:
"Are you almost done over there? I'll be back right away."
"There's still some work to do, but it won't take long. You can come back. Do you need our help?" asked the diver.
"No, I'm swimming back."
"Don't get lost, find the right direction," the diver said, considering the young expert's face. "Don't be too anxious, safety comes first. Keep in touch."
"good."
Over there, the two divers finished their conversation and started talking about Feng Yi.
"This expert doesn't seem very reliable."
"His attitude is okay, unlike the last expert I met who made a scene even though he did something wrong."
"Do you think he can come back safely?"
"not sure… "
Just as he started to speak, the positioning instrument beeped and the target light spot appeared.
Feng Yi has entered the one-kilometer range.
Seeing this, the doubts and worries in the two divers' hearts subsided a little.
"It seems he didn't swim very far."
"My sense of direction is pretty good. I didn't swim off the track."
Feng Yi, whom they were talking about, slowed down greatly when he was rushing back within one kilometer, trying to get as close as possible to the speed that a normal human can achieve.
But in the eyes of the two divers, it was still very fast!
"Is this guy a flying fish?!"
"Can his body hold up if he swims like this?"
When the two divers had almost finished the work at hand, they thought it would take some time for Feng Yi to come back, so they were about to ask the expert group whether they wanted to supplement some data when they saw Feng Yi.
"Are you okay? Go to the boat and take a rest first." said a diver.
"No problem. Shall we start setting up the net now?" Feng Yi still looked normal.
"Are you really alright?"
"without."
"Okay. If you feel any discomfort, you must speak up. Don't bear it!"
"Understood!" Feng Yi made an OK gesture.
Seeing that Feng Yi seemed fine, the two divers said no more and began to carry out their second mission in the afternoon.
Feng Yi became much more obedient after he came back, and he helped the divers whatever they asked him to do.
He cooperated so well and put in a lot of effort, so the two divers didn't care about Feng Yi running away before.
It's normal for young people to act a little bit out of line. Anyway, it didn't cause any trouble and they didn't lose anything. Feng Yi also knew he was wrong, so he just needed to be more careful next time.
Mission accomplished, the two ships returned.
There is still a lot of work to be done after returning, but those are all handled by specific people, so Feng Yi will not get involved and interfere with other people's efficiency.
Everyone was still at the coast and had not returned to the dormitory. Feng Yi didn't want to go back immediately, but he couldn't just sit there idle, so he wanted to find someone to chat with.
On the expert group side, Professor Ding and several others were chatting about topics related to starfish. Feng Yi listened for a while and then left on his own accord.
The areas of expertise are different and the focus is also different.
Also talking about starfish, a few people over there were discussing body wall polysaccharides and in vitro antioxidant activity.
Feng Yi, on the other hand, only knew whether he could eat here or there.
Not wanting to embarrass himself by going there, Feng Yi looked around and found Professor Li who was staring at the sea and thinking about something.
This professor is not actually a serious type, he just has a temperament that shows concern for the country and the people.
Professor Li's research is related to marine ecology, but he knows more about starfish than Feng Yi.
Feng Yi walked over, "Teacher Li."
The melancholy in Professor Li's eyes faded, and he treated Feng Yi, his junior, in a calm manner, "What's wrong?"
Feng Yi said: "I have a question. Do snakes eat starfish?"
Professor Li's face flashed with surprise, as if he didn't expect Feng Yi to ask such a question.
However, Professor Li still patiently replied: "No."
After a pause, Professor Li added, "Strictly speaking, I can't say for sure. Starfish live in the sea, and they have a larval stage in their growth. Maybe there are some sea snakes that I don't know about that will prey on them. But as for adult starfish, so far, I haven't seen any snakes interested in them."
The larvae of starfish did not look like what they do now. Starfish in the feather arm larvae stage looked small and weak.
Professor Li said: "Starfish have more natural enemies in their larval stage, but their natural enemies are greatly reduced in their adult stage. Therefore, when we consider the prevention and control methods of starfish, we will also start to deal with them in their larval stage and formulate a removal strategy."
Feng Yi asked: "In other words, there is no predator-prey relationship between snakes and adult starfish?"
Professor Li thought for a moment and said, "Whether snakes eat adult starfish or not can be analyzed from the perspective of snakes' eating habits. Putting aside the toxicity, adult starfish have flat bodies and spines, and the toughness of their calcium plates is not strong, which makes it difficult for small snakes to swallow them. From the perspective of energy conversion, even if a snake can swallow it, a starfish can only provide them with a small amount of energy.
"Also, I have limited knowledge of snakes, but I have heard that snakes have the ability to determine the head and tail of their prey, and when swallowing food, they start from the head. I can't imagine how a snake would swallow a starfish. Can it find the head?"
Professor Li looked at Feng Yi and said, "So, considering all these, I guess no snake would be stupid enough to eat it."
Feng Yi nodded, thinking:
There is no predator-prey relationship between snakes and starfish, and they are not considered natural enemies of starfish.
But those starfish were afraid of me, so much so that they stayed away from me.
Therefore-
I have nothing to do with snakes!
It has nothing to do with snakes on land or in the sea!
So, the only thing those starfish are afraid of is me.
Feng Yi thought about it and said, "I saw... when someone caught a starfish, the starfish broke one of its arms."
Of course he wouldn't talk about the things he did!
There are so many boats catching starfish recently, and people coming and going. When asked, the answer is “I saw it by chance”.
Professor Li had no doubts either.
"What you are talking about is the self-cutting behavior of starfish, which is a common body reaction in predator-prey relationships. The broken arms will grow back again," said Professor Li.
"You mean, it felt threatened by a predator, so it cut off one of its arms? A way of survival similar to a gecko cutting off its tail, sacrificing one part to preserve the whole?" Feng Yi asked.
"Almost. However, if they are in the sea, in addition to predators, they will also exhibit this behavior when they feel pressure from the external environment, such as rising water temperature, environmental pollution, parasites or microbial infections, etc., which cause damage to their bodies and will cause self-cutting behavior."
“I see.”
Feng Yi was thinking, was the starfish that cut itself off in his hand due to "fear engraved in its DNA" or some other reason
Is it accidental or inevitable
It is not difficult to verify.
Catch a few more.