Using a knife to pry abalone is certainly a common way to catch abalone, but no one would ever use this method on natural abalone.
Because the sharp edge of the blade may accidentally injure the abalone when it touches it. Farmed abalone is not a big deal, as they are almost always pried off in this way for quickness and speed, but this is absolutely not allowed for natural abalone, as it would be a real pain if one was damaged!
Xiang Yang swam over quickly to stop them, and at the same time taught those who didn't know how to catch abalone how to catch abalone.
In the beginning, Xiang Yang had to teach them one-on-one. Gradually, more and more people learned how to catch abalone, and those who didn't know how to catch abalone also gradually figured it out. Then everyone's efficiency in catching abalone improved.
Xiang Yang took a quick look at the net bags around everyone's waist and was finally satisfied. Although he had wasted some time catching abalone, the crew's harvest made up for this loss. The crew members who went to the sea all had more or less harvests, and Xiang Yang saw quite a few three-head abalone and four-head abalone.
After making sure that everyone knew how to catch abalone, Xiang Yang continued searching on the seabed.
Xiang Yang swam into the seaweed, looking around as he swam.
Suddenly, Xiang Yang stopped swimming, thinking he was seeing things.
I saw a snow-white creature with a shark-like tail and a round body not far ahead. It was holding a large abalone over ten centimeters long with its fins and smashing it hard on the ground. Its silly look was as adorable as it could be.
"Seal?" Xiang Yang muttered in his heart, "How is it possible? This is a temperate sea. How could there be a seal that can adapt to living in extremely cold seas?"
Out of curiosity, Xiang Yang couldn't help but swim towards that direction.
The strange "seal" was not afraid when it noticed Xiang Yang approaching. Instead, it turned around and looked at Xiang Yang curiously. Its smooth, furry little face was full of cuteness.
As soon as the 'seal' turned around, Xiang Yang determined its true identity.
"It turns out to be a sea lion." Xiang Yang smiled. Although sea lions are also a kind of sea beasts that live in extremely cold waters, they are also found in temperate waters.
Fur seals are divided into two genera, northern and southern.
Most of the northern fur seals are distributed in the North Pacific Ocean north of 35 degrees north latitude. They sometimes live in the Kuril Islands area. They can occasionally be seen in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea of my country.
The distribution of the South Fur Seal is very wide, reaching as far north as the Galapagos Islands near the equator and as far south as the cold Antarctic region.
There is a famous fur seal island near Alaska, where the largest population of fur seals ever discovered lives.
In fact, there were a large number of fur seals in my country's territorial waters in the early years, but in recent years they have become almost extinct. Because the fur of fur seals is of very good quality, in my country we even call fur seal skin sea dragon skin. A complete fur seal skin could be sold at a sky-high price of over ten thousand yuan in the past era when ten thousand yuan households were rare.
In addition to fur, the oil on the body of the fur seal is also a very precious resource. The fur seal peptide extracted from the fur seal oil has the effect of lowering blood pressure, dilating blood vessels and unblocking meridians.
Xiang Yang looked at the honest and cute seal with its head raised high, its big round black eyes blinking at him, as if looking at a friend coming from afar. The seal, who treated him as a guest, sighed slightly.
Fur seals have always regarded humans as friends and were once very common marine creatures in the ocean. However, they have now become endangered species because of their large-scale hunting by humans.
Fortunately, not many people dare to kill sea lions now.
At present, except for a few countries that do not have territorial waters at all, all other countries have introduced relevant laws to protect fur seals. Only fishermen in very few countries can legally kill fur seals.
Xiang Yang tried to swim towards the sea lion.
That sea lion was very bold. It looked very much like a dog and held its head high, as if to greet Xiang Yang.
As Xiang Yang approached, the sea lion also approached Xiang Yang.
When the fur seal's pectoral fins slid, Xiang Yang could tell at a glance the difference between its pectoral fins and those of a humpback whale. The humpback whale's fins were real fish fins, but the fur seal's were not.
Are the fins of the fur seal actually feet? It has a total of four feet that look very much like fish fins, and each foot has five fingers connected by webbed feet.
The most amazing thing is that this sea lion has a pair of ears with ear shells on its round head.
The shells on the ears of fur seals are very useful. When they go into the water to catch food, they usually use the shells to cover their ears to prevent water from entering their ears.
When they move on land, they open their shells again, and their ears stand up like dogs. At that time, their hearing becomes extremely sensitive and they can hear the slightest movement a hundred meters away.
This sea lion is plump and seems to be extremely greedy. It even remembers to hold the big abalone while swimming.
Xiang Yang saw that there were some cracks on the abalone shell held in the sea lion's arms. They were caused by the sea lion's strong impact just now.
Although sea seals are sea beasts, they are almost the weakest of all sea beasts. They are considered predators at the bottom of the ocean. Their hunting ability is limited, so small fish, shrimps, crabs, scallops, etc. are all on their menu.
When food is scarce, fur seals will also prey on shelled marine creatures such as abalone, conch, and even sea urchins.
They are also one of the few marine creatures in the ocean that are capable of dealing with abalone, conchs, and sea urchins? Because sea seals have very developed brains? They have very high intelligence and can even use some simple tools.
For example, when a sea seal finds a sea urchin that is covered with poisonous spines and that other marine creatures cannot deal with, they will pick up weapons. They will find some small stones nearby and smash the sea urchin's shell hard until the shell is broken open and they can eat the delicious tender meat inside.
The sea lion swam to Xiang Yang and seemed very excited, just like a dog seeing its owner come home. It jumped around Xiang Yang and handed the abalone it caught to Xiang Yang as if presenting a treasure.
Xiang Yang smiled, and gently stroked the sea lion's head a few times with his shark-skin-gloved hand before taking the abalone.
This abalone is not small, with a diameter of more than ten centimeters. It should be a four-headed or five-headed abalone, but its shell was damaged by the sea lion. It cannot be sold at a good price if it is brought back, and it will not survive if it is released.
When the sea lion saw Xiang Yangzhen taking the abalone, he looked at it eagerly, just like a dog watching his owner eating roasted chicken legs. If it wasn't at the bottom of the sea, it would definitely drool all over the floor.
Xiang Yang smiled again.
Confucius said: "Courtesy requires reciprocity. If you do not reciprocate, it is impolite!"
Since Xiang Yang accepted the sea dog's kindness, he must give something in return. Otherwise, the little guy might not be so friendly the next time Xiang Yang meets him.