At this time Xiang Yang saw an extremely surprising scene.
The flower that seemed to be about to wither just now suddenly straightened up, and the vine part was shaking wildly under the eagle's claws, as if it had epilepsy.
"Uh." Xiang Yang was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that what Hutou had grabbed at the bottom of the sea was a sea lily.
Sea lilies are not plants, they are a type of echinoderms and one of the oldest creatures on the planet. According to biologists' research on sea lilies, they have existed on the planet longer than most ancient creatures. They once had a very large population in the ocean. There are more than 5,000 species of sea lily fossils discovered by humans alone.
Of course, no matter how large a population is, it will still be eclipsed by time. The once huge population of sea lilies now has less than 600 species left.
"Pah!" The Steller's sea eagle emerged from the seabed, threw the sea lily onto the deck, and then shook its feathers elegantly.
“What is this?”
The crew members were stunned when they saw the lily twisting wildly on the deck. They rubbed their eyes in disbelief and their breathing became rapid. "Could this be the legendary elixir?"
Given the appearance of the sea lily, no one would believe that it is not a magical medicine.
Its appearance is very similar to that of a lily. This sea lily also has a stalk that looks like the rhizome of a plant, with long feather-like tentacles extending from the stalk, just like the leaves of a plant.
In fact, it was really regarded as a fairy flower in the Tang Dynasty.
In the later years of Emperor Taizong of Tang, an official presented a sea lily to Li Shimin, who regarded it as a magic medicine.
"This eagle actually likes to catch sea lilies, and doesn't eat them after catching them." Xiang Yang rubbed the tiger's head at the bottom of the sea, quite surprised.
"Brother Yang, are you saying that the name of this elixir is sea lily?" Fang Youqun asked.
"What elixir?" Xiang Yang rolled his eyes. "This is an animal, a type of echinoderm, called sea lily."
"animal?"
A crew member squatted down and looked carefully for a while, "Why do I feel that this is not an animal? Where are its fins or legs?"
"It looks like a magical herb to me."
"What a bullshit elixir." Xiang Yang went over and picked up the sea lily from the deck. "This is a very helpless animal. The competition for survival in the ocean is very fierce, but this sea lily with a stalk is like a plant on the seabed and cannot move. It has no way to fight back or escape when attacked by other animals. It can only hope that predators will not eat it all at once. It has a strong regeneration ability. It will not die after being eaten by other animals. It can grow again as long as it is given time."
"There are such animals?" The crew members were amazed.
"There are so many strange animals in the sea. Just because you don't know about them doesn't mean they don't exist." Xiang Yang put the sea lily into a water tank. "I don't know if I can keep it alive."
At this time, Xu Fang's voice came from the intercom, "Tsk tsk? We actually found sea lilies. I don't know if our luck is good or bad."
"What do you mean?" Xiang Yang actually didn't know much about sea lilies. He just knew about this creature, but had no idea of its specific value.
Xu Fang laughed and said, "The sea lilies with stalks can't move? They can only live in the same sea area for generations. If we can find living sea lilies, we may be able to find sea lily fossils."
Xiang Yang's eyes lit up, "Are sea lily fossils valuable?"
Sea lilies grew 450 million years ago, 200 million years earlier than the dinosaur era, and can be considered one of the earliest organisms in history. Such an ancient fossil must not only have high scientific research and archaeological value, but also be a holy item in the eyes of many collectors.
But then Xiang Yang regained his composure? So what even if it is valuable
This is not the high seas? Privately salvaging and hiding treasures in territorial waters is a crime.
"It's very precious." Xu Fang said, "I've seen sea lily fossils in museums. They are a natural work of art. Their shape resembles a natural lotus art painting. They are lifelike. It is said that the bigger the flower, the brighter the crystals. The higher the collection value. Later, I specifically inquired about the price of sea lily fossils. I found out that in 2006, a collector who did not want to reveal his name transferred a sea lily fossil that was 2 meters long and 1.2 meters wide. The transfer price at that time was 12 million."
There was an immediate sound of people gasping for air all around.
This price? It's horrible.
Everyone's eyes changed when they looked at the sea lily in the water tank? Some crew members even wanted to kill the sea lily immediately and bury it in the soil. Abalone made into dried abalone as a family heirloom is weaker than this. This is the only choice for a real heirloom.
"Don't even think about it." Xiang Yang guessed what the crew members were thinking and poured cold water on them, saying, "Fossils are not so easy to make. Don't even think about it for thousands of years."
Everyone then smiled awkwardly. Thousands of years, no one knows what it will be like in thousands of years.
"We'll take this sea lily back as an ornamental fish and see if Boss Peng wants it. If not, we'll cook it and eat it." Xiang Yang said.
Everyone's faces froze and their skin twitched, as if Xiang Yang was going to eat their lives.
Xiang Yang didn't care about all this. He asked Chen Qingsheng to go into the cabin and get a chicken wing as a reward for the Steller's sea eagle, and then told the crew to disperse and continue doing what they were supposed to do.
As for going into the sea to search for and salvage sea lily fossils
Xiang Yang had no interest in this at all.
The fishing boat continued to sail eastward. About half an hour later, Xiang Yang told Zhou Wang to cast another net.
Because Xiang Yang had previously sailed the route a little to the south, the water in this area had already left the continental shelf and had become extremely deep. When Xiang Yang cast the net this time, he did not ask Xu Fang to stop the boat and wait there. He decided to just drag the net forward this time since it would not reach the seabed anyway.
The fishing net was cast down, and soon the fishing boat began to sail against the force. According to Xiang Yang's experience, this net would definitely yield a lot of harvest, so he immediately shouted loudly: "Reel in the net."
Zhou Wang immediately operated the winch switch.
After a while, everyone saw a large bag of catch being hoisted up by the steel cable. The fish in the fishing net emitted a silvery-white light under the refraction of the sunlight, which was very beautiful.
"A good harvest, a great harvest." He Mingde smiled brightly when he saw the big bag of fish.
Xiang Yang also smiled and immediately ordered, "Quick, Chen Qingsheng, take two people to the cabin to get the foam box out, and have a few people over there bring the water tank over. The rest of you help me clean up the catch. The rare seafood must be handled first."