As a result, the male whales were very surprised to find that Xiang Yang did not "drive" them away this time, and a white "treasure chest" filled with many delicious "snacks" appeared in Xiang Yang's hand.
The male whale immediately swung its tail, swam forward for a while, then looked up at Xiang Yang.
Seeing that Xiang Yang did not move, the male whale became a little bolder. It accelerated and swam to the left side of the boat.
Xiang Yang poured the entire box of cuttlefish in his hand into the sea.
The two humpback whales immediately opened their mouths wide and swallowed the food.
"That's strange." Xia Pengjie frowned and said, "I seem to remember that humpback whales don't eat in winter."
"That's right and that's not right." Xiang Yang said with a smile, "Humpback whales do only hunt in the summer. In the winter, they can rely on the fat stored in their bodies to survive the entire winter. They can survive the entire winter without eating, but that doesn't mean they can't eat throughout the winter."
Speaking of which, the hunting phenomenon of humpback whales is very spectacular. They know a very special way of hunting, called the net-pole hunting method.
This requires a large group of humpback whales to dive under the school of fish and form a huge encirclement around the school of fish.
When the encirclement is formed, a large group of humpback whales will swim rapidly under the school of fish, using their blowholes to spray water upwards to form a bubble net, thereby forcing the school of fish to become more dense.
When the density of the fish school reaches a certain level, the humpback whales will suddenly open their mouths wide and leap upwards, swallowing tens of thousands of fish in one gulp.
However, this spectacular sight is hard to see even in summer.
Eight to twelve humpback whales are usually required to participate in the bubble net hunting method, and the diameter of the bubble net can sometimes reach 30 meters.
This net-pole hunting method, once praised by marine biologists as the most unique hunting method for marine mammals, is now almost lost as the number of humpback whales gradually decreases.
Two humpback whales chased behind a distant-water fishing boat, prompting the crew to take photos and post them on their social media accounts.
Many crew members on Xiang Yang's ship are graduates of Ocean University, and many of their friend lists often deal with the ocean. After the photos were uploaded, they immediately attracted the attention of many people. These people include students, faculty members, and even experts and professors from Ocean University, including some biologists and members of the Marine Animal Protection Association. After seeing the photos, they liked them and left messages asking about the approximate location of the two humpback whales.
At this time, the boat was very close to the Qinglongwan Pier. Xiang Yang and his companions could even see the figures on the pier. The people on the pier naturally saw the two humpback whales. They all exclaimed, "Look! Whales!"
The news spread quickly, and soon a large group of people crowded onto the Qinglongwan Pier, staring at the sea in amazement.
When the male whale surfaced to breathe, it may have seen the "little man" by the dock, and it snorted very happily through its nostrils, and then made a loud whale call.
“Woo—”
Along with the whale cry, the male humpback whale blew out a short, thick and hot gas from its nostrils. The gas rolled the surrounding sea water out of the sea and formed a spectacular water column near the Qinglongwan Pier!
“Woo—”
It really sounds like a whistle. The sound of the whale is very loud and penetrating, just like a steam engine running at full power.
"Yes, yes."
“I heard the whales.”
"Come and listen to the call of the whale."
The villagers on the shore shouted excitedly and waved desperately at the two humpback whales.
The male whale seemed to feel the enthusiasm of the villagers of Yanlong Village on the shore. It flapped its tail fin fiercely under the misty water column, and then jumped high out of the water. Its movements were calm, graceful and moving.
It jumped out of the sea a full four or five meters, then stretched out all its fins in mid-air, and then dived headfirst into the sea.
"Bang!"
It was as if a depth charge exploded under the sea. A huge noise was heard on the sea surface, and at the same time, a huge snow-white wave several stories high was raised at the place where the humpback whale landed.
"This big guy is very naughty!" Chen Qingsheng said with sweat, covering his ears.
Xiang Yang also smiled bitterly.
The humpback whale had a lot of fun, but it caused trouble for Xiang Yang and his friends.
Xiang Yang estimated that he could have heard the sound of the male whale jumping out of the water and then falling into the water from thousands of meters away. The ocean-going fishing boat was only a dozen meters away from the whale. Not only were Xiang Yang's ears buzzing, but his whole body was also soaked by water.
"Stop it, Big Head." Xiang Yang shouted loudly towards the bottom of the boat.
Xia Pengjie looked at Xiang Yang suspiciously, "Captain, can the whale understand you if you shout like that?"
"Of course it can." Xiang Yang said, "Humpback whales are very smart. Their IQ is equivalent to that of a four or five-year-old child. This male whale is particularly smart. When I first saw it, do you know what it was doing? It was seeking human help to clean the barnacles off its body."
Xia Pengjie forced a smile. He felt that what Xiang Yang said was too outrageous.
Xia Pengjie is not a person who knows nothing about animals. On the contrary, he likes animals very much.
He has a dog at home, and it is a big golden retriever that is known as the smartest pet dog.
Xia Pengjie believed that the big golden retriever he raised was very smart. Every time he came back, the big golden retriever would immediately pounce on him to greet him. When he went out, he only needed to call the big golden retriever, and it would go home by itself, squatting there and watching him leave without chasing after him. When it was time for dinner, the big golden retriever would squat under the table by itself, and would run over as long as he called it.
But, do animals seek help from humans
Xia Pengjie holds a negative attitude.
Xia Pengjie's family comes from the countryside. The mountains, wastelands, and ridges are full of nasty plants such as cockleburs. Whenever the big golden retriever goes out for a walk, it often comes back with cockleburs all over its body.
Xia Pengjie often saw the big golden retriever lying on the ground and biting its own hair with its teeth in order to bite the cockleburs out of its hair. Even though the cockleburs stuck tighter the more it bit, the big golden retriever never sought his help. Sometimes Xia Pengjie would go over to help the dog clean the cockleburs off its body, and the big golden retriever would bare its teeth at Xia Pengjie.
After listening to what Xia Pengjie said, Xiang Yang smiled. In fact, there are some differences between the two.
Generally, dogs are able to remove the cocklebur balls stuck on their bodies. Even if they cannot remove them immediately, dogs have ways to grind them off bit by bit. In short, a cocklebur ball will not stay on a dog's body for more than half a month, and will fall off in half a month at most.
But the barnacles on humpback whales are different.
Once barnacles appear on the body of a humpback whale, they will never fall off naturally without special means, and will multiply as time goes by.
Sometimes, humpback whales are made very uncomfortable by barnacles, and they will even swim to reefs and ram themselves against the rocks, even if it means getting a bloody head.
Xiang Yang also read a report about a humpback whale dying from barnacles.