Later, it was said that some people went to Antarctica specifically to study mirages, but they failed to find the prototype of the glacier in the mirage.
"Captain, it's not a question of belief or not. It's better to be safe than sorry." Chen Qingsheng said in a low voice.
Xiang Yang nodded. In fact, in Xiang Yang's opinion, it was normal that he could not find the prototype of the glacier in the mirage in Antarctica.
Most of the Antarctic glaciers are constantly flowing, and it is normal for the size of the images created by refraction of light to be somewhat different from the original objects.
However, Xiang Yang was too lazy to explain all this to Chen Qingsheng and the others. In Xiang Yang's opinion, it was not a bad thing to have a certain respect for nature.
Moreover, Xiang Yang felt that this mirage had existed long enough. After he had explained it to the crew members and then went to discuss it with Gao Chuang, the mirage might have ended long ago.
"Huh?" At this moment, Xiang Yang suddenly looked up at the sky in doubt.
"What's wrong? Captain." Chen Qingsheng raised his head in confusion, but he only saw a small gray-black dot in the air, which seemed to be a large seabird.
"That looks like an Antarctic skua." Xiang Yang said.
"Antarctic skua? Is it a kind of seagull? Why is this bird so rare?" Chen Qingsheng asked.
Xiang Yang shook his head. "No, I suspect there may be an island nearby. The Antarctic skua has a strong flying ability. Its soaring posture with wings spread is fierce and violent, and it is extremely brave. But as far as I know, the Antarctic skua generally only flies over islands and rarely flies over the sea. Even when chasing prey, it will only fly to the sky not far from the shore to deal with the prey."
Xu Fang shook his head and said, "There is a nautical chart for this area. There are no islands nearby on the chart. It takes more than an hour to sail to the nearest island. But it is true that there are a lot of floating ice around us."
"Then this Antarctic skua may be living on the ice floe." Xiang Yang said with a smile.
Antarctic skuas generally like to build their homes next to penguin colonies, so it is reasonable for them to build their homes on larger ice floes.
"Brother Yang, is this seagull stealing things?" Fang Youqun suddenly asked.
"Huh? Why do you ask?" Xiang Yang asked puzzledly.
Fang Youqun said as a matter of course: "If it doesn't steal, why is it called the Antarctic Skua?"
Xiang Yang burst out laughing when he heard this. "In Antarctica, there are only predators and prey, and symbiotic relationships. There is no such thing as stealing or not. The reason why the Antarctic skua is called a skua is just because it looks very similar to a skua."
The skua is a seagull about 60 cm long. It looks a bit like a seagull, but is thicker than an ordinary seagull. Its feathers are light brown with large white wing spots.
This kind of seagull never builds its own nest, but takes domineering means to seize the nests of other birds, so it is named skua. It is widely distributed in Northeast my country, Jie County, East China Sea, Southeast coastal areas and other regions.
The Antarctic skua is a seagull that looks very similar to a skua. It generally likes to build its nests near penguin gathering places. Its young are sometimes accidentally trampled to death by penguins. It is a rare, tenacious and strong bird that only lives in Antarctica.
It is said that except for George Island, the Antarctic skua is almost extinct in other places in Antarctica. It is currently a rare bird carefully protected by international biological conservation organizations.
Xiang Yang thought about it and suddenly said: "This is actually a very contradictory bird."
"Why do you say that?" Fang Youqun asked puzzledly.
Xiang Yang looked up at the Antarctic skua in mid-air and said with a smile, "On the one hand, the Antarctic skua hopes to have its own territory. Once they find an "outsider" intruding into their territory, they will fight to the death with it and will never tolerate it. On the other hand, it needs to rely on the protection of the penguin group to survive, otherwise its cubs can only be dessert for the seals."
"The most important thing is that penguins don't like their neighbor, the Antarctic skua. The Antarctic skua is the penguin's biggest enemy. During the penguin breeding season, the Antarctic skua will guard the penguin colony every day, often attack the penguin habitat unexpectedly, eat the penguin eggs and chicks, causing the birds to fly away and the eggs to break, and causing unrest in the surrounding areas."
When the people around heard this, their eyes suddenly changed as they looked at the bird in the air.
Isn't this a typical case of repaying kindness with enmity
There are actually such birds in this world.
Xiang Yang saw that many crew members looked at the Antarctic skua with contempt, and quickly added: "Don't underestimate it. It is a seabird that can reach the southernmost tip of the world. Someone once found its traces at the South Pole. Apart from penguins, it may be the only bird that has been to the South Pole."
The Antarctic skua has a very strong ability to survive. It can survive indiscriminately throughout the entire Antarctic Circle and can survive tenaciously even in temperatures of more than 100 degrees below zero.
Fang Youqun smacked his lips and said with great disdain: "No wonder it is called a skua, it is really not wrong."
Xiang Yang smiled and shook his head without saying anything.
In nature, only the fittest survive. For the continuation of the species, Xiang Yang does not think that the skuas have done anything wrong.
The Antarctic skua is a blatant robber, and has established its status in the Antarctic continent, earning it the nickname "sky bandit" by humans.
They also often attack baby seals. Whenever they see a mother seal about to give birth, groups of Antarctic skuas will circle over the mother seal, ready to eliminate the danger in the cradle at any time.
Thinking of this, Xiang Yang said quickly: "Not good, quickly get a stick and don't let it fall onto our boat."
"What's the matter? Brother Yang, does this thief bird dare to come to our boat to steal food?" Fang Youqun asked.
Xiang Yang was stunned, "Steal food?"
Xiang Yang just suddenly remembered that on the roof of his fishing boat, two Steller's sea eagles were hatching eggs. How did he suddenly get involved in the food on the boat
But then Xiang Yang laughed, "You know what, this skua really dares to snatch food from humans."
Xiang Yang recalled a paper report he had read before about the Antarctic skua. The report said that whenever an Antarctic research station or research vessel was transporting food in Antarctica, the Antarctic skua would suddenly appear and hover over people's heads.
Once food is scattered on the ground due to damaged packaging, Antarctic skuas will swoop down and grab the food without hesitation.
Even the picnic food brought by the scientific researchers could be snatched away by Antarctic skuas if they were not careful.
Because the Antarctic skuas are very precious birds, if they really encounter such a situation, humans can only watch in despair most of the time.
"But I asked you to prevent it from landing on our boat not because I'm afraid it will steal our food. It can eat whatever it likes on our boat. We don't lack bird food. I'm worried that it will set its sights on those two Steller's sea eagle eggs." Xiang Yang said.