Hearing this, the faces of the crew members around changed. "Captain, what do you mean? Does that skua dare to steal Tiger Head's eggs?"
Xiang Yang shrugged his shoulders. "It even dares to steal penguin eggs. Is it strange to steal the eggs of Steller's sea eagles?"
"But there's no need to worry too much. After all, the two Steller's sea eagles are here." Xiang Yang said with a smile.
In terms of combat effectiveness, ten skuas are no match for a Steller's sea eagle, not to mention that there are two Steller's sea eagles on Xiang Yang's boat.
In fact, compared to Xiang Yang's accidental discovery, the two Steller's sea eagles discovered the skua in the sky earlier.
However, the two Steller's sea eagles did not know what kind of bird the skua was. They were full now, and since they settled down on Xiang Yang's ship, they had reduced their territory to the range of Xiang Yang's ship. The skua did not appear on Xiang Yang's ship, so the two Steller's sea eagles were too lazy to pay attention to it.
But the skua seemed unaware of the terrifying nature of the Steller's sea eagle.
It was flying in the air and saw the two Steller's sea eagles in the eagle's nest. In an instant, it became excited as if a cat saw the smell of fish.
Xiang Yang blinked his eyes and muttered, "This skua has circled over our heads for several times. Could it be that its target is really the two Steller's sea eagles? This is really overestimating its own capabilities."
"That must be the case. Otherwise, there are no islands around us, so why would it be hovering over our heads?" Xia Pengjie said with certainty.
"Chiu—"
At this moment, the male eagle probably realized something was wrong. It let out a fierce cry, and then spread its wings and flew towards the skua.
The female eagle followed closely behind and also made a fierce cry, as if to boost the male eagle's power.
However, the skua continued to circle at low altitude, ignoring the cries of the two Steller's sea eagles.
Skuas are extremely courageous and a bit foolish. When they are extremely hungry, they will even sneak into the food storage of the research station and steal food like mice. They will also scoop up a handful of food before leaving, making the researchers laugh and cry.
Once their stomachs are filled, the skuas will crouch still, lazily killing time as if they are enjoying a peaceful life. Even if they are accidentally stepped on by the huge emperor penguins, they will not fly away but will only let out a heart-wrenching cry and then move reluctantly.
"Antarctic skuas generally don't run away on their own. In Antarctica, they have almost no natural enemies except seals. Being top predators gives them great self-confidence. As long as there is no creature attacking them, even if a goshawk is only a few meters away from them, they will turn a blind eye and not mind at all." Xiang Yang introduced to the crew members around him.
It was once believed that Antarctic skuas liked to build nests next to penguin colonies, and that male and female skuas were accustomed to living together in pairs.
It is also believed that Antarctic skuas have a strong sense of territory. Once penguins approach their nests, they will fight them to the death and show no tolerance, with a domineering attitude of "I am allowed to offend others, but no one else can offend me."
But in fact, biologists have found that few Antarctic skuas build their own nests. Most of their nests are forcibly occupied by some small penguin colonies.
If someone sees Antarctic skuas fighting to the death to defend their territory and thinks that they have a strong sense of family and value kinship, they are completely wrong.
Adult Antarctic skuas usually lay two eggs at a time. The first egg that hatches first has an absolute advantage. It will not only take away the food brought by its parents, but sometimes it will also drive the younger one out of the nest when its parents are away.
The second child who has no ability to survive will become a prey to others and be slaughtered at will.
If it is unlucky enough to encounter another pair of adult Antarctic skuas with children to raise, they will be immediately hunted and become food for their own kind.
In the Antarctic skuas' family, there is no such thing as "Kong Rong giving up his pears", but "fratricide" does happen from time to time.
It can be seen that the Antarctic skuas’ “thief nature” is brought from the womb, and “thief” is their lifeline.
However, although the Antarctic skuas have a bad reputation and biologists have given them a vague name, they are a very important link in the Antarctic food chain, and their daily "bad deeds" are precisely the fulfillment of their mission to maintain the ecological balance of Antarctica.
"Hey, look, that Antarctic skua seems to be very close to Tiger's Head." A crew member shouted loudly.
Xiang Yang nodded.
At this time, Xiang Yang was no longer worried about whether the Antarctic skua would steal the eggs of the Steller's sea eagle. Xiang Yang was only concerned about whether he would be responsible if the Antarctic skua was killed by the Steller's sea eagle.
After all, to be honest, this Steller's sea eagle was brought to Antarctica by Xiang Yang. If this Steller's sea eagle really preyed on the Antarctic skua, it would no longer be a simple case of natural selection and survival of the fittest in the animal world.
Moreover, those watching this scene are not all Xiang Yang's own crew members. The number of Gao Chuang's people around him is more than ten times that of Xiang Yang.
But Xiang Yang changed his mind and realized it was none of his business. It was not him who built the nest for the Steller's sea eagle. Even if the Steller's sea eagle occupied the roof of the cabin, he was also a victim.
Just then, the Steller's sea eagle and the Antarctic skua finally met.
In the sky, the Antarctic skua was defeated by the Steller's sea eagle at first sight.
It’s not that the Antarctic skua is not strong, it’s that the Steller’s sea eagle is really too strong.
When Xiang Yang was a child, he often saw Steller's sea eagles circling over schools of fish.
Whenever a Steller's sea eagle circles over the fishing village, the chickens in the village will scream in fear. A hen weighing several kilograms can be easily carried away by a Steller's sea eagle, let alone an Antarctic skua.
The Antarctic seagulls, which have been living in Antarctica for many years and are a rare species, have never seen a bird of prey as ferocious as the Steller's sea eagle.
The Steller's sea eagle pecked the Antarctic skua's head hard. The Antarctic skua flapped its wings and fell into the sea. The two were not opponents of the same level at all.
The Steller's sea eagle swooped down from the sea and effortlessly grabbed the bloody Antarctic skua. Then it opened its sharp beak and plucked a feather from the beak of the Antarctic skua.
Xiang Yang curled his lips and said to the crew members around him: "You see, this is the terrible thing about biological invasion. The Antarctic skuas are like the overlords of the sky in Antarctica. Basically, except for the sneak attacks of seals, no creature can kill them. But when they encounter Steller's sea eagles, they can't even withstand a face-to-face encounter."
"Yes, I sent it here by myself to serve as a snack to Hutou. It's a pity that I have been worried about Hutou for so long." Fang Youqun said with a smile.