Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
If it was not for the current situation that seemed as if the whales were all set for a showdown––if it was not for the fact that Zhang Zian was currently sitting on a flying inflatable boat and not in an aircraft carrier––then being surrounded by three minke whales of different sizes was something that would make Zhang Zian happy. However, at the moment, he could not bring himself to feel happy.
Adult male minke whales wanted to protect the females. They wanted to purposely make themselves seem bold and powerful in front of females in order to win the affection of the female they liked. Zhang Zian’s small boat was now in the way of that, and so it became the object the male minke whale was going to use to show how bold and powerful it was.
Even with young minke whales, there would be some damaging effects if one tried to get in their way. While the females were slightly less aggressive, one still couldn’t let their guard down around them. As soon as something alarmed or angered it, it was highly possible that the female whale would attack––and the next time it attacked Zhang Zian’s boat it might not be a warning, but instead a direct attack.
The situation once again reached a deadlock.
Zhang Zian did not want the situation to continue in a deadlock. Winning their cold war meant nothing to him, but if he lost, the consequences would be dire. He used his hand to tightly hold the motor handle so he was ready to immediately escape if there was any change to the situation.
He did not want to immediately escape for he was worried that the sound of the motor moving and the rotation of the propeller would break the deadlock and anger the female whale.
The instruction booklet had said that the electric motor’s speed could reach up to 12 kilometers per hour. It was not much faster than a toy, and its speed was nothing in front of a whale; they could catch up in a blink of an eye.
Zhang Zian was now in a situation where it was difficult to move forwards or backwards… Actually, it was probably a dilemma between backing away and backing away, because proceeding was impossible.
So he could only hope that the minke whale could convince its non-blood related male whale…
No one liked leaving their fate in other people’s hands, much less a whale’s.
Zhang Zian racked his brains to think of a way to get out of the awkward situation. When his empty hand made a sweeping motion, it touched the underwater speaker that had been thrown to the bottom of the boat.
Oh, right! How could he have forgotten about it?
He hit his forehead and remembered the recording Sihwa had made. It was originally to pacify the big whale––to tell it that the person in front of it was a good person and would not harm it.
Then this recording should be effective on the female whale, right?
He immediately took out the memory card in the underwater speaker and changed it for a new memory card. He then placed the speaker underwater and switched it on.
With the speaker as the center, the low-frequency sound waves that the human ear could mostly not detect would disperse in the water; the speed was much faster than the speed of a sound wave in the air.
Zhang Zian stared intently at the female whale, praying in his heart that Shihwa had been reliable just this once.
Right after the sound started playing, the three minke whales had different degrees of reactions. By the time the sound had been playing for two to three minutes, the male whale who had been very fierce totally lowered its guard and its body began to relax as it lazily stroked the water. Its body language showed that its wrath had fully vanished.
The female whale was even more relaxed. It was slowly drifting in the water like the young minke whale, its greyish-black back rising and falling just next to the assault boat.
The song actually had such instantaneous results…
Zhang Zian was instantly shocked. It was very miraculous… It seems like what Shihwa said about being able to communicate with whales was not just her blowing smoke.
Since it was safe, there was no need to hurriedly escape anymore. Zhang Zian had also relaxed quite a bit. He collapsed on the boat, wheezing.
It would be embarrassing if people knew about this, but he had been so scared that he had almost peed himself out of fear. It also made him even more aware of the fragility of the assault boat. It could, at most, be used to travel around the coastal waters––going any further would be basically seeking death. Even if one did not meet any whales, a strong gust of wind could capsize the boat.
He picked up the binoculars and carefully observed the male whale. It maintained a reasonable distance from the mother and so––not so much that it could not come to the rescue if there was any danger, but enough that it would not stress them out.
Its body had many scars, and they all looked like old scars that seemed to have come about naturally. They could have been scars from when it fought with other sea animals, but they could also be scars from fighting with others of its kind.
The courtship competition between whales was very intense. To fight for the position of ‘chief escort whale,’ two, or even more, male whales would spare no effort to drive the other party away from the female whale. How would the winner be decided? It would depend on whose body was stronger.
The whales would use the gas column sprayed out from their blowhole to threaten and scare the other. If that was not effective, they would leap out from the water, and then heavily smash back onto the water’s surface in order to splash an enormous amount of foam to attack the other. If both threatening and scaring them and the foam attack were ineffective, they would use their huge bodies to violently hit each other. Whichever whale could not stand the brutality, it would escape, crestfallen.
Two male whales––both around ten tons each––hitting each other would be enough force to squeeze a small fishing boat into a contorted, fried dough twist.
Due to the existence of whale lice and other kinds of parasites, a mature whale’s body was not as smooth as it looked on the surface. When the whale’s hit each other, they could harm themselves or the other whale, but it would not cause a fatal injury.
The scars on the male whale were probably battle scars from its previous courtship experiences.
Of course, the male whales that seemed extremely devoted in the moment would immediately change and pull out their genital organs after they successfully inseminated the female whale. They would become heartless jerks that pulled up their pants and walked away, leaving the pregnancy, the birth, and the child rearing all to the female whale.
Zhang Zian looked in interest at the interactions between the mother and son minke whales, but most of their body was submerged underwater; he could only see their backs. Sadly, there was no underwater camera, so he could not see the elegant way in which they swam in the water. He could only base it off of his own imagination.
The male whale was swimming quite far away, around 400 to 500 meters, as if it was on high alert for them.
Zhang Zian looked at his watch; he had been out for quite a while. Dark clouds hung low in the sky as if it were going to rain at any time. The trial voyage’s goal had already been reached, and he had unexpectedly seen three minke whales, so it could be said that he completed his mission perfectly. It was about time he turned around and returned to shore. It would take quite some time to deflate the assault boat and to gather his things.
“Child, I’m going home. You all have fun on your own.” The young minke whale had floated to the surface, so Zhang Zian took advantage of the moment to pat the side of its back as a farewell. Although its body was much bigger than his, in terms of age, he was undoubtedly a child.
It was like it could understand what he said. It waved its tail, as if it couldn’t bear to part from him. The movement of its tail caused some water droplets to land on the boat as if it was not willing to say goodbye to its friend.
Although the minke whale was not a social animal and did not like traveling with companions of the same species, Zhang Zian was not a whale and was not considered a part of its species.
“Don’t worry, I’ll come by often in the future to visit you all. If you heard the sound you heard before, then you’ll know I came back. If the person who came isn’t me, don’t get too close to them.” He warned them, but perhaps they did not understand such complicated sentences. They seemed quite distracted and suddenly became very restless as they continuously moved their bodies.
What happened? What’s wrong with them? Are they hungry?
Zhang Zian was feeling puzzled when the nearby male whale gave a long, low-pitch cry and whipped its tail as if it were a propeller. Its tail continued to get closer and closer to where he was with increasing speed.
