Chapter 539 Underwater Lurking
The sea left behind white foam when the tide went out.
At ten o'clock in the evening, for this relatively traditional town, there were few people near the coastline, let alone the rocky area far away from the beach.
Bifang stood on the towering cliff. Looking down from his position, the dark gray sea surface was undulating. Tens of millions of tons of sea water slowly rose and then gradually shrank, as if a horrible sea beast was stirring up the wind and waves underwater and causing a storm.
Waves several meters high beat against the cliffs at my feet, and the light of the lighthouse in the distance swept monotonously across the sea.
With the help of Mandy and Keke, Bifang put on the diving suit and flippers with great effort, then took a detour from under the cliff into the shallow sea.
In this operation, Bifang and Mandy were responsible for installing the underwater cameras, while Keke was on guard and on alert on the shore.
Mandy put on her goggles and joked, "I thought you were going to jump right off it, like the movie protagonist, jumping off a cliff into the sea and escaping death."
"You seem to have some misunderstanding about me."
Bifang bit the breathing valve and rolled his eyes.
It's not a live broadcast and the situation is not critical. First, I don't pursue the visual effect. Second, it is unnecessary. Only a fool would risk jumping into the sea. Wouldn't it be better to just go into the sea normally?
"I'm sorry, you've always given me this feeling, like... uh, one of those personal hero movies?"
"Instead of talking about this, you might as well save some energy for going into the water. We only have two oxygen tanks, and you are not a Bajau." Bifang said no more and jumped into the sea.
In order to facilitate the carrying of supplies, the two men did not bring many oxygen cylinders, only two each, which required them to fight quickly.
"Bajau? What are they?" Mandy suffered from her lack of education again.
Bifang swam downstream without any explanation.
Human potential is sometimes really a mystery.
Zhang Shun, the "white shark in the waves" in the classical novel "Water Margin", and Jiang Ping, the "river rat" in "Three Heroes and Five Gallants", could both lurk in the water for days. Even heroes like Li Kui and Bai Yutang would have to turn against them and abandon their arms after being dragged into the water and filled with water.
Lurking in the water for several days and nights was an exaggeration by ancient literati.
Without diving equipment, the average person cannot stay submerged in water for more than two minutes. Even the current Bifang, without any auxiliary equipment, can only stay active for about five minutes.
However, the Bajau people living in Southeast Asia can dive into the sea dozens of meters deep to catch fish and collect pearls with only a pair of goggles and no other equipment. The diving time is more than 5 minutes, and sometimes even up to more than ten minutes.
Relying on this ability, the Bajau people have lived on boats at sea and made a living by fishing for thousands of years, rarely setting foot on land.
The word "Bajau" means "people of the sea" in Indonesian.
It is nonsense to say that Sherpas have one more lung lobe than ordinary people, but the Bajau people, who are good at diving, are indeed born with a special physiognomy. Their spleens are 50% larger than those of other people.
As they dive, their spleen contracts, squeezing its oxygenated red blood cells into the blood vessels, increasing the oxygen content of the blood by up to 9 percent, thereby extending their dive time.
So theoretically, the larger the spleen, the greater the diving advantage. The spleen of deep-diving seals is larger than that of other animals.
The extra-large spleen of the Bajau people is not the result of acquired diving training.
Even the Bajau people who do not dive have larger spleens than people of other races. This is determined by their innate genes.
The PDE10A gene of the Bajau people has mutated, which can increase the level of thyroid hormone T4 in the body. This hormone can promote the enlargement of the spleen, thus giving the Bajau people extraordinary diving ability.
Bifang felt that with the system's capabilities, it might be possible to give him such an enhancement.
Maybe I will be the world diving champion in the future.
Seeing that Bifang had no intention of explaining, Mandy shrugged and said, "Oh, sometimes I really envy you natural divers. For someone like me, I can only win the world championship through continuous hard work."
"Get down here."
Seeing that Mandy was fully dressed, Keke kicked him on the butt and forced him into the water.
With a splash, the heavy object fell into the water.
The cool sea water instantly enveloped his whole body. Bifang opened his eyes and turned on the headlamp. His vision was filled with the silver reflections of bubbles.
Bifang tightened his waist and abdomen, and moved his whole body up and down like a swimming fish, diving into the water at a rapid speed without even stepping on his webbed feet.
What does it feel like to dive? Why do you like diving?
Everyone's answer may be different.
Some people like the colorful and diverse creatures in the sea.
Some people like the feeling of being weightless in neutral buoyancy.
Some people enjoy drift diving, just going with the flow.
Some people like to explore historical sites under the dark sea.
Or is it simply the pursuit of excitement...
But for Bifang, there are large tracts of land on Earth that can be traveled, while more than 70% of the oceans have never been visited by many people.
Diving gave him a way to explore such a new world.
Perhaps, this answer is enough.
It's very quiet underwater.
Perhaps the only sound that can be clearly heard is the sound of bubbles from one's own breathing.
There is no direct sunlight on the ocean at night, and the flashlight can only illuminate a distance of six or seven meters, and it is dark all around.
Under water, all human sensory abilities will be reduced. Visibility in the water is very low, the nose is covered by the mask, and you cannot speak or hear any sound.
The beam of light swept past, and the tiny silver fish swam away quickly, leaving behind a pool of bubbling water.
Mandy rarely had such an experience, or rather had never experienced it before. He was like a special forces soldier carrying out a certain mission. Even though he had dived thousands of times, he still felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.
What surprised him even more was Bifang standing beside him.
Although it was pitch black all around, the other party seemed to have an extra pair of eyes and was even able to avoid the coral reefs that had not yet appeared in the light!
Mandy was very sure that ten seconds ago, Bifang had avoided the coral reef that had not yet appeared!
Damn it!
Bifang didn’t know what Mandy was thinking, but he did have an extra pair of “eyes”.
Sharks' electromagnetic induction is so damn useful in the sea!
In the 1960s, scientists used sensors to mark sharks, allowing humans to understand information such as sharks' speed and location for the first time.
But what surprised scientists the most was undoubtedly that many sharks could accurately find their way in the pitch-dark sea.
The reason is the shark's magnetic induction ability.
Sharks have tiny bumps on their heads that can sense the slightest changes in underwater electric fields.
They have some small magnetite particles in their bodies, which are very similar to the material of a compass and can keenly sense the earth's magnetic field.
After a certain ocean survival mission, Bifang has also successfully acquired this ability. Of course, it can never compare to the shark itself.
But no matter how weakened it is, we cannot deny the power of this ability.
However, Bifang, who is on land, usually finds it difficult to feel the help brought by shark electrosensory. He can only barely use the water molecules in the air to sense the activities of organisms within about half a meter around him.
But in the sea, this function instantly increases dozens of times. Bifang is like a radar, which can clearly reflect everything around it in its mind.
The lamppost above his head was completely unnecessary, as he could sense any situation within ten meters!
There are many small fish living on the coral reefs on the seabed. With the help of these biological magnetic fields, Bifang can easily sense the existence of rock walls and reefs and avoid them in advance.
Such behavior fell into Mandy's eyes...
It turns out you’re not Superman, you’re fucking Aquaman!
After sinking more than ten meters, Bifang's body felt a little cold.
Maybe it was still warm here during the day, but now, the sea water is gradually cooling down.
The resistance of water is great, but this can't stop Bifang and Mandy at all.
Both are good swimmers and divers.
For most people, the first time they dive underwater, the unfamiliar environment and feelings will really make them nervous.
It is not only a psychological factor, but also a physiological reaction.
The world's best divers, such as New Zealander William Trumbrey, can dive to depths of 100 meters on a single breath.
But even in water 10 meters deep , human lungs will be compressed to half of their normal size. At a depth of 100 meters, human lungs are only the size of two baseballs.
Athletes like Trumbrey are able to make such deep dives because humans have an innate ability called the mammalian diving reflex.
This physiological reflex has a more poetic name, called the "master switch of life."
The moment a person puts his face in water, various physiological reflexes are triggered in the brain, lungs, heart and other organs.
The deeper you go in the water, the more pronounced these reflexes become, eventually triggering a physiological change.
The blood in the human body will begin to flow from the limbs to the important organs in the body. In extremely deep water, the blood can even penetrate the cell membranes of the organs to support the organs and protect them from implosion under the strong water pressure.
Moreover, as soon as a person enters the water, the heart rate will drop significantly. Even if you exercise vigorously in the water, your heart rate will be slower than on land. This means that people will consume less oxygen in the water and can stay in the water longer.
This is the real reason why humans can dive to depths of more than 100 meters.
An ancient profession in Japan and other places called "ama", involves deep diving by turning on the "master switch of life".
At a depth of ten meters, the first line of photography can be laid out.
Bifang opened the bag he was carrying, made a gesture to start the action, and threw a stone-shaped camera to Mandy.
The two men surrounded the rock formation and began the installation.
