Chapter 559 Red Blood and Black Waves
The huge dolphin sculpture points far into the sea. The sea is calm at this time, with only the sound of fishing boats whistling as they prepare to move forward.
At sea, a bird takes a long time to completely disappear from your sight, so you can watch it for a long time without any obstruction.
The sun had just risen, and it was less than 5:30 in the morning. Bifang stood on the top of the mountain and looked into the distance. There were still nearly three hours before the live broadcast began. He now had enough time to observe and record.
There were more than a dozen fishing boats of all sizes, all lined up in a row in Dolphin Bay, with flags hanging on the sides and masts, and sacrificial chickens, ducks, fish and meat piled on the decks.
It is both a tribute to the ocean and an alternative fishing bait.
Bifang didn't have a watch, and the fishing boats in the harbor had not yet moved, but he felt that it was almost time, perhaps five thirty-eight.
Except for nine and thirteen, the Japanese prefer odd numbers.
7, 5, 3, and 8 are all numbers that the Japanese love. There is a festival called 753 Festival, which is a festival to bless children.
Fishermen tend to believe in supernatural powers more than farmers.
The floating, unfathomable sea is much more volatile than the solid soil under your feet.
When people face uncertainty, they tend to have superstitious thinking.
In 1948, an English anthropologist studied a primitive tribe near Papua New Guinea, which made a living by fishing. There was an inner lake on their island, and the resources in the inner lake were very stable. As long as you go there, you can find fish, but the quantity and quality are average.
The quality of the inner lake is not good, so fishermen sometimes have to go out to sea to fish, and going out to sea is full of uncertainty - sometimes they can catch big and lots of fish, and sometimes they will return empty-handed, and it may even be dangerous.
Fishermen have a primitive religious ritual before going out to sea and are willing to believe in supernatural powers.
But anthropologists have noticed that fishermen are not always superstitious. They only perform religious ceremonies before going out to sea to fish, and do not engage in superstitious activities when fishing in inner lakes.
The question is, if you really believe in God, shouldn’t you thank God for the gift when you go fishing in Neihu Lake?
It seems that the fishermen don't care much about the gods' feelings...they just want to do something to intervene in the uncertainty.
In addition, there are many lucky tricks of athletes, who believe that the tricks will bring good luck and they will continue to hit the ball.
And Skinner's pigeon experiment, which changed the chance of whether the pigeon would get food by touching the mechanism to random.
This ultimately results in the pigeon making some unnecessary movements every time before touching the mechanism.
Sometimes I shake my head, sometimes I turn around twice...
Fishermen hold sacrificial ceremonies, athletes pursue good luck, and pigeons perform unnecessary movements. Some rely on God, while others rely on themselves. In essence, they all share the same thinking - when faced with uncertainty, people always want to do something to intervene.
Even though you know that it may not work, you still have to do it. You will not feel at ease if you don’t do it - this is superstition.
This is a very normal behavior, but Bifang found it ironic that the fishermen in Taiji Town did this at this time.
Subconsciously, these people don't care at all what the ocean thinks.
Perhaps this is the instinct of all living things. In the face of the benefits they can obtain, the gods in their hearts become dispensable.
More than a dozen fishing boats were floating side by side, looking quite a large force. These "dolphin hunters" should be setting off soon.
The mist on the sea gradually dissipated, and the time was already past half past five, only a few minutes away from five thirty-eight.
Unfortunately, the distance was too far and Bifang couldn’t see anything clearly, so he could only observe via drone.
Among the dozen or so fishing boats there was a new one. The deck was very clean, not yet covered with bird droppings. The air was filled with a strong smell of paint, which was a bit pungent.
On the fishing boat, the captain burned incense and knelt down, while gongs, drums and firecrackers blew.
Several crew members were standing at the bow, some of them were sniffing constantly and feeling a little uncomfortable. A young man was wearing waders, which might have been given to him by his father. They were a bit old and loose. This was a hunting skill that had been passed down from generation to generation.
He stretched out his arms, and really could feel the feeling of a seagull flying against the wind over the sea, except that there seemed to be a black seagull, which seemed a little out of place. But before the young man could take a closer look, the black seagull disappeared.
Everything started with friendly greetings, and the topics of conversation were limited to a few topics. Occasionally, you could hear someone bragging about the romantic affair that took place the night before departure.
Soon, 5:38 arrived, as expected.
More than a dozen fishing boats sounded their horns, and white foam spread out from both sides of the hull, pushing the waves forward.
The departure ceremony must start on time, not a minute earlier or later.
When he first went out to sea, the young man Fei Niao did not feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, he was very excited.
When Fei Niao was a child, he was used to watching dolphin shows in the aquarium. Those smart dolphins were really cute, and his room was filled with dolphin posters and small toys. But people cannot always remain the same.
As he grows older, Fei Niao likes more and more things, such as new game consoles, VCDs, and the cute girl next door.
After entering college, I wanted more things: the best computer, a comfortable environment, food for my pet, a place to live, a cool bicycle, an ergonomic chair...
And all of these cost money.
But a qualified dolphin can be sold for hundreds of thousands of gold coins. Even if you can't get all of it, it can still meet most of your needs.
It's summer vacation, and the girl next door wants the latest cosmetics, but it costs tens of thousands of yen. Asuka feels that he needs to satisfy her.
Compared to money, cute dolphins are nothing.
The older crew members noticed Asuka was daydreaming and sternly rebuked her, "Asuka, is this the time to be daydreaming?"
Fei Niao was startled and ran over quickly: "I'm coming, senior, what do I need?"
"Take it!" The older crew member handed Asuka a long pole.
Fei Niao took it with both hands and was surprised to find that the pole was very heavy and almost as long as the entire fishing boat. There was a flange at the end of the long pole, which was very heavy and bent the entire pole. He didn't know what it was used for.
But soon, Asuka found out.
The older crew member, biting his cigarette holder, handed Fei Niao a hammer, and without even explaining, he leaned the long pole against the fence, inserted it into the sea, and then hit the pole head with the hammer.
Fei Niao looked confused.
What is this doing?
Exhaling a puff of smoke, the old crew member cursed: "What are you doing? Can't you do what I say?"
Asuka hadn't even started yet but had already been scolded for a good opportunity. Being young and hot-tempered, he was a little unconvinced, but thinking of today's dividends, he endured it and imitated the actions of the old sailor, inserting the long pole into the water and hitting the long pole with a hammer.
At first he thought it was an easy job, but after a few minutes, he felt numbness and pain in his left hand holding the club, and when he stretched out his hand, he saw that it had become red and swollen.
The long rod vibrated continuously under the impact of the hammer, and the subtle and dense vibrations made his hands red.
The old sailor took a look, spit the cigarette holder into the sea and snorted coldly.
Only experienced crew members know that wearing gloves when doing work is essential.
It is very necessary to teach this young man, who has no respect for his elders and is covered with thorns, a lesson.
Fei Niao clearly heard the sneer, gritted his teeth, took off his clothes, held them in his hands, and not only did he not get discouraged, but he knocked even harder.
But soon, the captain noticed Asuka. He was a good friend of Asuka's father, so he took off the glove on his right hand and threw it to Asuka.
Asuka looked back and exclaimed in surprise, "Captain!"
The captain patted Asuka on the shoulder and encouraged her, "Do a good job. The dolphins always come to Taiji Town along their migration route. This has not changed for thousands of years. We just need to wait for them to fall into our trap."
"Hi!"
Bifang stood on the top of the mountain, arms folded, watching all this happen, but remained indifferent.
If you try to stop it now, you can only stop it this time. There is still tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week, next month, and year after year.
Looking down at Dolphin Bay from a high vantage point, Bifang could clearly see that more than a dozen fishing boats were lined up in a row, and the crew members were putting some long poles with flanges at the end into the water, and then hitting the pole heads with hammers.
Due to the whip effect, only a small force needs to be applied to the head of the club to create a larger vibration at the tail of the club. The vibration transmits sound, thus forming a wall of sound.
Dolphins are extremely sensitive to sound, so sensitive that many people find it incredible.
According to Richard, the heart of all dolphinariums is the "fish room," and no matter which "fish room" you go to, you'll find boxes and boxes of Maalox and Tagamet, both of which are drugs that reduce gastric acid secretion.
The reason they are here is that all the dolphins have stomach ulcers.
They are under so much pressure that they can't bear it.
This is almost the same as humans.
One only has to see them in the sea to understand that this kind of imprisonment does not work.
Dolphins are auditory animals, and hearing is their main sense. Compared with dolphins' sonar, humans' most advanced sonar pales in comparison.
They can easily "hear through" humans in the ocean, hear your nervous heartbeat due to falling into the water, your bones, whether you are pregnant, and dolphins can obtain a lot of information just by sound.
After being caught, the dolphins are thrown into a concrete pool, surrounded by circles of screaming spectators. After closing their eyes every night, they have to tolerate all kinds of machinery running non-stop.
It is as if a human’s eyelids are stretched open and a large light is placed in front of their eyes that never goes out 24 hours a day.
When the Baltimore National Aquarium first started operating, dolphins began to die one after another, and the staff tried everything they could to keep them alive, but to no avail.
Finally they discovered that the filtration system was too noisy, and the constant noise pressure day and night was killing the dolphins.
Hearing is the primary trachea of dolphins, and it has also become their most fatal weakness in Taiji Town.
Fishermen take advantage of the dolphins' sensitivity to sound and drive a dozen small boats to the seaports where dolphins gather. They artificially create noise in the sea and place a long pole from the boat into the sea, constantly hitting it to create a row of sound waves, forming a wall of sound. The purpose is to scare dolphins, animals that mainly rely on their keen hearing to survive, and drive hundreds of dolphins to the coast.
The dolphins were running for their lives, fleeing from the wall of sound.
Finally, the fishermen will drive the dolphins into the lagoon blocked by fishing nets, and then start to kill these tortured, painful and panicked dolphins.
With a little bit of knocking, Fei Niao soon noticed the difference. The originally calm sea surface seemed to become restless.
As the fishing boats lined up in a row, forming a semi-encirclement towards Dolphin Bay, dolphins suddenly jumped out of the sea. However, these dolphins did not jump into the ocean nimbly like the birds usually saw on the beach. Instead, they smashed heavily on the sea surface, causing waves.
For some reason, Fei Niao became frightened and his movements slowed down.
"Hey! Boy, don't stop!" Seeing this, the old sailor next to him kicked Fei Niao's popliteal fossa, knocking him to his knees. He shouted, "Now is a critical period, don't let any dolphin escape! They will tip off!"
Fei Niao's kneecap collided with the deck, and the severe pain made him wake up quickly. Thinking of the money that was about to be in his hands, he stood up with difficulty and continued to knock.
After the first one, soon more and more dolphins jumped out of the water, broke through the sea surface and fell into the water.
They were originally elves in the ocean, but now they seem to have forgotten even how to swim.
The blue sea surface was soon filled with white waves, and wherever you looked, it was all white foam.
Soon, the encirclement was reduced by half and slowly approached Dolphin Bay.
The wall of sound is like a big net, trapping all the dolphins and dragging them into the narrow Dolphin Bay.
Some dolphins have already entered the Dolphin Bay. The fishermen on the shore cheered loudly. Some even couldn't wait to paddle their boats into the sea, holding long hooks in their hands and approaching the dolphins swimming towards the shallows.
The long hook knife flashed fiercely in the sun. It was a hook-cutting tool specially used to destroy enemy ship equipment in ancient naval battles.
It is in the shape of a very long pole with a sharp hook-shaped knife tied to it. When approaching an enemy ship, the hook knife is extended to hook and cut the ropes on the enemy ship's mast, causing its canvas to fall down and lose wind power, making it easier to catch the ship and fight.
The fishermen who jump into the sea do not stab randomly, but specifically look for dolphins of poor quality, which have no value and are only feed.
A fisherman suddenly found a wounded dolphin swimming towards him, as if seeking help. Seeing this, the fisherman grabbed a long hook knife and suddenly stabbed it into the dolphin's spine, hooking the spine like a rope. Even the blood did not spread, and the dolphin was pulled onto the boat by the fisherman and his companions.
The dolphin's spinal nerves rubbed against the metal, causing severe pain.
The shrill screams echoed throughout Dolphin Bay.
The screams of my companions and the piercing wall of sound on all sides.
The frightened dolphins swam around in the bay, and the surrounding sea water had been dyed red by the blood of their companions.
The mother dolphin tried to warn her calves of danger and made extremely painful calls to protect them.
Due to massive blood loss and unbearable pain, the injured dolphin was completely unable to resist.
More and more fishermen joined in, and the blood spread.
The fishermen's faces are filled with smiles of good harvest. The first wave is so bountiful, one can imagine that this year must be a bumper year.
They pulled the dolphin onto a fishing boat, cut its throat, slit its spinal cord, and left it on the boat to die naturally.
One after another.
The sea was surging with red blood and black waves.
