As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. Huang was a good person. He was very caring and nice to children. Most of the people who hung out with him had similar personalities.
They had heard from Old Huang that Zhang Zian was very capable. They had been eagerly waiting for Zhang Zian's instructions to send the stranded whale back to the sea. Unexpectedly, Zhang Zian had asked them to stay away. Wasn't he looking down on them?
Huang was also stunned. In his impression, Zhang Zian was not such a person. Even if these people did not understand whales, at least they could contribute a little … Could it be that Zhang Zian had been riding on the crest of success and had become arrogant?
Zhang Zian waved his hand. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that I'm looking down on you or anything like that. It's just that the situation this time is very special. There might be danger."
As he said this, he turned his head and looked around. F * ck, could Welder Zhao just happen to be nearby? That guy was simply possessed by the God of Misfortune. Wherever he went, bad luck followed!
Danger?
How could a beached whale be in danger?
Could it be that they were blind and the one stranded on the beach was actually a great white shark?
Everyone was even more stunned. Most of them didn't believe what he said, and the remaining few were skeptical.
Xiao Zhi, on the other hand, was very convinced by Zhang Zian. He looked up and asked, "Then … what should we do?"
Zhang Zian shook his head. "I can't say for now. I need to observe it closely before I can decide what to do."
Xiao Zhi stared at the whale on the beach and asked, "This is a gray whale, right?"
"Yes, it's a gray whale, an adult gray whale. Xiao Zhi, you didn't waste your parents' money by reading popular science books about the ocean. " Zhang Zian patted his shoulder approvingly. "Okay, stay with your parents. Don't come over unless I give you a clear signal."
After that, he motioned for Huang and his wife to take Xiao Zhi further away.
Although Huang was always humble in front of his wife, he was still very charismatic in front of his colleagues. He waved his hand and said, "Everyone heard it. Brother Zhang said there might be danger. Let's believe in him and back off. Look after your children and don't let them run away."
With his words, even if his colleagues did not believe in Zhang Zian, they would at least give face to Huang and retreat to a place a little further away with their families and children.
Zhang Zian pointed to the car they parked on the side of Huanhai Avenue and said, "Just retreat there. If there is danger, hide behind the car."
When Huang and the others retreated to a safe area, he frowned and looked at the remaining people who were quarreling.
"I say, stop arguing and be quiet," he said loudly. "It's not safe here. Step back."
In the end, no one paid any attention to him.
Even his voice was drowned out by the noise of the quarrel.
The naughty child's parents and the young girl's companions had completely fallen out. All kinds of vulgar words were blurted out. The quarrel had reached a white-hot stage, and only a small spark was needed to detonate it.
Zhang Zian shouted a few times, but it was useless.
There were still onlookers watching the commotion and taking videos, preparing to post them on social media to create big news. They also ignored his warning.
He sighed silently. This was already the best he could do, right?
Vladimir had already jumped off the roof of the car, walked to his side, and said, "Monks are stupid and can't be taught. You don't have to talk nonsense with them."
"Okay, that's true." Zhang Zian agreed with its point of view. Some people were just stubborn and treated the kindness of others as malicious intent.
"Vladimir, you stay away too. I'll go take a look myself," he said, pointing to the whale.
It smiled slightly. "I'll go with you. A complete Meow Meow Doctrine Believer is fearless!"
"No, it's not a matter of fear. It's just that even if you go with them, you won't be able to help much, so there's no need to take unnecessary risks," Zhang Zian explained.
Vladimir thought for a moment. "What you said makes sense. I'll wait here for your good news."
Zhang Zian nodded. They were still about 20 meters away from the whale. Even if something happened, with Vladimir's skills, it would be able to avoid it in time.
He took a few steps forward and heard it say behind him, "You be careful yourself. If you can win, then fight. If you can't, then run. Don't make unnecessary sacrifices."
"Don't worry. I'll weigh the risks and benefits. If the situation isn't good, I'll definitely run away." He looked back at it and smiled.
"That's good." Vladimir also stared at him with a smile that wasn't a smile.
Zhang Zian perked up. Instead of his slow pace, he crouched and ran quickly towards the whale. If the situation was really as he imagined, the more he delayed, the more dangerous it would be.
When he got close, he stopped and observed the whale up close.
In fact, when he was quite a distance away, he had already smelled the rotten smell coming from the whale's body. He knew that the whale was definitely dead. It was already cold and had started to rot.
Just as Xiao Zhi had said, this was an adult gray whale.
Its body was about 15 meters long, and its body was thick. Its skin was grayish-black and covered with medium-sized grayish-white spots. This was a distinctive feature that distinguished them from other whales.
Gray whales were also a type of baleen whale. They were widely distributed on both sides of the North Pacific Ocean, and they were also distributed in the North Atlantic Ocean. They could occasionally be seen along the coast of China, and the subpopulation of the Northwest Pacific Ocean was listed as critically endangered.
He could not determine if this gray whale was a subpopulation of the Northwest Pacific Ocean, nor could he determine the cause of its death. However, he could confirm that there were no external injuries on the whale's body. It might have died of old age and then been washed up on the coast. The reason for this speculation was that the gray whale's body had grown to the limit of a gray whale's size. There were a lot of grayish-yellow stripes on the whale's baleen, and its body was full of scars. They were all old wounds. These were the scars left on its body by the long years.
If he wanted to know its true age, he could only dissect it and take out the "earwax plug" from its ear canal. This was a keratinized deposit formed by the combination of shed skin cells and the layers of ear wax. It was preserved in the whale's ear canal for life. From its cross-section, he could see the alternating light and dark annual rings, which could be used to calculate the whale's true age.
"Whale fall" was the best destination for giant whales after they died. It was taken from the sea and returned to the sea. It was their gift to the creatures at the bottom of the sea, but not every giant whale died in the deep sea. If they were unfortunate enough to die in the shallow sea, it was possible that their bodies would be washed up on the coast by the wind and waves, just like this gray whale.
Whales belonged to the sea. A whale's corpse that was washed ashore was no longer a gift, but a ticking time bomb that could bring danger to nearby creatures.
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