Zhang Zian remembered very clearly how 52 Hertz had fiercely emerged from the water last time and the time before that, leaving almost no space for him and the minke whale to escape. But this time, it had appeared two or three hundred meters away from the boat. Its tail fin slapped the water lazily, and it approached them at a slower speed.
Whales generally had poor eyesight, but at this distance, they could at least see the rough outline of the boat. It must have been surprised and confused. Why was the "whale" that could emit the same audio frequency as itself so small?
It swam in an arc, as if intending to circle the boat and observe it.
Seeing it like that, Zhang Zian knew that Sihwa's singing had worked. She was no longer the grumpy older brother … or older sister from before, but he still couldn't tell how effective it was.
As it approached, he secretly complained in his heart, because the pressure of a huge creature approaching at a slow speed was even stronger than the shock caused by its sudden appearance. It was like a train coming at a slow speed, and for some reason, he could only stay on the tracks, hoping that the train would stop in time.
When it got closer, he finally observed some details of its body surface.
For whales, their appearance was very unique, and could even be said to be a little strange. From head to tail, their body length was about 25 meters, or maybe a little longer. After all, he didn't have anything to use as a reference, so he could only rely on his eyes.
Its appearance was similar to a fin whale, but its body was thicker than a fin whale's. Its head was slightly curved like a blue whale's, and its baleen was black. Its back was also greenish-gray like a blue whale's, but the wrinkled area on its side was white like a fin whale's, and the rest of its side was also greenish-gray like a blue whale's.
In addition, its dorsal fin was so small that it did not match its body size. It was as tall as a sword like a fin whale's dorsal fin, which was why he had almost mistaken it for a shark.
As it swam, it would occasionally jump out of the water and then fall back into the water, creating a lot of waves. Zhang Zian took the opportunity to observe the characteristics of its body, head, and neck through the telescope.
First of all, it was definitely not a blue whale. Secondly, although it looked like a fin whale, there were a few parts that were similar to fin whales. For example, the right chin of a fin whale was gray, while the left chin was gray and black, as if it had shaved a yin yang beard. But it was not. The color of its chin was uniform.
The color of the baleen was the same. The two sides of a real fin whale had different colors, but it was the same.
When it turned sideways, the baleen that was slightly exposed was thinner and not as thick as that of a blue whale.
Combining the above characteristics, Zhang Zian was at least 80% sure that it was a hybrid between a blue whale and a fin whale. As for the remaining 20%, he had to rely on DNA identification to be sure.
In the second half of the 20th century, humans had only confirmed five hybrids born to blue whales and fin whales. Even if they added in the 10 to 20 years of the New Era, the number would definitely not exceed 10. It might not even have increased.
Obviously, the mysterious 52 Hertz was another hybrid that hadn't been discovered by anyone. The hybrid gave it a unique voice, but it also caused it to be lonely.
In addition, while it was swimming, Zhang Zian confirmed that it was a female whale.
Cross-species hybrids often meant infertility, such as the well-known mule, but he believed that 52 Hertz was different. If it met the right partner, it could still become a mother.
A mule was infertile because a horse had 64 chromosomes, while a donkey had 62. The mule that it gave birth to had 63 chromosomes, so it was not a match. However, blue whales and fin whales both had 22 chromosomes, so the hybrid that they gave birth to would still have 22 chromosomes.
If there were no surprises, 52 Hertz's chromosomes were a match, so it was fertile.
It was already an adult, so when it heard the sound, it couldn't wait to swim over. Was it looking for a partner?
Unfortunately, it was going to be disappointed. There was only one inflatable boat there.
Zhang Zian sat quietly in the boat. No matter what he did, he did it in slow motion. He didn't want fast movements to make it feel frightened.
When 52 Hertz appeared, to avoid making it too excited, he had already turned off Sihwa's voice. He only left the speaker in the water.
Maybe it was because of its poor eyesight, or maybe it was eager to find out what was going on, but it swam closer and closer until its eyes met with Zhang Zian's.
Its eyes were different from the minke whale's. There were two obvious folds on the upper and lower eyelids, like a human's double eyelids and eye bags. Its eyeballs were blue and black, and the white of its eyes could hardly be seen. It was like a huge sapphire with a shiny luster.
Then, its eyes narrowed slightly, and it took a deep breath. Its body quickly sank, and the seawater submerged its body. It disappeared from the surface of the sea.
Did it leave?
No, it didn't.
If there was a drone shooting from above, it would see a huge shadow quietly swimming under Zhang Zian's boat in the blue sea. As long as it suddenly emerged from the water, he would be able to experience the feeling of flying.
Zhang Zian was also clear about his current situation, so he didn't dare to move. He was wearing a life jacket, and there was a lifebuoy next to him. Anyway, whales didn't eat people. As long as he didn't drown to death, everything was fine.
The huge shadow took more than ten seconds to swim past the assault boat.
It floated to the surface of the water from the other side of the boat and puffed out a mist.
The wind blew from the land to the sea, and some of the mist was blown onto Zhang Zian's body, bringing with it a strong smell of fish and shrimp.
It moved its pectoral fins, turned its body in a semicircle, and swam back. This time, its eyes were full of expectation and desire. It was so strong that it almost overflowed. Even Zhang Zian was deeply affected.
After 30 years of loneliness, there was finally a response.
"Hi!"
Zhang Zian waved at it, smiling as he greeted it.
"You didn't hear wrong. The sound came from my side." He patted the rubber side of the assault boat. "This is my boat. We came to say hello to you."
52 Hertz obviously didn't understand him. It repeatedly swam around the boat, and from time to time, it even dived into the water and swam past the boat again, as if it was looking for its kind that didn't exist.
Since it couldn't find its target, it became more and more anxious, and the range of its movements became bigger and bigger. The waves it set off made the boat go up and down like a roller coaster. Although it wasn't to the extent of capsizing, it was only a matter of time before it capsized.
Zhang Zian had underestimated its desire for its kind. He thought that after it heard a response, it would be satisfied and leave, but looking at it now, it didn't seem like it would give up until it achieved its goal.
If it didn't leave, then he could only retreat.
When it swam to the front of the assault boat again, he quietly started the motor, put it into reverse, and tried to retreat to the shore.
However, it immediately realized his intentions and chased after him. It went around the boat and blocked his path of retreat, not letting him leave.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
