Chapter 52

The fishing boat sailed on the high seas.

Ye Yuan once again came to the high seas. This time, there was no one else on the boat, and he could finally act freely.

He let everyone rest on the boat and went underwater alone. This time, he had no reservations. After all, the crew on the boat would not talk recklessly or betray him.

The seabed here was still relatively clear. In front of him was a cluster of coral reefs. This area could be considered a shallow sea, only a few dozen meters deep. The coral reefs stretched continuously, and Ye Yuan found many tropical ornamental fish among them, some of which were quite valuable.

Ye Yuan thought of the ornamental fish business run by Lao San. It had been so long since he last called, and he wondered how the ornamental fish were selling.

He decided to first collect the ornamental fish and keep them in his spatial storage, and then see if they could be useful during the fishing moratorium when he could develop other industries.

After collecting nearly a hundred ornamental fish of several dozen species, Ye Yuan continued to search the area. Many precious seafood items lived among the coral reefs.

Ye Yuan slowly searched through the coral reefs.

As he walked, he felt something hard under his feet. Looking down, he found a 20 cm sea snail hidden in the sand.

The shape of the snail resembled an ancient helmet.

Holding it in his hand and examining it closely, he found that the snail was already dead, leaving only the shell.

After observing for a while, Ye Yuan confirmed that this was one of the four famous snails, the Triton's Trumpet.

The Triton's Trumpet is a large sea snail. Its shell is heavy, and it can grow up to 30 cm in length and height. It is grayish-white to golden yellow, with a metallic luster. Its shape resembles a helmet from the Tang Dynasty, hence its name.

It is mainly distributed in warm waters around the world, feeding on bivalve mollusks and often inhabiting areas below the low tide line.

The price of this item is hard to estimate. Fortunately, it was a dead Triton's Trumpet; if it were alive, Ye Yuan would not have dared to take it, as it is a protected species.

In recent years, many people have developed a hobby of collecting sea snails. Many beautiful sea snails have been hyped to sky-high prices, especially the four famous snails.

The four famous snails are the Money Cowrie, the Triton's Trumpet, the Queen Conch, and the Nautilus. These four snails are rare and highly sought after in the sea snail collection market.

Ye Yuan did not plan to sell the Triton's Trumpet. He had always wanted to establish a marine museum on the island, where he could collect many rare marine specimens.

After putting away the Triton's Trumpet, Ye Yuan swam towards the deeper sea. In his perception, the water ahead had turned blood red, and he wanted to see what was happening.

Swimming a few hundred meters forward, he found three sharks hunting a white dolphin.

Seeing this rare scene, Ye Yuan was puzzled.

Why would sharks attack a dolphin? Many people might not know that dolphins are the natural enemies of sharks. Most sharks would avoid dolphins.

The dolphin's beak is its primary weapon. While sharks have large mouths with sharp teeth, the dolphin's beak is what makes its opponents fear it.

If a shark were to face a dolphin, many people would think the dolphin would be eaten by the shark, but that's not always the case. The dolphin's beak can deliver heavy blows to the shark's vulnerable parts.

Sharks generally do not attack dolphins, but there are exceptions. In this case, with three sharks facing one dolphin, the dolphin was at a disadvantage.

Both dolphins and sharks are social animals, so the situation for this white dolphin was dire.

Ye Yuan really liked white dolphins. Even though his family's financial situation was modest when he was a student, he saved his limited living expenses to visit an aquarium once, just because there was a cute white dolphin there.

Don't be fooled by the gentle nature of white dolphins; who would have thought they are close relatives of orcas?

Many people think white dolphins are a type of fish, but they are actually mammals, just like whales. They are warm-blooded, breathe with lungs, give live birth, and nurse their young.

White dolphins have a slender, spindle-shaped body with a prominent, elongated beak. A newborn white dolphin is about 1 meter long, and an adult can grow to 2-3 meters, weighing 200-250 kilograms.

Their dorsal fin is prominent and located near the middle, shaped like a backward triangle. Their pectoral fins are rounded, and their bright black eyes are one of the reasons many people love them.

The white dolphin in front of him was an adult, about 3 meters long.

When Ye Yuan swam closer, he found that the dolphin was already struggling against the sharks and was being surrounded, with the sharks taking turns attacking it.

Without hesitation, Ye Yuan swam to the nearest shark and absorbed it into his spatial storage, turning it into points.

The other two sharks panicked when they realized their companion was missing. Ye Yuan took advantage of this and absorbed another shark into his points.

The last shark turned to escape but was rammed into Ye Yuan by the white dolphin.

Ye Yuan arrived just in time and added another point to his score.

The white dolphin is a very intelligent animal and knew that Ye Yuan was there to help.

It tried to swim to Ye Yuan, but it had used up all its strength in the last collision and could barely move.

Seeing the dolphin's condition, Ye Yuan immediately put it into his spatial storage and used points to heal its injuries.

After putting the white dolphin into the spatial storage, Ye Yuan did not stay underwater and returned to the boat.

Entering the spatial storage, he found that the dolphin's injuries were almost healed, and it was curiously swimming in the unfamiliar waters.

Seeing Ye Yuan, the white dolphin swam over happily.

Looking at the cute white dolphin, Ye Yuan did not hesitate and gave it the last Spirit-Opening Pill.

The white dolphin was already very intelligent, and with the Spirit-Opening Pill, Ye Yuan believed it would become the smartest of his pets.

Seeing that the dolphin's wounds were almost healed, Ye Yuan played with it for a while in the spatial storage and instructed it to stay there. Then he left the spatial storage.

Ye Yuan planned to bring the white dolphin back to Fish Bay Island to raise it.

...

On the deck, he sensed the fish schools nearby.

In his perception, fish of all sizes were swimming towards him. Strangely, many predatory fish were not attacking these fish schools.

It felt like all the fish were migrating, or more accurately, fleeing.

"So many fish are avoiding something?" Ye Yuan wondered.

The fishing boat continued to move forward, and soon the distant sea surface gradually turned red, starting with a pink hue. As the boat moved, the surrounding water turned blood red. This strange scene reminded Ye Yuan of a natural phenomenon.

Red tide, also known as the "red ghost" by many fishermen.

Red tides form under specific environmental conditions when certain phytoplankton, protozoa, or bacteria proliferate or accumulate in high concentrations, causing the water to change color.

Red tides are abnormal phenomena in the ocean and are not always red. Depending on the quantity and type of organisms causing the red tide, the water can turn red, yellow, green, or brown.

The terrifying aspect of red tides is that the large concentration of red tide organisms can suffocate fish by clogging their gills, leading to death from lack of oxygen.

When the red tide organisms die, their decomposition consumes a large amount of dissolved oxygen in the water, causing fish and other marine life to die from lack of oxygen. They also release large amounts of harmful gases and toxins, severely polluting the marine environment and disrupting the normal ecosystem.

In such an environment, fish have no chance of survival; death is inevitable.

ps: Thank you, 08a, for the support. As a new writer, I appreciate everyone's encouragement. I will keep working hard to improve.