"Everyone, if you work harder, the saw will be cut immediately!"
the third officer yelled.
"ho!"
The crowd cheered.
The third officer held up an electric saw and sawed through the last connection point. He successfully cut through a huge ice block of nearly one square meter, turning it into broken ice and floating in the ice cave.
"puff!"
The sound of blowing sound sounded, and the huge whale head pushed open the broken ice, breathing freely above the sea surface.
The water column turned into frost under the cold air and fell on the faces of several tourists who could not dodge. However, it did not cause any discomfort. Instead, they all laughed and regarded this as an intimate interaction. Some people even rushed to be sprayed.
elated.
Watching the gray whale approach the coast step by step with the efforts of everyone, this sense of interaction is unparalleled and is the fundamental reason why tourists can persist.
Saving gray whales sounds noble and is very interesting to do, but it is undeniable that most people are just passionate at the beginning, their foreheads are hot, and the cold wind of the Arctic blows, and I don’t know how many people have become big music
At home, I gave up and even caught a cold.
But watching the gray whales move forward with the ice caves dug by everyone and respond to the interactions, everyone understood that these big guys have extremely high intelligence. They are not beasts with low intelligence, but another kind of high intelligence.
Living things can communicate, interact, and share happiness.
Just the self-satisfaction of feeling that their help has been clearly responded to makes many people want to stop, even if they have runny noses and risk their urine being frozen, they will come over and join in.
"Once upon a time, in the area of 70 degrees north latitude, there were whales everywhere we went." The first mate pointed to the surrounding ice fields and pointed out the mountains and rivers. But just as he was feeling proud, he sighed again, "But now I can't see anything.
Gray whales, bowhead whales, everything is gone. If you can see a few of them, you are blessed by the goddess of luck."
In the 19th century, the Inupiat, Yupik, and Chukchi people dominated whales in the ocean. Since then, their dominance has intensified, and the number of whales has dropped off a cliff.
It wasn't until the appearance of Abraham Gessner that the massacre was mostly ended.
Although the number of whales has not recovered so far, it is still surviving.
The reason is not because Abraham Gessner made any great campaign to protect whales, but because through mineral research, he discovered a liquid composed of coal, asphalt and oil shale, which he called——
kerosene.
Yes, it was kerosene, or more profoundly, the discovery of oil that saved the lives of whales.
Whales, the largest creatures in the sea, are not simply used as food. If they were just used as food, humans would not be so eager for them.
Before oil was widely used, whales were one of the world's most important sources of energy.
The special thing about these big guys is that they have a kind of whale oil growing inside their heads, which can be used as fuel. At that time, they were mainly used for lighting.
In the 1850s, the vast majority of American and European households relied on whale oil for lighting at night, which was the lighting supply for half the world.
Whale oil is a fat obtained by boiling the subcutaneous tissue and internal organs of whales, especially the spermaceti oil of sperm whales, which has the brightest and most stable burning flame.
It can be said that lighting in Europe and the United States at that time, except for the sun and moon, almost completely relied on the whaling industry.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the outbreak of the first industrial revolution promoted the application of steam engines. At the same time, the explosive growth of technological and industrial knowledge set off an upsurge in learning new knowledge among the people. The demand for indoor lighting increased sharply, so the price of whale oil also increased.
, whaling became a lucrative business.
Interest makes people crazy.
At that time, catching a whale brought each crew member an income equivalent to half a year's salary of a land worker. Huge economic benefits drove whalers to hunt whales in all cruel ways.
In 1760, whalers from the U.S. invented the technology of smelting whale oil in pots on ships. From then on, whaling became an industry.
Later, people slowly turned their attention to whale meat, bones and even feces, making full use of whales' bodies. Whales can be seen in industry, military, handicrafts, and even cosmetics.
A blue whale weighing 120 tons has more than 40 tons of oil and can obtain up to 400 barrels of whale oil.
However, the daily output of one oil well reaches 3,000 barrels.
Gessner's new invention not only illuminated the world, it also cut off the whaling industry's most important source of income.
The endless emergence of different types of kerosene caused the whaling industry to decline rapidly. Its "golden age" finally came to an abrupt end, and the era of whale oil lighting finally came to an end.
So in various senses, it is not animal protection, but the disappearance of interests, and the emergence of the oil industry that truly allows the world's whales to escape disaster.
"Thank God that we can still see such beautiful creatures, and I hope our descendants can too."
Several tourists nearby crossed themselves on their chests.
After a short prayer, everyone started working again.
...
"Hey!"
Bi Fang grabbed the reindeer's antlers and dragged the huge guy to the sled, struggling to pull the nearly 200 kilogram guy onto the sled.
Bi Fang unzipped and took off his jacket, breathing heavily to quickly dissipate the heat.
The hunting activity went very smoothly, and the reindeer did indeed run, which was very spectacular. However, Bi Fang did not have the skills to face a direct confrontation. After the initial sneak attack failed, he quickly retreated and waited for the end of the whirlwind formation.
It wasn't until the reindeer had exhausted a lot of energy that Bi Fang jumped out again and hit two big, muscular deer with his spear.
That's right, both ends.
The opportunity was rare, and with the addition of three new job seekers, Bi Fang had already expanded his goals.
Having already consumed a lot of energy and losing blood, it didn't take long for the two big deer to be unable to support themselves and fell to the ground one after another. The surrounding reindeer initially put up a fight, but in the end they dispersed and began to run away.
"He is a timid guy after all, he doesn't have the courage of a musk ox."
Bi Fang tied two large deer with ropes, drove the sled, found a big rock, dragged the reindeer to the rock, and disposed of the spoils.
After skilfully peeling the skin and cleaning most of the internal organs, he rewarded the sled dog. His intestines and stomach were made into a water bag. Bi Fang cooked some hot soup and had dinner.
"After removing the bones, some inedible internal organs, and the deer skin, the remaining meat probably exceeds two hundred kilograms. It's a great harvest. By the way, this is for you."
Bi Fang handed the clean white deer head to Goudan.
Goudan bit the antlers, put them on the ground, and stuck his head inside. The size was just right and it stuck.
Compared to the huge musk ox head, the reindeer head is obviously more suitable.
"Well, there's another one." Bi Fang picked up the second deer head.
Unfortunately, except for Goudan who has this hobby, the other sled dogs are not interested in it and concentrate on the food in front of them.
【Actually, I want (dog head) more】
【Plus one! I want it!】
[Good guys, you can even compete with a dog to grab something??]
The live broadcast room was bustling with activity, but Bifang, who was far away in the North Pole, tightened his tight clothes.
He found that the temperature seemed to be a little lower tonight. He didn't know whether it was a return of cold after a short period of heat dissipation, or whether it was just like that.
"Illusion?"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
The unit of measurement for oil is the barrel, and a barrel of oil is approximately 159 liters.