The giant dolphin sculpture pointed towards the sea from afar, and at this ti, the sea was calm, with only the foghorns of the fishing boats preparing to set out.
At sea, a bird takes a long ti to completely disappear from your view, and you can watch it unobstructed for quite a while.
The sun had just risen, and it wasn’t even half past five in the morning. Bi Fang stood on the mountain peak, gazing into the distance. There were still nearly three hours left until the live broadcast would start, providing him with ample ti for observation and recording.
Dozens of fishing boats, big and small, were lined up in a row within Dolphin Bay, with banners and flags hanging from their gunwales and masts, and decks piled with chickens, ducks, fish, and at for the sacrifice.
It was an offering to the ocean, but also an unconventional kind of bait.
Bi Fang didn’t have a watch, and the fishing boats in the harbor hadn’t yet moved, but he felt that the ti was coming close, perhaps it was 5:38 AM.
Fishern often believe in superstitions even more than farrs do.
The unpredictable and unfathomable sea is far more elusive than the solid ground underfoot.
When faced with uncertainty, superstitious thinking erges.
In 1948, an English anthropologist studied a primitive tribe near Papua New Guinea that lived off fishing. Their island had an inland lake with very stable resources - you could always find fish there, but the quantity and quality were diocre.
The inland lake’s offerings were insufficient, so sotis the fishern had to venture out to sea, an endeavor full of uncertainties—sotis they could catch lots of big fish, other tis they would return empty-handed, and it might even be dangerous.
Before heading out to sea, the fishern would perform a primitive religious ritual, willing to believe in supernatural powers.
However, the anthropologist noticed that the fishern were not always superstitious. They only engaged in religious rituals before sea fishing; if they were going to the inland lake for fish, they wouldn’t carry out any superstitious practices.
Then the question arose—if you truly believed in gods, wouldn’t you need to thank them for the bounty of the inland lake too?
It seems that the fishern didn’t care much about how the gods felt… They just wanted to do sothing to intervene in the uncertainty.
Athletes do the sa, as good scores or goals aren’t always guaranteed. Why did I hit the mark last ti but not this ti?
It must be sothing I didn’t do right.
So, they start with small actions, like licking the bat, tapping it on the ground twice, or making the sign of the cross over their chest.
This phenonon exists not only in humans but also in the animal kingdom. In 1948, psychologist B.F. Skinner from the Ugly Country conducted an experint with pigeons.
He first put the pigeons in a cage with a lever inside. Initially, whenever the pigeons touched the lever, they received food, and their behavior was normal—they would touch the lever whenever they wanted to eat.
Then Skinner changed the rules of the ga. The lever-touching now resulted in food randomly. Sotis they would get it after just one touch, other tis they would touch several tis and get nothing.
The pigeons didn’t understand randomness; they pondered what they had done right last ti to receive food.
Skinner noticed a change in the pigeons’ behavior.
Now before each touch of the lever, the pigeons would perform so unnecessary actions. Sotis it was shaking their head, at other tis it was turning around twice…
The pigeons had beco superstitious.
Fishern conducting sacrificial rituals, athletes seeking good luck, pigeons performing extra movents—so rely on gods, so on themselves, but fundantally, they all reflect the sa thinking—that in the face of uncertainty, people want to do sothing to intervene.
We know it might not work, but we still have to do it, because without it, we feel uneasy—that is superstition.
As for what the ocean thinks, these people subconsciously don’t care at all.
7, 5, 3, 8 are numbers beloved by the Japanese, and there’s even a festival called the 753 Festival, which is a day to bless children. Aside from nine and thirteen, the Japanese prefer odd numbers.
Although it was hard to make out the specifics of what those guys were up to, over a dozen fishing boats lined up in front of Dolphin Bay seed poised to set off soon.
The mist over the sea slowly dissipated, and it was already past five thirty, maybe just a few minutes shy of 5:38.
Bi Fang squinted his eyes in vain; the distance was too great, and he couldn’t make anything out. He could only watch through the distant drones.
On the fishing boats, the captains offered incense and kneeled in prayer as gongs, drums, and firecrackers sounded in unison.
Among the dozens of fishing boats, there was one new vessel, its deck very clean, not yet covered in bird droppings. The air was thick with the pungent sll of fresh paint, which was sowhat irritating.
So crew mbers stood at the bow, one of them constantly sniffing, slightly uncomfortable, a young lad wearing waders probably handed down from his father, old and large. This was a hunting tradition passed down through generations.
He stretched out his arms, able to feel, as if he were a petrel soaring in the wind above the sea, except it seed like one of the petrels was black, standing out awkwardly. But before the young man could get a closer look, the black petrel had disappeared.
Everything started with amiable pleasantries, with just a few common topics, occasionally interspersed with boasts of the amorous escapades from the night before setting off.
Soon, 5:38 arrived, as expected.
All the fishing boats sounded their horns, white foam spreading from both sides of the hulls, pushing the waves forward as they departed.
The departure ceremony started right on ti, neither a minute early nor a minute late.
Just heading out to sea, the young man, Tobi, did not feel unwell; on the contrary, he was quite excited.
As a child, Tobi was used to watching dolphin shows at the aquarium; those intelligent creatures were really adorable. His room was plastered with dolphin posters and small toys. But people can’t remain the sa forever.
As he grew older, Tobi’s interests multiplied: the latest gaming console, VCDs, the cute girl next door.
After starting university, his desires only grew: the best computer, a comfortable environnt, food for his pet, a place to live, a cool bike, an ergonomic chair...
And all of these required money.
A single qualified dolphin could fetch several hundreds of thousands of Ugly Gold, and even if he couldn’t get it all, it would cover most of his desires.
It was sumr break, and the girl next door wanted the latest makeup, sadly costing tens of thousands of Yen. Tobi felt it was necessary to fulfill her wish.
Compared to money, cute dolphins didn’t count for much.
An older crew mber saw Tobi daydreaming and scolded him sternly, "Tobi, is this the ti to be daydreaming?"
Tobi jolted and hurried over, "I’m here, I’m here, senior. What do I need to do?"
"Take this!" The older crew mber handed over a long pole to Tobi.
Tobi took it with both hands, surprised to find it very heavy. The pole was nearly as long as the entire fishing boat. There was a bulge at the end of the pole, heavy enough to bend the whole thing, yet he had no idea what it was used for.
But soon, Tobi found out.
The older crew mber, holding a cigarette in his mouth, passed a hamr to Tobi, not even bothering to explain, propped the pole against the railing, and imrsed it in the seawater, then began hamring at the top of the pole.
Tobi looked on, utterly confused.
What were they doing?
Blowing out a puff of smoke, the old sailor cursed, "What are you dazed for? Can’t you just do as you’re told?"
The Asuka who had barely started was already scolded for a good opportunity, and the youthful and energetic him was sowhat resentful, but thinking of today’s bonus, he still endured it, imitating the movents of the old sailors and inserting the long pole into the water, hamring it with a hamr.
At first, he thought it was an easy job, but after hamring for a few minutes, he felt his left hand that gripped the pole go numb and painful; upon opening it, it had already beco red and swollen.
The long pole vibrated continuously under the hamr’s strikes, the fine, dense vibrations turning his hand bright red.
The old sailor glanced at him twice, spat the cigarette butt into the sea, and snorted coldly.
Only the more experienced sailors knew that gloves were essential for this work.
As for this brash young man who didn’t know how to respect his elders and was full of thorns, teaching him a lesson was quite necessary.
Asuka clearly heard the sneer, gritted his teeth, took off his clothes, and held them in his hands, not only undiscouraged but even hamring more vigorously.
But very soon, the captain noticed Asuka; he and Asuka’s father were good friends, so he took off his right glove and threw it to Asuka.
When Asuka turned around and saw this, he exclaid happily, "Captain!"
The captain patted Asuka on the shoulder and encouraged him, "Work hard. The dolphins always follow their migration routes to Taiji Town. This has not changed for thousands of years. We just need to wait for them to fall into our nets."
"Aye!"
Bi Fang stood on the mountaintop, arms crossed, watching all of this unfold without a hint of concern.
Stopping them now would only prevent this once, but there would be tomorrow, the day after, next week, next month, year after year.
Looking down from his high vantage point at Dolphin Bay, Bi Fang could clearly see about a dozen fishing boats lined up, the crew mbers placing so long poles into the water, the ends of the poles equipped with flanges, then hitting the tops of the poles with hamrs.
Because of the whip effect, applying a small force at the top of the pole was sufficient to generate a large vibration at the tail, transmitting sound and creating a sound barrier.
Dolphins are extrely sensitive to sound, so sensitive that it astonishes many people.
According to Richard, the nerve center of all dolphin enclosures is the "fish house," and no matter which "fish house" you go to, you would find boxes and boxes of Maalox and Tagat, both of which are drugs to reduce stomach acid secretion.
The reason for their presence was that all dolphins had developed stomach ulcers.
They were under too much stress, to the breaking point.
This was almost the sa as with humans.
Only when you see them in the ocean do you understand that this kind of confinent doesn’t work.
Dolphins are auditory animals, with hearing being their primary sense. Human’s most advanced sonar, when compared to dolphins’ abilities, is like a re amateur facing a great master.
They can easily "hear through" humans in the ocean, hearing your anxious heartbeat due to falling into the water, your bones, whether you are pregnant or not. Just by sound, dolphins can acquire a wealth of information.
After being captured, dolphins were placed into a pool made of concrete, surrounded by rings of screaming spectators, and at night after the enclosure closed, they also had to endure the non-stop operation of all kinds of machinery.
It was like humans being forced to keep their eyelids open with a twenty-four-hour non-extinguishing bright light in front of them.
When the Baltimore National Aquarium first started operations, dolphins kept dying one after another, and the staff tried everything but could not keep them alive.
In the end, they discovered that it was the noise from the filtration system that was too loud; the non-stop noise stress had taken the lives of the dolphins.
Hearing was the primary lifeline of the dolphins, but it also beca their most fatal weakness in Taiji Town.
The fishern capitalized on dolphins’ sensitivity to noise, driving more than a dozen boats to the mouth of the bay where the dolphins gathered, artificially creating noise in the sea, placing a long pole from the ship into the water, continuously hamring it to create a series of sound waves, forming a sound barrier with the purpose of frightening the dolphins—beings primarily reliant on keen hearing for survival—and driving hundreds of them to shore.
The dolphins were fleeing for their lives, escaping from the sonic wall.
Eventually, the fishern would drive the dolphins into a reef lagoon that was barricaded with fishing nets and begin slaughtering the tornted, panic-stricken dolphins who were in imnse pain.
With each tap, Asuka quickly noticed sothing was different; the originally tranquil sea seed to beco restless.
As the fishing boats lined up and ford a semi-encirclent towards Dolphin Bay, suddenly dolphins leaped out of the water, but unlike the graceful dives Asuka used to see on the beach, they heavily smashed onto the sea surface, stirring up waves.
For so reason, Asuka felt afraid, and his actions slowed down.
"Hey! Kid, don’t stop!" The old crew mber next to him kicked Asuka in the armpit, knocking him to his knees on the deck, and shouted loudly, "This is a critical ti, don’t let any dolphin escape! They can send signals to each other!"
As Asuka’s kneecap collided with the deck, the intense pain brought him quickly back to his senses. Thinking of the money that was nearly within reach, he struggled to stand up and continued tapping.
After the first one, more and more dolphins began jumping out of the water, breaking the surface and plunging back in.
They used to be the spirits of the sea, but now, they seed to have forgotten how to swim.
The blue sea was soon crowded with white foam, looking everywhere, all was white froth.
Before long, the encirclent had halved in size, slowly moving towards Dolphin Bay.
The sonic wall, like a huge net, captured all the dolphins and dragged them towards the narrow Dolphin Bay.
Dolphins had already entered Dolphin Bay, and the fishern on the shore cheered loudly, with so even eagerly sliding their small boats into the water, holding the long hook knives in their hands, approaching the dolphins that were swimming towards the shallows.
The long hook knife glistened with a nacing light in the sunlight; it was a tool originally used in ancient naval warfare to damage the enemy’s ship equipnt.
It consisted of a long pole with a loop at the end and a sharp hook-shaped knife attached. When approaching an enemy ship, the sailor would extend the hook knife and tear at the ropes of the enemy’s masts, causing the sails to fall and lose wind power, making it easier to board the ship for combat.
The fishern who jumped into the sea did not stab wildly but specifically sought out dolphins of poor appearance, which were deed of no value and rely as feed.
Suddenly, a fisherman spotted an injured dolphin swimming towards him as if it were seeking help. Seeing this, the fisherman clenched the long hook knife and thrust it into the dolphin’s spine, hooking it like a rope, and without even the blood dispersing, the dolphin was pulled onto the small boat by the fisherman and his companions.
The nerves in the dolphin’s spine grated against the tal, causing severe pain.
Piercing screams echoed throughout Dolphin Bay.
The screams of comrades, the piercing sonic wall from all directions.
The frightened dolphins darted around the bay, their surroundings turning red with the blood of their companions.
The mother dolphin tried to inform the young ones of the danger and emitted excruciating cries in an attempt to protect them.
With the heavy loss of blood and unbearable pain, the injured dolphins had no strength left to resist.
More and more fishern joined in, and the blood spread.
The fishern’s faces bead with the smiles of a bountiful harvest, and given the abundance of the first catch, it promised to be a fruitful year.
They pulled the dolphins onto the fishing boats, cut their throats, chopped through their spines, left them on the boats, and let them die naturally.
One after another.
The sea churned with red blood and black waves.
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