The captain and his son drove a speedboat over to pick up Chen Ying. After boarding, following Chen Ying’s directions, the captain slowly approached the location where the group of killer whales was.
"Dr. Chen, can we stop here?"
The captain didn’t dare to get too close, fearing they might harm the killer whales.
"Okay, I’ll go down first, you help keep an eye out."
"Dr. Chen, wait, I’ll go down first and then you come down. It’s safer if I accompany you since you don’t have diving experience."
The captain’s son worked as a diving instructor at a nearby marine park. When he heard his father on the phone at home that evening saying there were killer whales, he insisted on coming along. Now, he definitely wanted to demonstrate his worth, so after knowing Chen Ying intended to go into the water, he was already prepared.
Regarding personal safety issues, Chen Ying wouldn’t take any risks.
He had tried snorkeling once, but it was only for fun. Now there was a professional diving instructor accompanying him—if nothing else, it boosted his courage a bit.
As they got closer, the captain also noticed something amiss, so he stopped the boat, leaned against the side and shone a large light toward the killer whales.
Although it wasn’t completely dark yet, the surroundings were already hard to see clearly. The captain’s son, wearing a diving headlamp, swam a few meters toward the killer whales before resurfacing.
"Dad, something’s wrong with one of the whale’s tails."
Chen Ying had just put on his wetsuit and entered the water, and upon hearing the young instructor say this, he immediately wanted to swim towards the killer whales anxiously.
The more anxious a person is, the more likely things will go wrong.
Wearing a wetsuit and carrying an oxygen tank, he paddled a few strokes, but it was like running in place, barely advancing two meters.
The smallest killer whale swimming around nearby noticed him and immediately swam over, submerged underneath him, and then lifted him onto its back.
Suddenly being carried by the killer whale, Chen Ying frantically tried to stabilize himself, but on the whale’s back there was nothing to hold onto except its dorsal fin. In the end, he could only embarrassingly use both hands and legs to hug its big head.
After approaching the group of killer whales, Chen Ying slid into the water, patted the young instructor on the shoulder, signaling him to lead the way for diving down to have a look.
The young instructor, being experienced, quickly led Chen Ying close to the little killer whale.
This was a newborn little one, with its tail fin firmly entangled in a fishing net, and it even had some wounds on its body.
Chen Ying, not being from a seaside area, didn’t know how such injuries were formed, but he speculated it might be related to fishing boats.
Although he had only treated land animals before, marine creatures were also friendly towards him. Moreover, this little killer whale didn’t have major issues; the main thing was to remove the fishing net.
Chen Ying patted the little killer whale’s back, signaling it to swim upward.
But with its tail fin trapped, its movements were restricted. Seeing this, another big killer whale directly nudged it onto its back to float it upward.
The small scissors Chen Ying carried couldn’t handle the fishing net, so he wanted the little killer whale to surface, partly for it to breathe air, and partly to facilitate retrieving tools from the speedboat to deal with the damn net.
The young instructor was smart. Upon seeing Chen Ying’s gestures, he immediately swam back to the boat and had his dad hand over the large scissors they had prepared.
With the help of the father and son, in two or three minutes, the tightly wound fishing net was smoothly removed from the little killer whale’s tail fin.
In some places, the fishing line had cut into the flesh, causing Chen Ying’s heart to ache bit by bit.
Fortunately, it hadn’t been long. When he initially discovered the situation, the net on the little killer whale’s tail wasn’t as tight. Later, with the "help" of its companions, it got tighter and tighter. If Chen Ying hadn’t rushed over to help promptly, the little killer whale might have drowned.
Don’t think this is a joke. Killer whales need to breathe; their longest breath-holding time is about fifteen minutes. Prolonged periods without surfacing for air would lead to drowning.
Unlucky ones with companions around can be lifted to the surface for breathing, but without companions, death is inevitable.
Especially for young killer whales, mischievous and overly curious, they often get entangled in fishing nets or lines, and unable to break free, they can’t swim or float up to breathe.
After removing the deadly threat to the little killer whale, the killer whale family emitted calls and expressed their happiness through jumps.
"Captain, have you reported to the marine rescue team? This little killer whale has quite a few wounds, they might need to come over."
Under favorable conditions, Chen Ying could of course provide assistance to the little killer whale, but he was here to play, and the medicine and equipment he brought were for terrestrial animals. The equipments and medicines needed for marine life are mostly specialized, and the marine rescue team surely has reserves.
"The report has been made, they’re on their way."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ship’s intercom system transmitted a voice, with the rescue team confirming their anchoring position.
Though the light was poor, quite a few were out for night fishing, and the scattered lights on the sea were the marks of the fishermen.
Ten minutes later, the light dimmed further, the light reflecting on the sea broke into scales of gold.
The killer whale family was preparing to leave, but after being called by Chen Ying, they encircled him.
The particularly close killer whale with Chen Ying vocalized, asking if he wanted to go with them.
"No, not at all, but that little guy is injured, we have medicine, giving it some will help it recover faster."
When the marine rescue team arrived, they briefly inquired about the situation, and professional members examined the injured killer whale.
"There’s no big issue, those wounds look numerous but aren’t serious, and the killer whale will heal quickly."