Golden Fishing Village

Ao Muyang has never seen a live hawksbill turtle before. After all, the number of this species is decreasing year by year, and it has been included in the national protection red book and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

At this time, he stood on the beach and watched the tortoise shell at close range. The bright spring sunshine shone on it, like a layer of colorful gems. The tortoise shell occasionally dived under the water and emerged again. When clear sea water flowed down the shell, He felt that it was washed jade, so gorgeous.

"Wow, this tortoise shell looks like this, it's like a piece of glass."

After hearing his sigh, Li Ji laughed: "Because tortoiseshells eat sponges for a long time, and sponges contain silica, so when they digest the sponge, they cannot digest silica. As the silica becomes richer, It is gathered on the turtle shell to make it appear transparent.”

When it came to professional knowledge, the old professor couldn't help but make the mistake of being a teacher. After explaining, he added: "Oh, by the way, let me tell you about a hot topic in reptiles right now, that is, some experts believe that the hawksbill turtle They didn’t evolve from herbivores, they evolved from carnivores.”

Ao Muyang asked: "Do you have any research on how to make a place hot in your reptile studies?"

"There are topics that make reptiles like you hot, but not turtles."

After hearing what the professor said, Lao Ao asked curiously: "The subject of making people hot? What subject? But humans are mammals, not reptiles."

Li Ji said slowly: "When a man goes to bed, he is not a mammal but a reptile. As for how to make a reptile like you warm up, just give him a bed and put a model of a female mammal on the bed. "

Ao Muyang smiled and said, "Teacher, you are quite arrogant after the New Year."

The old professor waved his hands in a low-key manner and said, "No matter what, I just took advantage of the hot weather to show off for a while at noon."

"What do you mean? Is it because it's hot at noon?"

"No, because sooner or later, you young people will be more naughty."

For a moment, the two were about to race, but luckily a hawksbill turtle climbed onto the shore and interrupted the two of them. It is estimated that the hawksbill turtle couldn't stand listening in the water.

It was as if the tortoiseshell came ashore specifically to interrupt their racing activities. When the two stopped talking and turned to look at it, it pouted its eagle-like beak and turned back to the water.

Ao Muyang was happy: "Hey, this tortoiseshell has become a spirit?"

Li Ji asked: "How to say?"

Ao Muyang said: "Teacher Li, just tease me a few words. Is it interesting to tease me all the time? I am a fish farmer, not a driver."

Li Ji said helplessly: "I was really teasing you earlier, but I really didn't understand what you said this time. How did it become a spirit?"

"We are here just joking around and not helping them with their business. I guess this tortoiseshell is not happy and has come up to interrupt our chat."

Li Ji was even more helpless: "The tortoise turtle just came up to take a breather. It was too cold on the shore, so it went back to the sea. Do you think it didn't want to stay on the shore for a while?"

Lao Ao then sneered and said, "Oh, misunderstanding."

Li Ji said that there were a total of five hawksbill turtles in the reserve this time, which was considered a small group. When hawksbill turtles migrate, they usually move in groups to deal with potential threats.

Although hawksbill turtles have extremely strong shells that few creatures can bite through, they have few natural enemies. But they migrate too far, and occasionally encounter sharks and crocodiles, but these guys will prey on hawksbill turtles.

Ao Muyang stood on the beach and looked down. Li Ji said, "Stay away from the tortoise shells. Be careful of getting bitten."

The bill of the hawksbill turtle is like an eagle's beak, curving downward and growing sharply. Their cheek muscles are very powerful, and they can crush crabs to eat their meat, and they can also crush some shellfish. If your hand is bitten by their mouth, you will lose a finger. Being disabled is not a dream.

Ao Muyang smiled and said: "I know, Teacher Li, but if you believe in my ability, this little thing can't bite me."

Li Ji waved his hand and said, "I'm not telling you, I'm telling Xiao Xu."

Xiao Xu is one of Li Ji's students. He carries a bucket to feed the baby turtles and also feeds the hawksbill turtles.

The hawksbill turtles eat sponges and jellyfish. When a jellyfish is thrown down, the two closest hawksbill turtles close their eyes and rush toward the jellyfish.

This is the habitual movement of hawksbill turtles. They will prey on highly toxic creatures such as man-of-war jellyfish and box jellyfish. When these creatures are preyed on, they will have an unconditioned reflex to sting the opponent. The entire head of the hawksbill turtle is covered with scales. Jellyfish The thorn cannot penetrate the defense.

However, the eyes of hawksbill turtles are not protected, so they will close their eyes when hunting. Anyway, jellyfish and sponges do not move fast in the water. As long as they aim in the direction, they will encounter food sooner or later with their eyes closed.

After Lao Ao waited for them to eat a few jellyfish, he put a few gold drops into the water.

Gold drops can at least enhance the vitality of tortoiseshells, so that they can tolerate cold weather better.

In addition, he still had to find ways to create a warm living environment for the tortoiseshells.

The current operating model of the reserve is such that sea turtles come to lay eggs in autumn, and then they will leave the reserve and migrate toward the equator before the onset of cold winter.

Turtles that hatch early will go to the sea and leave. If there are turtle eggs that hatch later, they will be left in the reserve. There are greenhouses in the reserve for them to overwinter.

This way, the little turtles will not be threatened by natural enemies and will not be very tired. They will grow smoothly in the reserve for one year. In the second year, when they grow bigger, they will follow the turtle group to migrate.

The greenhouse for the little turtles is a bit small. Hawksbill turtles are big, and the largest shell is one meter long. They can't move after entering the greenhouse, so they are not willing to stay in it.

Ao Muyang didn't have any better ideas, so he discussed with Li Ji and Su Penghui to build a larger greenhouse, and put the greenhouse into water after taking insulation measures, so that they can enter the greenhouse to relax when they feel cold.

Li Ji proposed another idea, which was to send the hawksbill turtles to the aquarium for temporary care. He said, "Generally, when we encounter rare animals that are unable to survive the winter alone, we do this and release them into the sea when the weather is right."

Ao Muyang shook his head: "No, I'm afraid that when the weather warms up, these hawksbill turtles will die, and the cause of death is unknown, and there will be no complete body."

Li Ji and Su Penghui understood what he meant, and couldn't help laughing: "You think too much, it won't be that serious."

Ao Muyang waved his hand and said, "Let's invest in building a large greenhouse. Who knows, there may be other protected animals coming here in winter? Anyway, I can't send them to the aquarium, not because I selfishly want to leave them in the village, but because I have to be responsible for their lives!"

He added: "These hawksbill turtles came to me for my title as the leader of the ocean, and I can't send them away again."