Chapter 139 Island Maru
On the wide sea, a 10,000-ton ship is breaking the waves, with many seagulls flying around, crying from time to time.
This is the island Maru whaler. Because this whaler is very large, with a very similar look to an island. It was named the island whaler.
As a ship used for whaling, the Island Maru is not equipped with other whaling submarines, because it has a harpoon on its bow, which can easily kill whales.
This large ship has been on the sea for half a month, and along the way, it has captured many whales. Most of these whales had their fat stripped and dismembered to make whale oil and whale meat products.
On the deck, many crew members leaned on the railings and looked into the distance with many other counting the seagulls above their heads.
Yoshida Masaichi is one of the people counting seagulls. Up to now, he has counted 45 seagulls.
Suddenly the breeze blew front the side, causing him to blink a few times. When he looked back at the seagulls, he couldn’t remember which one was the one he counted and which one is not.
Seeing this, he shrugged and gave up counting from the beginning. Leaning back on the railings, he took a sip of the orange juice from the cup next to him
”Masaichi, how are you? are you getting used to living on the boat?”
Yoshida Masaichi suddenly heard a loud hearty voice, followed by a middle-aged man walking towards him from the side.
”Noda-senpai.”
Masaichi Yoshida looked at this man with respect. This is one of his father’s old friends; He was able to become a crew member of the island maru thanks to this man’s recommendation.
”Thank you, I’m feeling great.”
Taro Noda, who walked next to him, smiled and said, “Many people don’t perform well on their first trip, but you did very good.”
”It seems that you are a born sailor.”
After giving him some words of encouragement, Noda walked past Yoshida and leaned on the railings.
He looked at the seawater for a while, before asking Yoshida.
”Are you homesick?”
Noda looked back at Yoshida.
”Your dad said you have just married not long ago.”
When he heard Taro Noda talking about this, Yoshida looked at the distance a bit absentmindedly, taking a deep breath, he said with a soft look on his face.
”I’m indeed a bit homesick, but I can hold on, so don’t worry about me, Noda-senpai.”
Noda patted him on the shoulders and said, “This time we have a good harvest. After returning to Hong Kong, our crew will get a lot of money.”
”Being a sailor is hard, but as long as you’re lucky, you can get a lot of money.”
Yoshida’s look also became serious. Did he go to the sea just to support his family?
Otherwise, who would be willing to leave their newly-wed beautiful wife at home alone?
”Ha ha ha, we should be able to return to the port after another 2 weeks. At that time, maybe you will find your wife waiting for you there with flowers in her hand.”
Yoshida Masaichi couldn’t help but think of his beautiful wife, thinking of his wife holdings flowers and looking at him tenderly, a longing look appeared on his face.
”Big fish! Big fish!”
A shout of excitement sounded from the observation deck.
After hearing this voice, Noda Taro and Masaichi Yoshida immediately looked at the observation deck. They saw that a crew member was holding a telescope and shouting excitedly.
”Yoshida, get ready, it looks like we will have another harvest.”
Noda Taro was also looked excited, the more whales they caught, the more money they will make.
”Full speed ahead!”
At this time, a dignified middle-aged man shouted at the rest of the crew. The captain hat on his head indicated who he is.
Yoshida retracted his gaze from the captain, then looked at the water. He quickly noticed two big shadows swimming underwater.
Occasionally, a mist of water was sprayed from the spine of these two shadows.
”Two whales!”
Yoshida clenched his fist in excitement, his face was flushed.
It wasn’t only him, the other crew members also cheered loudly. As they approached their target, they saw the two shadows more clearly.
They are two very big fish.
One of them is extremely large, over 15 meters in size, and the other is only about 5 meters in size. It’s a small whale, but even so, it still has a certain deterrent;
”It’s a humpback whale.”
Noda was indeed an experienced seafarer, just a rough glance was enough for him to determine which type of whale these two are.
By now, they were already about 100 meters away from the whales. These two whales have obviously just emerged from the depth of the sea and can’t dive deeply for the moment.
They have to breathe enough fresh air.
”Gunner ready!”
The captain stood on the deck, he held a small yellow flag in his hand and screamed. Nor far away, a crew member was aiming the harpoon at the whale, ready to shoot anytime.
Their whaling ship has been updated, adding the harpoon to the bow. They previously have to chase the whale in a small boat then insert the sharp spear into their flesh.
Now that they have a harpoon, they don’t have to do that anymore.
However, the range of a whaling gun is generally only 30 meters to 60 meters, so they must approach the two humpback whales to get an accurate shot.
It’s coming, it’s getting closer, closer!
By now they were only about 50 meters away from the whale, and the crew member behind the harpoon was ready to launch it any time.
”It’s now”
Suddenly, the captain loudly yelled, and the man behind the harpoon didn’t hesitate to attack.
”Bang!”
The harpoon launched with a loud bang, crossing a distance of 50 meters, then landed on the larger whale’s head.
The harpoon easily penetrated the flesh of the whale, creating a large wound. A lot of blood splashed from the wound, landing on the sea and dyeing it red.
”Woo!”
The large whale let out a loud cry, filled with pain. The harpoon has severely damaged its brain, so it couldn’t control its body. The whale showed a tendency to sink;
The small humpback whale beside didn’t escape by itself. It nudged the large whale with its head, trying to wake it up. It also tried its best to support it so it doesn’t sink. Even though it struggled a lot, it didn’t give up on its mother.
The sight of it whining and doing its best to rescue its mother was truly heartbreaking.
However, on the giant ship not far away, cheers and joy-filled cries sounded.
”Nice shot!!”
Everyone shouted in excitement after seeing that they caught the whale with just one shot, including Taro Noda and Yoshida Masaichi.