Chapter 717: Oil Saves Whales

Chapter 717: Oil Saves Whales

"Everyone work harder, and it will be sawed right away!"

The third officer yelled.

"ho!"

The crowd cheered.

The third pair held up the chainsaw and sawed the last point of connection, successfully cut a huge ice block of nearly one square meter, and turned it into crushed ice floating in the ice cave.

"puff!"

There was a sound of jetting, and the huge whale head pushed the crushed ice away, breathing freely on the sea surface.

The water column turned into frost in the cold air, and fell on the faces of several tourists who couldn't dodge, but it didn't cause the slightest discomfort. Instead, they all laughed and regarded this as an intimate interaction, and some even rushed to be sprayed. elated.

Seeing the gray whale approaching the coast step by step under the efforts of everyone, this kind of interaction is unparalleled, and it is also the fundamental reason why tourists can persist.

Rescuing gray whales sounds noble and fun to do, but it is undeniable that at the beginning, most people just had their blood rushing up. When their foreheads felt hot and the cold wind from the Arctic blew, I don’t know how many people became big musicians At home, he retreated and even caught a cold.

But watching the gray whales move forward with the ice cave dug by everyone and respond to the interaction, everyone understands that these big guys have extremely high intelligence. They are not beasts with low intelligence, but another kind of high intelligence Creatures can communicate, interact, and share happiness.

Just this kind of self-satisfaction that feels that their help has been clearly responded to makes many people want to stop, even if they have a runny nose and risk being frozen when they pee, they still want to run over to join it.

"In the past, in the area at 70 degrees north latitude, there were whales everywhere we went." The first mate pointed to the surrounding ice fields, pointing to the mountains and rivers, but just aroused pride, but sighed again, "But now we can't see anything. Gray whales, bowhead whales, everything is gone, if you can see a few of them, it is the blessing of the goddess of luck."

In the 19th century, the Inupiats, Yupiks, and Chukchis dominated the whales in the ocean, and the intensity intensified, and the number of whales fell off a cliff.

It was not until the appearance of Abraham Gessner that most of the massacre ended.

Although the number of whales has not recovered so far, it has survived anyway.

The reason is not because Abraham Gessner made any great campaign to protect whales, but because he discovered a liquid composed of coal, bitumen and oil shale through mineral research, which he called—— kerosene.

Yes, it was kerosene, or more deeply, the discovery of oil that saved the lives of whales.

Whales, the largest creatures in the sea, are not just used as food. If it is only used as food, humans are far from being so flocking to it.

Before oil was widely used, whales were one of the world's leading sources of energy.

The special thing about these big guys is that there is a kind of whale oil growing in their heads, which can be used as fuel. It was mainly used by people for lighting at that time.

In the 1850s, the vast majority of American and European homes depended on whale oil for lighting at night, providing lighting for half the world.

Whale oil is the fat obtained by boiling the subcutaneous tissue and viscera of whales, especially the sperm whale's brain oil, which has the brightest and most stable burning flame.

It can be said that, except for the sun and the moon, the lighting in Europe and the United States at that time was almost completely dependent on the whaling industry.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the outbreak of the first industrial revolution led to the popularization and application of steam engines. At the same time, the explosive growth of technology and industrial knowledge set off an upsurge of people learning new knowledge. The demand for indoor lighting rose sharply, so the price of whale oil also rose. , whaling became a lucrative business.

Benefits drive people crazy.

At that time, catching a whale brought the income of each crew member equivalent to half a year's wages of land workers. Huge economic interests drive whalers to hunt and kill whales in all cruel ways.

In 1760, whalers in the U.S. invented the technology of refining whale oil with pots on board. Since then, whaling has become an industry.

Later, people gradually turned their attention to the meat, bones and even feces of whales, and made full use of the whole body of the whale. In industry, military affairs, handicrafts, and even cosmetics, the "figure" of whales can be seen.

A blue whale weighing 120 tons has more than 40 tons of oil, and up to 400 barrels of whale oil can be obtained.

However, a single well can produce 3,000 barrels a day.

Gessner's new invention not only illuminated the world, but also cut off the whaling industry's most important source of income.

The emergence of different types of kerosene caused the whaling industry to decline rapidly, and its "golden age" finally came to an abrupt end, and the era of whale oil lighting finally came to an end.

Therefore, in various senses, it is not animal protection, but the disappearance of interests, and the emergence of the oil industry that truly saved the world's whales.

"Thank God that we can still see such beautiful creatures and hopefully our children and grandchildren will too."

A few tourists on the side made the sign of the cross on their chests.

After a short prayer, everyone started working again.

"Hey!"

Bi Fang grabbed the reindeer antlers and dragged the huge thing to the sled, pulling the nearly 200-kilogram big thing onto the sled with great effort.

Unzipping the zipper and taking off his coat, Bi Fang panted heavily, dissipating the heat quickly.

The hunting went smoothly, and the reindeer did indeed run, which was incomparably spectacular, but Bi Fang didn't have any signs of confrontation. After the initial sneak attack was unsuccessful, he quickly backed away, waiting 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 and strong deer with his pike.

That's right, both ends.

The opportunity is rare, and with the addition of three more jobless, Bi Fang has already expanded his goals.

After expending a lot of physical strength and losing blood, it didn't take long for the two big deer to be unable to hold on and fell to the ground one after another. The surrounding reindeer also fought vigorously at first, but finally broke up and started to run away.

"After all, he is a coward, not as courageous as a musk ox."

Bi Fang tied the two big deer with a rope, drove the sled, found a big rock, dragged the reindeer onto the rock, and disposed of the spoils.

Skillfully peeled the skin, cleaned most of the internal organs and rewarded the sled dogs. The intestines and stomach were made into water bags, and Bi Fang cooked some hot soup to deal with dinner.

"Remove the bones, some inedible internal organs, deer skin, and the remaining meat is probably more than 200 kilograms. It's a good harvest. By the way, this is for you."

Bi Fang handed the cleaned white deer head to Goudan.

Goudan bit the antler, put it on the ground, stuck his head in it, and it was just the right size to get stuck.

Compared with the huge musk ox head, the reindeer head is obviously more suitable.

"Well, there is one more." Bi Fang picked up the second deer head.

It's a pity that except for Goudan who has this hobby, the rest of the 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! 】

[Hey guys, can you even grab something from a dog? ? 】

The live broadcast room was lively, but Bi Fang, who was far away in the North Pole, tightened his clothes.

He found that the temperature seemed to be lower tonight, and he didn't know if it was the cold after a short cooling, or it was just that.

"An illusion?"

The unit of measurement for oil is the barrel, and a barrel of oil is about 159 liters.