144: Splendid Lobster

Generally, renting a boat to go out to sea involves fishing by casting nets or trawling, but since it is currently the fishing moratorium, this method of operation is not allowed.

Chen Xiangbei's fishing boat also has these professional fishing tools, but he cannot use them.

According to the regulations of Linhai City, professional fishing boats are only allowed to engage in recreational fishing or one-person, one-rod fishing during the fishing moratorium, which is why Chen Xiangbei fishes one rod at a time.

If he could use a trawl net, there would be a way to operate; putting down the Secret Bait and then catching the entire school of fish while they are competing for food would be effortless.

Unfortunately, Chen Xiangbei can only perform this operation after the fishing season opens; for now, he honestly fishes, and the harvest is quite good.

Unknowingly, the fishing boat had fully entered tropical waters. Chen Xiangbei wanted to find more coral reefs here to see if he could discover pearls.

Selling pearls is faster money than fishing now, so searching for pearls as much as possible while fishing is killing two birds with one stone.

The tropical regions have beautiful scenery, a wide variety of fish species, and large numbers, making them a dense area for marine fishing operations.

Along the way, Chen Xiangbei had already spotted several yachts fishing. Most of these yachts were out for fun and fishing recreationally.

He did not stop like them but continued forward because there were no coral reefs here.

After driving for over an hour, he finally discovered a huge coral reef island.

This vast coral reef island is composed of two parts: above and below the water. The part above water is an uninhabited coral island, while the part below water is home to countless marine creatures.

Chen Xiangbei stopped the boat in a deep-water area relatively far from the coral reef island, then put away all his fishing rods and other tools into his portable space and leaped into the sea with a vertical jump.

Underwater, he saw various colorful corals and many beautiful fish swimming among them. He carefully searched among the coral for signs of pearl oysters.

Suddenly, he saw a small shark staying among the coral in the distance. He was puzzled, as sharks generally do not stay in one place for too long.

Simply put, Chen Xiangbei swam towards this small shark. When he reached the small shark, he discovered it was a nurse shark.

Nurse sharks are naturally small in size; from a distance, they look like a baby great white shark. Nurse sharks are relatively docile and feed on small fish and shrimp.

Chen Xiangbei looked in the direction of the nurse shark and found a school of Giant Tiger Prawns in the coral. They were hiding in a small hole, preventing the shark from eating them, so it had been staying there, hoping to wait for the prey to come out.

Chen Xiangbei went forward, touched the nurse shark's head, then pushed it aside, reached in, pulled out the Giant Tiger Prawns from the hole, and fed them to the shark.

The nurse shark that ate the shrimp seemed very happy. After wagging its tail and circling him twice, it swam away into the distance contentedly.

Chen Xiangbei watched the nurse shark's retreating figure and felt wonderful. Interacting with these natural creatures, he found that nature is actually very healing.

He continued to swim leisurely among the coral, paying attention to everything around him. At this moment, he noticed a small opening on a coral reef not far away, faintly visible behind a living coral.

This coral was somewhat large, exactly blocking the opening behind it. However, as the seawater flowed, it moved the coral, revealing a corner of the opening, which he discovered.

Chen Xiangbei swam over, and after moving the coral aside, the opening was fully revealed.

He looked into the opening and found it was a bit deep and the light was slightly dim, making observation difficult. So, he took out a flashlight from his portable space and shone it into the opening.

As the light shone in, the scene inside the opening was fully revealed. Chen Xiangbei saw two huge lobsters and several baby lobsters living inside.

Discovering such huge lobsters, Chen Xiangbei was in a great mood. He put on gloves, reached in, and pulled out one of the large lobsters.

However, when he looked closely and saw the species of this lobster, his wonderful mood instantly plummeted from the peak of the Himalayas to the Mariana Trench.

Because this was an Ornate Spiny Lobster!

The Ornate Spiny Lobster is a genuine, pure-bred lobster. All other lobsters are named based on it as a template, meaning all lobsters are proud to look like it.

In ancient times, the Ornate Spiny Lobster was called the dragon's representative in the ocean and was regarded as a mascot by many coastal fishermen.

In modern times, the Ornate Spiny Lobster is known overseas for its large size and delicious meat. It is the noble of lobsters and also the largest type. There are often reports of Ornate Spiny Lobsters selling for sky-high prices of tens or hundreds of thousands.

Unfortunately, a few years ago, the Ornate Spiny Lobster was listed as a national second-class protected animal, meaning wild Ornate Spiny Lobsters can no longer be caught.

This was also the reason Chen Xiangbei's mood instantly turned bad. He could quietly eat it on the boat, but he couldn't take it back to sell.

His purpose for coming out was to make money. If he couldn't sell it for money, then he might as well not take it. As a principled, good young man, he ultimately chose to put it back.

"Little one, reproduce well. Have more litters when you have time. When your family numbers increase, you'll be able to be legally sold for money!"

After putting it back, he carefully observed the opening again and found that besides its wife and children, there was nothing else. He could only reluctantly leave with regret.

When leaving, he did not forget to put the coral back at the opening, blocking it.

Chen Xiangbei carefully navigated through the coral, avoiding damage to the ecological environment here. Coral ecosystems are among the most species-rich ecosystems in the world, providing reliable habitats for many marine fish.

Many countries consider damaging coral reefs a taboo to protect the diversity of marine ecosystems.

Chen Xiangbei continuously observed the crevices of some coral reefs, hoping to see familiar figures.

As the search deepened, gradually, he reached the bottom of the coral reef, which was approximately 35-40 meters deep underwater.

This location is the depth where there is more coral, and it is also the optimal depth for wild pearl oysters (a collective term for shells that produce pearls).

Chen Xiangbei saw larger and bigger coral communities here. They were large corals that had grown over many years.

Among them, he also discovered an extremely rare blood-red coral!

Red coral is an organic gem. Its growth is extremely slow and it is non-renewable. In China, it is a first-class protected wild animal; it can only be seen, not touched.

Chen Xiangbei carefully examined this top-grade red coral, attracted by its fine texture and unique patterns.

The glow of the red coral illuminated the surrounding waters, as if dyeing the entire seabed with a layer of dreamy color.