travel on the tip of the tongue

Fall in love with you, travel on the tip of the tongue

……

The next day.

It was another calm morning, and Lin Shenlu went up to the deck alone with unconcealed excitement, enjoying the time alone with Xisha, romantic, beautiful and full of emotions.

However, there are quite a lot of people who have the same idea as Lin Shenlu, and soon, people came to the deck one after another, such as Song Qinghan, and everyone waited for the sun to shine on Beijiao.

The corals on the North Reef are relatively well developed, and the underwater life is diverse, which is especially suitable for shooting macro shots. Those small underwater animals are actually extraordinarily colorful.

Sea anemones and clownfish are always the protagonists in Lin Shenlu's shots, this time I really took enough shots in Xisha.

In fact, those who often dive will find that the clownfish is more dependent on sea anemones than imagined.

It can be said that the clownfish is hardly 1 meter away from the sea anemone. Once it goes beyond this range, it seems to have lost its direction, turning around aimlessly in the water, and losing the defense ability of normal fish , so that it is quickly swallowed by predators.

So, why can't clownfish survive without sea anemones?

Because in the vast ocean, clownfish are a kind of weak animals. When they are threatened by other animals, they immediately hide in the tentacles of sea anemones, as if they have found a protective umbrella and seek safety.

There are many tentacles around the sea anemone, and the tentacles are densely covered with poisonous stinging cells. If anyone touches it, the venom will enter the intruder's body along with the stinging threads, poisoning and paralyzing it, and then slowly killing it with the tentacles. Send it to the mouth and become something in the belly.

It can be seen that the symbiosis between clownfish and sea anemone is also good for the sea anemone, and it can get more food.

Interestingly, sea anemones never emit venom on clownfish because they have a slimy coating that confuses sea anemones for their own kind.

So far, there are more than 28 species of clownfish that have been discovered in the world, all of which are inseparably related to sea anemones, so people affectionately call them sea anemones.

Many people don’t know that clownfish is a hermaphroditic animal. She can change her sex by herself, but not at will. After all, the differentiation of cells is irreversible, and they can only change from male to female.

Clownfish have a very territorial concept, and they are very much like a human matriarchal society. Generally, after a clownfish couple enters the sea anemone, other clownfish are not allowed to enter.

If the anemone is particularly large, the clownfish will also allow some fish that are weaker than them to come in and live.

The female clownfish is sovereign of the family.

The weak are often given a certain amount of oppression to declare sovereignty.

Interestingly, if the female in the extended family disappears, the male clownfish that was originally paired with her will become a female to take over the territory after a few weeks.

Of course, another important reason why everyone likes to take pictures of clownfish is because the background of colorful sea anemones is very beautiful.

The reason why sea anemones are so rich in color can be said to be a collection of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue and purple, because they can synthesize various pigments in their bodies, and then randomly combine them into various colors that they want to express.

Sea anemones are also one of the longest-lived marine animals in the world. If there is no external interference, their average age can reach 1500 or even 2100 years old!

There are always some cute little animals in nature, and they work hard to survive in unique ways.

Although they are so weak that anyone can bully them, these little things play an irreplaceable role in the ocean.

Cleaning shrimp, is one of them.

Near coral reefs, you can often see cleaner shrimps. They are gentle and easy to bully. They feed on dead fish skin and parasites, and they have a strong affinity.Even those who dive nearby will be greeted by it.

This kind of shrimp doesn't know what it means to be shy. As long as the client fish comes, they will come close to clean off the excess dead skin.

If the client fish opens its mouth and faces it, the cleaning shrimp will even burrow into the mouth and eat the food residue between the teeth.

How does the little cleaner shrimp that serves in the mouth of a customer's fish know it won't be eaten?

You must understand that customer fish is not a vegetarian...

Enjoy a complete set of health care and health care, and then shut up, you will feel so comfortable!

This is a very interesting paradox. Let’s not talk about how long the fish’s memory is. In our impression, small fish and shrimps don’t have much IQ, and they don’t have too many nerve cells. How do the two parties communicate and negotiate? What about the ability to deal with complex social environments?

Therefore, after many years of diving observations by many researchers, when cleaning shrimp sees customers, they will spread their tail fins and shake up and down, and dance in this swimming style or swim further to rub and touch the customer's body, and take different measures for different types of customer fish policies may vary.

Generally speaking, the probability of service occurring after this behavior is close to 100%.

In order to improve the success rate of the service, the client fish opened its mouth and kept still after slowly approaching. With such a highly rigid posture, it expressed its willingness not to attack and want to be clean.

This kind of cleaning shrimp is called mechanical shrimp. It looks full of mechanical rigidity, and its whole body also reveals a metallic texture. It does not look like a product of nature, but a model of shrimp made by humans.

This kind of cleaning shrimp is called mermaid shrimp. They are very regional and are distributed in tropical seas all over the world. They like to fight. They are the cleaning shrimp with the strongest vitality and the best fighting skills.

There is also a kind of clean shrimp living in sea anemones, also known as sexy shrimp, because it is petite and charming, and often raises its tail high. It has a light brown body, white ring markings on the carapace and abdomen, and has a gentle personality. , you can tell at a glance that it looks like a lady wearing a beautiful tight cheongsam and drifting gracefully.

Although the popularity of anemone shrimp is much smaller than that of clownfish, it is actually a relatively common shrimp.

Of course, Lin Shenlu also likes sea hares, whose scientific name is sea slugs. They may be regarded as one of the cutest marine molluscs. The pair of tentacles like rabbit ears are actually taste organs, which help them detect chemicals in the water...

There are more than 3000 species of sea hares in the world, mainly living in the tropics. This small marine creature has a wonderful function, that is, hermaphrodites.

Gender can be changed at any time.

If you are lucky enough, you can encounter the scene of sea hares having family fun. Their important organs are all disposable, commonly known as daily throwing eggs.

After doing errands every day, it will fall off by itself, and then a new one will grow out immediately.

It's a pity that humans haven't evolved this skill, otherwise there wouldn't be those blue medicines.

A few hours to a few days after doing business, the rabbit will lay eggs.

The eggs may reach more than ten meters one by one, and there are hundreds of thousands of eggs among them, but very few of them can actually hatch, because most of them are eaten by other organisms.

It is said that Cantonese who eat everything also eat this, and they call this kind of sea vermicelli. It is rumored that this kind of sea vermicelli also has the effects of reducing inflammation and fever, moisturizing the lungs, and nourishing yin.

Like rabbits on land, they are vegetarians and live by eating seaweed, and some species of sea rabbits can even steal chlorophyll from seaweed to put on themselves, and they can photosynthesize themselves.

Think about it, if you have this ability, don't you need to eat?

But... that seems to be missing some enjoyment.

The sea hares are also very colorful. What kind of seaweed they eat will change the color of their bodies.

This shows that sea hares can absorb the pigments in the seaweed for their own use.

……

The next day.

Today is Lin Shenlu's fourth diving day.

It is also the sixth day in the Paracel Islands.

The body is indeed a little tired, but the harvest is indeed full.

Today's destination is North Reef...the lighthouse.

It is said that there are a lot of corals and various tiny marine life here.

Tutu said that today he went to the west of the North Reef to find a new dive site. He made two dives in the morning and two in the afternoon. He boarded the famous North Reef Lighthouse at noon, set sail at night, and began to return to his destination.

In other words, today is Lin Shenlu's last day in Xisha.

This beautiful and beautiful journey is coming to an end.

Lin Shenlu took a deep breath, full of fantasies about today's Beijiao Lighthouse.

It is said that if you don’t go to the North Reef Lighthouse, how can you say you have been to Xisha

The lighthouse in the vast sea, standing high and shining far, is the patron saint of navigators.

Lighthouses are an important part of marine culture.

It was the rise of marine civilization that gave rise to lighthouses in the modern sense.

As for the huge Paracel Islands, there are currently only two lighthouses.

One is located at the southernmost tip of the Paracel Islands, the Spray Reef Lighthouse, close to the busy international waterway between the Paracel Islands and the Zhongsha Islands.

The other is where Lin Shenlu will be going. The North Reef Lighthouse is located at the northernmost point of the Yongle Islands in the Xisha Islands. It is about 200 nautical miles away from the island of Hainan. It is an important channel for ships to and from the Xisha and Nansha Islands.

Today is the last day in the Paracel Islands. Of course, Lin Shenlu does not want to miss the sunrise at the lighthouse. Anyway, there is a full 30 hours of rest time on the return journey, and then he will lie down.

In Lin Shenlu's seriousness, the clouds in Xisha feel so close to the sea, as if you can touch it with your hand. The beauty of the entire Xisha and the entire South China Sea has a unique connotation and temperament, which has long been in Lin Shenlu. Make an impression on your mind.

In the past, it was only a rough understanding from books or video materials.

This time, I was finally able to visit the place in person and go deep into the sea, how could I not be delighted.

……

Xisha Beijiao Lighthouse is located at the northernmost tip of the Xisha Islands. It was built in May 1980. The lighthouse is about 5 meters high and has a range of 23 nautical miles. base point.

The place where the North Reef is located has been the main traffic route and international waterway in the South my country Sea since ancient times. The water here is deep and the current is fast. Usually, the North Reef is submerged underwater, and only a small part of it emerges from the water when the tide falls. Hard to spot.

Throughout the ages, many ships have run aground and died. It is a famous dangerous area in the northern part of the Paracel Islands.

Therefore, building a lighthouse here is very necessary and has a strong symbolic meaning. As a tourist, if you can climb this lighthouse, you can make this trip to Xisha more perfect, with a strong patriotic plot, a kind of The heroic feeling is surging in the chest.

Standing here, Lin Shenlu feels a sense of pride. If there is a war one day, Lin Shenlu believes that he will be like those martyrs, dedicating his body to defend every inch of the motherland.

……

The several dive sites near the lighthouse are also dominated by fringe reef corals, with denser fish schools and richer species. Big cow harbors and bump-headed parrots also appear in shallow water from time to time.

The beautiful giant clam is the largest bivalve mollusc in the ocean. It was once very popular in the catering and art markets, but due to overfishing, it has also reached the edge of extinction. I wonder if giant clam will become the next ivory?

The answer is unknown, but what is certain is that if people continue to fish for giant clams without restriction, these works of art of nature will go extinct sooner or later.

Lin Shenlu was lucky enough to capture a lionfish.

The lionfish, scientific name lionfish, has a gorgeous shape, unique antennae, and poisonous spines.

In fact, they are also a big enemy of coral reefs. First of all, they are very edible, and they are not picky. They eat whatever they catch, including crustaceans, small fish, and fish eggs!In fact, eating a little is nothing, after all, everyone needs to supplement nutritional protein, right?

The key is that the lionfish is fishing in the dry lake, and many fish and even rare fish will be eaten and extinct.

In one is especially able to give birth!A female lionfish can lay 15000 eggs at a time, every 4 days, because the parrot fish can eat the algae on the coral and make the coral grow healthily, but the lionfish eats their young, and there is no more The fish have come to clean up the rubbish on the coral!

Some ecologically important species, such as fish that help other fish get rid of parasites, are also eaten by lionfish!

Where lionfish populations are high, native species have declined by 90%!

……

Lin Shenlu found that in the process of diving, if he can slow down the pace and watch quietly, he will find that each coral has different details, which shows the magic of nature.

For example, there are always some coral crabs hidden in the staghorn coral, fearful and curious. ,

The beautiful coral was photographed by Lin Shenlu all over.

The last photo left in Xisha is a sea blue whale wearing diving equipment, showing a perfect figure and swimming forward holding a national flag on the seabed.

This is Lin Shenlu's idea.

This is also the last photo of my copywriting for Lonely Planet Xisha, Lin Shenlu is very satisfied.

Despite wearing an oxygen mask and scuba equipment, few people could recognize it as a blue whale.

And with a high probability, it can only be seen that this is a girl from the slender legs wearing flippers.

But this feeling is really great, especially when a bright five-star red flag swings in the water on the blue seabed, it feels great.

……

After dinner, the boat of Lin Shenlu and his party took advantage of the night to anchor and return, perhaps because of the need for timing, perhaps because they were afraid that we would linger, or perhaps because they wanted people to keep the beauty in this hazy night.

But even on the way back, all the people continued to stay in the sea breeze, bathed in the moonlight, and enjoyed the silence of Xisha to the fullest.

Looking at the endless sea, Lin Shenlu's thoughts were blown away by the sea wind again, unwilling to pick it up, letting it float to the vast sea and sky.

Lin Shenlu knew that this trip to Xisha was just the beginning, and he would definitely go there again in the future to continue to explore the mysteries of Xisha and search for its beauty.

Regarding Xisha, Lin Shenlu just wants to say: Even if you spend your whole life, you have to arrive once.