Chapter 524: Attracting Dolphins to Drive the Fish School

"No wonder that shark earlier was catching one fish after another, eating itself into misery."

"Mm... hey hey hey... look..."

"What?" Ye Yaodong was reeling in his line and looked up when he heard the voice.

He saw the pod of dolphins that had been surrounding the shark surface again, only now many of them were still far apart, scattered in all directions.

At this moment, the three or four dolphins on the far east were leaping out of the water one after another, doing forward somersaults in the air.

The surrounding dolphins, meanwhile, instantly swam toward the east from every direction, and as they moved, the spray rolled into several long wave lines.

Ye Yaodong figured those few dolphins that had been tumbling on the east side at the start must have been calling their companions, though he didn't know what they were up to—whether they were gathering to leave together, since they were social animals after all.

But once they regrouped, they heard the dolphins' "squeak squeak" calls on and off from their side, and a pod of dolphins slowly began swimming again from east to west.

"They're just playing, right? Let's pull in the longline hooks first and see, this is serious business." Ye Yaodong glanced over and felt the dolphins were just playing—dolphins were naturally playful sea creatures.

"No, didn't you see them forming a circle?" Ye's father reminded him. "Look closely. There seem to be fish thrashing inside that circle. Those dolphins are driving a school of fish."

"Huh?"

Ye Yaodong took another careful look this time, and sure enough, those dolphins were arranged in an oval, gathered around the edge, with small fish leaping out of the water inside the circle every now and then.

So it turned out the dolphins that had swum over from all directions earlier had gone to surround and intercept the school of fish.

He said excitedly, "Aiya! I told you, these dolphins can help fishermen drive fish schools."

"Driving fish is driving fish, but them driving fish on their own is one thing, helping fishermen drive fish is another—don't mix the two up."

Ye's father still didn't believe dolphins could help fishermen drive fish schools.

"Told you but you still don't believe it. Huh? They've swum off into the distance... what a pity, I've only reeled in half the line, still reeling. Otherwise we could've followed them directly, and tagging along behind the dolphin pod would surely have given us a good haul."

Dolphins possess ultrasonic detection and navigation abilities.

It's said that foreign fishermen, when catching tuna in the open ocean, first have to find dolphins. Because dolphins often accompany tuna, with dolphins as a "guide," it's easy to locate tuna. The tuna caught by the M-country tuna fleet, 90% rely on dolphins as "guides."

Ye's father glanced at him. "There's not enough time. The sun will set in three hours. If we chase them, we'll probably just make a wasted trip and head back. This needs a bigger boat, drifting on the sea for a few days, following behind them—then maybe you really could keep running into all kinds of fish schools."

"True enough, sigh, the duck right at our mouths just flew away. Reel, reel—at least a school of fish passed by. If there are any empty hooks, we can snag a few more. They're cheap, but if the quantity's a bit more, that's fine too."

"Mm, this school of fish isn't very big either. Probably a lot were wiped out by the sharks. With so many dolphins surrounding them, they probably won't swim long before they're finished, right? Stop mulling it over. You'll get the chance someday. Let's pull in these longlines first. The line we hauled up earlier, the whole string looked like a pretty good haul."

"Mm."

Ye Yaodong watched the rolling waves in the distance gradually fade, then continued reeling in his own line.

Today, most of the fish hanging on these longline hooks really were mackerel. There were quite a few other fish too, but mackerel made up the largest share, and most were around half a kilo—few big fish, though very few empty hooks.

He figured without that school of mackerel passing by, today's longline haul would've been pretty dismal.

It took him over an hour to reel everything in, and the catch had grown by eight more baskets. Only then did father and son head back, barely satisfied.

But just as they were motoring back and had pulled up to shore, rolling waves surged behind them, churning and sweeping in. The people on shore all broke into an uproar, excitedly shouting that there was a school of fish.

"Look look look, there's a school of fish over there..."

"What a big school..."

"There are several big ones on the side..."

"Quick quick quick, you guys get on the boat and chase after them..."

Father and son had originally been planning to tidy up their things and unload them from the boat, but hearing the excited voices from shore, they looked back and saw the sea surface churning with waves, dolphins leaping nonstop.

Only then did they realize there was actually a pod of dolphins behind them, and the school of fish being driven inside seemed to have grown considerably.

Just as they were leaping around the surrounding sea surface for a while, preparing to turn and head outward, Ye Yaodong didn't hesitate and immediately steered the boat after them. The few fishing boats nearby that were returning to port had also long since spotted them and were rowing toward them.

Some boats that had already docked at the shore also wanted to try their luck at grabbing a share, and rowed over too.

Fortunately, the school of fish being driven by these dolphins wasn't moving fast. Some small wooden boats, being close by, had already caught up to the area around the fish school and were spreading out their nets, ready to cast.

Ye Yaodong's boat also quickly approached, then stopped not far from them. The hand-cast net in Ye's father's hands was also ready to be thrown at any moment.

A novel app that has run stably for many years, comparable to the old version of the book-tracking powerhouse, the source-swapping tool that seasoned book lovers all use.

However, the school of fish being driven by these dolphins was moving, and they were also keeping their distance. After casting one net, the next cast would probably require starting the boat and continuing the chase.

Ye Yaodong saw his father had already impatiently cast one net, so he ignored him, nimbly picked out two sticks that were always kept on the boat, and then kept slapping the water surface with the wooden sticks.

Ye's father was busy hauling in the net and didn't pay attention to what he was doing.

After pulling a netful of fish up to the side of the boat, he only then noticed he hadn't come over to help. He turned his head to look and saw his strange behavior.

"What are you doing? The urgent thing right now is to scoop up fish. What are you doing with a stick at a time like this?"

"I'm trying to attract the dolphins over. You haul your net. After you pull it up, grab two sticks too and help slap the water surface, let's see."

It's said that striking the water with a wooden stick can attract dolphins, because the sound of a wooden stick hitting the water is very similar to the sound made by one of the dolphins' favorite fish.

This was something a boat-mate who lived by the sea in his previous life had told him.

Ye's father was completely baffled. Just like that, slapping the water with a wooden stick, and the dolphins would come over?

"Are you messing with me? Striking the water with a wooden stick can attract dolphins?"

Ye's father was very skeptical, but also felt Ye Lao San wouldn't do something so stupid.

"Not sure, let's try it. Anyway, you haul your net, I do my thing, it won't hold you up. What if it works?"

It would only delay the time of casting one net anyway. He'd try and see if it worked. If it didn't, he'd just start the boat and chase after them later. After all, it was in front of his old man—just a little loss of face, so what if he lost a little face.

If it worked, then in the future whenever they ran into a dolphin pod, they might really be able to make use of it.

On the sea surface right now there were mostly small wooden boats. Only one other boat, fitted with a motor like theirs, had also stopped there casting nets, but because the fish school was moving, the haul they netted didn't look like much either.

Ye Yaodong knocked for a while, watching the dolphins swim farther and farther away, thinking either they were too far away and the dolphins hadn't heard, or it had all been pointless effort. Seeing his father had already hauled in one net, he felt his wrist was a bit sore too.

"See? Wasted effort, right?" Ye's father had a knowing look, but didn't mock him.

"Wasted effort is wasted effort, you have to try these things. Failure is the mother of success... only by failing can you learn a lesson..."

"Stop running your mouth. Hurry up and start the boat to chase them..."

Just as he was about to stop his arm and put the wooden stick away, he saw one dolphin at the very edge of the rear turn around, and it even swam forward a short distance.

Ye Yaodong immediately got pumped up and said excitedly, "Here they come, here they come, they finally turned around... Dad, you grab two wooden sticks too and slap the water together, let's try. Maybe the sound I made was too quiet, and their sonar system didn't pick it up for the longest time."

Ye Yaodong's father had just been certain that his son was wasting effort there, but now he was somewhat doubtful again; seeing a dolphin swimming toward them, he decided to trust him once and picked up a short stick on the boat to strike the water repeatedly.

The commotion grew louder with a splash-splash, the dolphin swam closer, immediately thrashed on the water's surface, and used its loud dolphin calls to summon friends.

The dolphins ahead that were driving the fish heard its call, all stopped advancing, and within moments the dolphins began bouncing in place, then started emitting their sound waves.

Hearing the "squeak-squeak-squeak" calls, the school of fish also gathered together in fright, daring not to move rashly.

Ye Yaodong's father stared in shock at the dolphins ahead circling in a large loop, then turning back and bouncing forward continuously, and couldn't help but look at Ye Yaodong.

"It really works???"

Ye Yaodong grinned, also very happy, "Wait and see, they haven't swum over yet; I was just trying it casually."

When dolphins drive fish schools, they are quite willful, driving them wherever they wish; hearing the splash-splash sounds from this side, the dolphins immediately drove the fish school over upon hearing the noise.

The boats chasing the fish school on the sea surface, seeing the dolphins drive the fish school to turn around, were all stunned, and hurriedly turned around to chase after them.

When they saw the dolphins actually surrounding a large boat, everyone was a bit bewildered.

The father and son ignored the other fishing boats gathering close; when the dolphins drove the fish school to their surroundings, they immediately grabbed hand nets, aimed at the fish school, and cast a net.

The net was heavy and full, dragging the father and son until they gritted their teeth, their arm veins bulging; this net contained far more than the one Ye Yaodong's father had cast just now.

The surrounding fishing boats, disregarding asking how they attracted the fish school, hurriedly approached and seized the opportunity to cast nets.

Rarely did they stay here without moving again; everyone switched to the mode of scooping and scooping.

Those who see get a share.

The sea belongs to no one, and most of the surrounding boats were from their village; Ye Yaodong could only try to scoop a few more nets.

However, as the boats from the shore rowed over, the fish school in the water decreased greatly, and before long it became a case of too many monks and little meat.