Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

The isolated ice field was a vast expanse of white snow, with no wind; the world was exceptionally quiet, punctuated only briefly by the mournful cries of gray whales.

A male, a female, and a juvenile.

Bi Fang had pulled the drone out of the seawater, his hands were red from the cold, and the water he shook off froze into ice particles before it could even hit the ground.

With the aid of the drone, the group further ascertained the situation underwater, and Bi Fang also deduced the relationship between these three gray whales based on their size and likelihood.

As previously guessed, it indeed was a family, a complete family.

For many, this unique family-like structure was a first-time sight, particularly with both parents present, which was very novel.

For many people, this pattern of one husband, one wife, and one child highly matched the modern human family model, which is extremely rare in nature.

Especially since the animals most modern people come into contact with are basically cats, dogs, pigs, cows, and sheep, they do not exhibit this pattern.

"Generally speaking, if the reproductive strategy is K-type, the family structure tends to be closer to that of humans," Bi Fang mused, then said, "This should be high school biology knowledge, I wonder if you remember it."

[I've long forgotten...]

[Who remembers this (covers face)]

[Master Fang, teach us a bit]

The whales inside the cave were still breathing, judging by the amount and duration of their "icicle" spray, these three big fellows have been here for not just hours, but days.

Since the problem couldn't be solved any time soon, and without any clues, Bi Fang didn't mind having a discussion with the audience.

In nature, the reproductive modes of organisms can be divided into two basic types: asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction, reflecting two different reproductive strategies: r-strategy and K-strategy.

r-strategy species are more tolerant of abiotic environmental factors, such as climate and other natural conditions' wide variations, pursuing numbers at the expense of mass mortality, hence the "sexual" cost of reproduction is lower, while the "sexual" cost for survival is higher.

In other words, quantity for quality. As long as there are enough numbers, some will survive, and from the perspective of genetic variation, it's also easier for such species to produce individuals that adapt to the environment.

They are usually lower on the food chain.

K-strategy reproduction, on the contrary, is an evolutionary product for adapting to a relatively mild biotic environment. It's derived from the basics, aiming for quality of survival, focusing on increasing survival rates, hence the "sexual" cost of reproduction is higher, and the "sexual" cost for survival is lower.

Typically, these species are higher up in the food chain.

It is precisely because of the higher cost of reproduction that the nurturing of young becomes a problem, requiring more energy and a suitable environment.

"Birds are often seen in this situation, many bird species are very faithful to monogamy, because their reproductive route is K-type, fewer but better-cared-for offspring, which need lots of food and energy to support," Bi Fang explained.

Bi Fang pointed to the giant whale in the ice cave, where there was one whale notably smaller than the rest, approximately half the size of the largest one, roughly eight meters in length.

"Gray whale calves are born measuring over four meters, and by one year, they can reach nine meters. The smallest one in the cave should be about ten months old."

"These big fellows usually mate during January and February, with the female reproducing about once every two years. The gestation period is 12 months, and each pregnancy results in only one offspring. By this calculation, tracing back to January the year before last, fits just right," he concluded.

With a quick calculation, Bi Fang understood the formation time of the family before his eyes.

Ten months…

The audience's mouths twitched, less than a year to gain several dozen tons…

One could only say that it's worthy of being a natural giant, an "enormous creature" of the sea; it could fatten up by an adult human's weight in just one day, its growth rate somewhat challenges human imagination.

"During this period, the calf will be continuously nurtured by the female whale, and after giving birth, the female will reject any contact with males, leaving the males to seek out other females that haven't given birth for mating."

"The affection between the males towards the females and the females towards their calves is very strong, but the females do not feel the same towards the males; thus, if a female or a calf is threatened, both male and female whales will rush to rescue them, but if a male is in danger, it will not receive assistance."

"However…" Bi Fang shrugged, "it's precisely this associative affection that causes the trio to usually stick together, acting as a family unit."

[Wow, that's some dedicated fathering.]

[So cold, when will our male whales stand up for themselves.]

[It's also a lovelorn whale.]

[Whales are very smart, I've always thought so.]

[I can't take it, I have a fear of huge creatures.]

[Add me, when the drone went down, watching the gray whale swim in the water, I felt like I was suffocating.]

[So what do we do now? The gray whale staying here could be dangerous, right?]

[Master Fang, use your unbeatable survival skills to think of a solution.]

There aren't a few gray whales in the Eastern Pacific, their number exceeds ten thousand, but they are pitifully scarce in the North Atlantic, with only around two hundred or so.

Moreover, genetic research and population viability analysis indicate that the gray whale subpopulation in the Northwest Pacific is independent of the Eastern Pacific subpopulation and has been listed as an endangered species; if these three whales truly die of suffocation or starvation, it would be a great pity.

Troubling.

Bi Fang paced beside the ice cave, circling the massive hole again and again.

Whales are not fish, but mammals, belonging to the order Cetacea. Although they swim in the ocean, they breathe with lungs, not gills, and thus have to surface for air every so often or else they will suffocate.

"I'm not sure how far we are from the coastline, but it's at least more than five kilometers. Whales generally need to surface to breathe roughly every half-hour, the shorter times being about every ten-plus minutes; judging by that timeframe…"

Pacing around, Bi Fang explained to the audience while also organizing his own thoughts.

[How did this thing get trapped here?]

"It probably came here during the days when polar night was approaching," Bi Fang guessed, "After the polar night started, the temperature kept dropping in the last few days, and it's possible that the ice hadn't formed near this area."

"Gray whales have the longest migration distance among all mammals, spanning between 10,000 to 22,000 kilometers, to put into perspective, Earth's equatorial circumference is only forty thousand kilometers."

Every year from late May to the end of October, gray whales would pass through the Bering Strait and the northwest part of the Bering Sea, feeding within the Arctic Circle where water temperature and sunlight were suitable. Then they start moving south, passing the Aleutian Islands and traveling down along the North American coastline, averaging about 185 kilometers each day.

The family of whales before us likely entered the Arctic Circle during their migration, passing by Greenland when on one side, the coast was still covered with drift ice. Due to the sudden onset of the polar night, temperatures plummeted rapidly, freezing the entire ocean into a solid ice field, blocking their chance to surface for air!