The Legend of the Fishermen of Sicily

Chapter 116 Things have come to this, let's just do what we need to do.

Leo's main purpose in coming to Messina this time was to learn about navigation.

Although it was only a short three days, the goal has been achieved.

The knowledge that Cumanso and his son taught him was quite extensive, including observing the sky and the sea, basic skills training, and methods for finding fish. In order to memorize and master this miscellaneous knowledge, Leo would seize every opportunity to integrate it when he went out to sea.

After arriving at the target area, the Silverfin shut down its engines and once again entered a state of complete silence.

But all morning, the "lesson replay video" in Leo's head never stopped.

Yesterday afternoon, Peglerini taught everyone how to find swordfish by looking for seabirds and waves.

When he wasn't paddling, Leo kept his head up, looking at the sky.

Swordfish primarily feed on small fish and squid. When they hunt prey in shallow waters, the prey is forced to surface to escape, sometimes even leaping out of the water.

Seabirds that also eat small fish will fly over to scavenge the remaining fish when they see this scene.

Therefore, seabirds serve as aerial scouts for fishermen hunting swordfish.

Where seabirds congregate, there is a high probability that large predators are active below.

The more seabirds circling around, the larger the school of fish.

However, for hunting swordfish, the appearance of flocks of seabirds actually indicates that there are no swordfish in the vicinity, because swordfish usually live in pairs of male and female and do not like to gather in groups.

Once the seabirds have pinpointed the area where swordfish are suspected to be present, the flight altitude and posture of the "aerial scouts" will then inform the fishermen of the presence of the large predator beneath the surface.

The seabirds circled high in the sky, lingering for a long time. The large circling radius indicated that the fish were in deep water, and the birds were waiting for them to surface.

If seabirds fly close to the water's surface, frequently swooping down and accompanied by dense calls, it indicates that the fish below are in shallow water, and small fish may be driven to the surface at any time.

Therefore, whenever seabirds appear nearby, Leo would habitually look up at the lookout tower on the tall mast.

Although he had not systematically studied flag signals, after observing them a few times, he was able to understand a few simple movements.

For example, the direction of change, the distance, whether it is generally suspicious or highly suspicious, etc.

"One is never too old to learn."

Leo was very happy that he had "learned a course on his own".

His learning ability was considered quite strong even in later generations, and he was an unparalleled figure in Sicily, Italy in 1995.

This can be considered a blessing: "Entering the Seedling Class at age 4, starting to learn Olympiad Math at age 8, passing the PET exam at age 11, spending all of my junior and senior high school holidays either in interest classes or on my way to competition camps, achieving a 7.5 on my first IELTS exam, and scoring 630 on the college entrance exam."

The Silverfin chased the seabird for a while when the lookout on the sniper rifle suddenly made a few quick gestures. Leo, who was watching closely, immediately sat up straight. A suspicious area had appeared!

Today, Peglerini is the thrower on the runway.

This position is usually taken by the father and son in turns; yesterday it was the son's turn, and today it's his turn.

Because they successfully caught a swordfish yesterday, the chances of encountering one again today were extremely low. The old captain prepared for a day off, his mind wandering to matters concerning the future of his family.

At the end of the 19th century, Messina still had 310 traditional stilt boats.

By 1995, only 15 remained, of which only 13 were capable of going to sea.

According to the older generation, more than a hundred years ago, more than a dozen large families were simultaneously engaged in the business of hunting swordfish with high-powered guns.

To this day, this family of only three—father and sons—is known as a "sea aristocracy" and has become the family with the longest history of using ancient methods to hunt swordfish on tall masts...

But what about 100 years from now?

I'm afraid that in less than 100 years... in another ten years, it will be a mystery whether there will be any slingshot boats on the Strait of Messina.

Just as he was thinking about these worries, Peglerini received a signal from the lookout that a highly suspicious area had appeared on the starboard side and that he needed to approach immediately.

In 1994, more than a dozen slingshot boats in the Strait of Messina caught more than 230 swordfish.

This means that during a fishing season of about 120 days, the average daily catch across the entire strait is less than two fish.

It opened yesterday, and the chances of it opening again today are very slim.

Although Peglerini began to tidy up the ropes behind him in preparation for what was to come, he still believed in his heart that it was just a false alarm.

Highly suspected does not necessarily mean it is true.

It could also be other large fish.

It needs to be observed more closely.

"Airborne scouts" can only lead the way.

Once you reach the target area, figuring out what's underwater will require observing other information.

Leo was lucky this time; the suspected target area was on his side.

He can review yesterday's lesson with his own eyes.

Regardless of the type of fish, when it surfaces, it mainly has two parts that are visible above the water—the dorsal fin and the caudal fin.

The shape of these two parts is important information for identifying the fish.

However, lookouts rarely see both the dorsal and caudal fins at the same time; in most cases, they can only see one of them.

But regardless of whether you see the dorsal fin or the caudal fin, as long as either one matches the characteristics of a swordfish, it can be identified as a suspected target.

The swordfish has a very distinctive dorsal fin shape with a short base, resembling a triangle or sickle.

The sailfish's dorsal fin is as broad as a sail, extending from near its head to the middle of its body;

The dorsal fin of a marlin is wider.

However, the dorsal fin is not very noticeable from a distance; it is just a small point. Lookouts usually prefer to use the tail fin to determine the final identity.

The swordfish's tail fin is deeply forked, like an open pair of scissors, and is very powerful.

Sailfish also have scissor tails, but they are smaller and thinner overall.

The shark's tail fin is asymmetrical, with the upper lobe longer than the lower lobe.

Leo squinted, but still couldn't see clearly what was happening on the sea because it was too far away.

All I can do is review the above knowledge in my mind over and over again.

"It would be great if we could get up to the top of the mast; we could see much better." Leo looked up at the mast. "I'm heading back after I finish packing up today, so I didn't get to climb it again... It's a bit of a shame."

The Silverfin slowly approached the suspected sea surface, but the lookout did not send any further instructions.

Leo then turned off the fast-forward button on the lessons in his head, trying to find out what knowledge he could still apply at this moment.

Suddenly, a pale blue screen appeared in front of him.

After reading the above, Leo sat up even straighter!

[Attention! A pair of dangerous assassins are lurking nearby!!]

[You've received a temporary mission: Run now, don't ask why]

These two dangerous assassins are troublesome enough on their own, but together they are a nightmare for all of Sicily. Don't provoke them, run now, and get out of this dangerous place before they find you!

[Mission Reward: None (You are only eligible for rewards if you survive)]

Leo looked around anxiously.

I thought to myself, I want to run away, but where can I run to?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lookout on the watchtower quickly making hand gestures.

This gesture had not been made in the previous few hours.

But that didn’t stop Leo from teaching himself once again—two swordfish were spotted ahead!

Leo plopped back down at his workstation, thinking that Tongzi was probably furious.

Now, not only can we not run away, but we also have to provoke those terrifying killers.

But it's too late now...

Leo looked out at the distant sea.

Since things have come to this, let's continue studying.

I'll see if the appearance of male and female swordfish together reflects the characteristics and patterns the teacher mentioned.

August is the breeding season for swordfish, so it's not uncommon to see male and female swordfish appearing in pairs.

Standing on the runway, Peglerini never expected that he would encounter the Swordfish for two consecutive days, and today it would be a double yolk.

He has never had such good luck in his life.

But an even bigger surprise followed.

They encountered an enormous female fish!

Peglelini wished he could pull Leo to his side right now.

Pointing to the scene on the sea that was already visible to the naked eye, I matched yesterday's knowledge points with it one by one.

However, now is not the time for teaching and having fun.

When male and female fish appear together, the danger factor is not a simple matter of "1+1=2"; the overall nature of the situation changes.

There's a saying in the Strait of Messina: when a male and female appear, hunt the female first, then the male.

Firstly, female fish are larger and therefore more valuable.

Secondly, due to the swordfish's "riding habit," if the male is hunted first, the female will definitely escape, but if the female is hunted first, the male swordfish will ram the ship's hull in an attempt to rescue her, completely ignoring the danger. They can capture two at the same time.

In this situation, fishermen will adopt a "one main, one secondary" strategy, starting with the female and then the male.

If you're lucky, the fishing boat will have to deal with a crazed male fish while the female is escaping.

If you're unlucky, you'll face attacks from both a male and a female in turn.

As for today...

Be prepared for something even worse than bad luck.

A female fish of this size would be catastrophic if she retaliated, and with a protective male fish also involved, it would definitely be a tough battle.

Peglerini made a few gestures to the lookout.

The lookout received instructions and relayed a silent command to the entire ship.