Today we caught a Yellowfin tuna, Thunnus albacares, the biggest fish I have seen in my life. I could barely lift it from the ground and it was incredible to see the engineering of such a powerfully fast animal. Small fluorescent yellow finlets distinctly outlined the streamlined tail of the fish, leading to paired horizontal keels spreading out either side of a thin caudal peduncle. Despite our catch not sharing the endangered and critically endangered status of relatives Atlantic and Southern Bluefin tuna respectively, it was still difficult to enjoy the catch of such a large and fecund fish with the naivety I once had. Wasting nothing, we tasted hunks of meat as we delicately filleted the flesh like butter from the bones. The sheer size of the fish will allow us to feast on the delicious French cuisine of carpaccio, tataki and ceviche for a long time to come.
It’s been many days since seen we’ve seen land, a strange concept to grasp. Today with waves and whistles (shrieks from me), we reached out to touch a pod of dolphins which played at the bow. The wind dropped so we took down the sails to stop for a quick swim. The sparkling sea has been taunting us for many hot days, so we gratefully dove in, chucking lumps of Sargassum seaweed at each other. As we splashed about on the surface, we felt tiny in comparison to the 4500 meters below us. The light pierced through the blue and after some impressive acrobatic launches off the deck, we turned the motor on to keep charging North.
Millie Mannering
BLAKE Tara Ambassador 2018
