One Day Away From Cape Verde
Location: Underway to Cape Verde
This morning started off with an epic battle against some of the largest fish of the trip. The action began on our hand line. It's the first time I've seen our bungee cord alarm fully stretched to its absolute limit! We knew before we even touched the line that this was unlike any other fish we'd encountered this trip. I grabbed the plastic reel while Natalia and Wyatt put on some gloves and started hauling in the line.
Even after throttling back to neutral, this fish was putting up an incredible fight. Even with the three of us working together, it was an even battle. As we hauled the massive Mahi-Mahi closer, we could see the beautiful turquoise flashes that Mahis are known for just below the surface. Another Mahi followed in pursuit, and things really started to escalate. At this point, the great Mahi gave one last big tug against us and broke itself free.
Watch Team 3 had only a brief moment of disappointment before Wyatt pointed and yelled, "Another is coming!" Sure enough, another Mahi, even larger than the first, pierced through the water and struck our lure at the surface. It hit so hard that the lure broke clean off in the blink of an eye, and the rest of the line came rocketing back towards us. Every inch of our fishing line landed on deck.
There was nothing but silence amongst us. We were all so shocked by what we'd just witnessed that we had nothing to say. We just stood there, mouths open, looking around at each other. Any feelings of sadness over losing our fish and one of our best lures were quickly overshadowed by the epic sight we'd just witnessed.
And guess what? That wasn't even the coolest part of our day!
As epic as that experience was, what we saw the night before was something so special that no one will ever forget it. Watch Team 3 was on watch, practicing their sea shanties under the night sky, when all of a sudden, large green glows started appearing off our starboard quarter. Magnificent bioluminescence was nothing new for us on this passage, but this was different. The big glows seemed to be moving closer and closer to the surface until suddenly, they broke the surface to take a breath... Dolphins!
A massive pod of dolphins started popping up all around us, with bioluminescence announcing their arrival. Trails of bioluminescence streaming from the dolphins looked like something out of our wildest imagginations. No one could believe their eyes. This pod stayed with us for another 45 minutes, swimming all around us and surfing our pressure wave and igniting the water and themselves in glowing green bioluminescence.
We moved up to the bow to see if there were any dolphins up there. Sure enough, four glowing dolphins were riding the wave directly in front of Vela. They were huddled tightly together, moving with such ease. Something out of the movie Avatar would be the closest thing I could compare it to. Everyone shared a moment of pure joy and ecstasy as we realized what we were watching. A moment none of us will ever forget.
The rest of the passage consisted of our usual daily routine, with the highlights being another big fish strike on the line and everyone in our PSCT class passing their Business and Law exam.
Everyone is excited. Cape Verde tomorrow! Signing off.
Mac
P.S. To Sam and the LaBarges. I love and miss you all so much.