Rescue operation

7 October 2024

Rescue operation

The past few days we have been able to fish quite well. A couple of skipjack and a yellowfin tuna provided a delicious appetiser. There are also the occasional birds passing by, such as brown gannets and masked boobies. And when lowering the sails, the deck lights were on. This apparently confused a red-tailed tropicbird (fun word for Scrabble), which flew full into the sail, bounced back and landed on deck. We let this one rest for a while, while we were busy lowering the sails ourselves. Since seabirds of this kind are not very ‘handy’ on solid ground, we picked it up and tossed it into the air so it could continue its flight. A bit of a strange feeling to just throw a downed bird back into the air, but it worked on the first try. Then again, that gives a good feeling!

Furthermore, we learn all kinds of things from each other during classes/presentations during the day. Today, for example, Erik gave a talk about DNA ‘floating around’ everywhere and collecting it to see what he can find and whether there might be interesting strands among them. Also about what is possible with AI and DNA printers these days.  The atmosphere is very good, there is a lot of talking and a lot of laughter. We are enjoying the weather and the starry skies and fortunately have a few more days to go on our ‘little island’ in this big ocean.