Evening star., 1954-11-17
lis Days at Sen
Food Source Lost to Noyoger
AS Fish MysteriousIy Vanish

body tapered to a tremendous
tail I'm. He was a successor to
Long Tom, the 9-foot shark that
had followed me and my raft fol
several thousand miles. leaving
me about the time turned
southwesteriy around the Mar
quesaS islands. Like Tom. this
one had tried to take my food.
Hits Line Like Bullet.
Ifound the bonito I caught had
a flying fish in its belly. This
was good bait, and with it ]
quickly caught q big blue dolphin.
all the shades fof blue In the
world. Because they were so
beautiful, 7 always felt some
how sad when / pulled up a dol
phin on my hook.
This one hit the line like a
bullet and fought to get under
the raft. But suddenly he turned,
seeing the shark there. ] thought.
somebody will eat you today,
either the shark or me. When /
got him aboard and hung him in
the rigging. / saw that the shark
had taken a piece out of his back.
He weighed about IS pounds. !
judged.
I had to eat this dolphin raw,
as I had had to eat all my fish
since shortly after leaving the
coast Of South America. I car
ried tive pressure stoves that
burned kerosene. but both had
Jailed, refusing to uaporize the
fuel. They defied all my efforts
at repair, even though I took
them completely apart several
times. Consequently. ! had to
overcome a powerful distaste and
learn to eat fish raw, even q
pound at q time. But like many
other arrangements I did not
foresee. 1t had by now become
part Of my routine.
Birds Go Dive-BOmbing.
Near the Galapagos Islands,
the sea birds added to the bait
ties going on under the sea. Frig-
ate birds, big and black, COW
cred the sky. even as much as
100 miles from land. The sea
was often alive with flying fish
constantly hunted by dolphins.
Larger fish would drive them
into the air. where the. birds then
took over the hunt with eager
cries. The frigate birds dropped
swiftly and gently, and, like la
dies with long slender fingers
picking up cigarettes, picked of
their prey, tired from endless
chasing.
Countless other varieties Of
birds which dive for their food
would join in. hurtling down and
smashing into the water. All
would be quiet for minute,
until the marauders: below would
rout up another swarm. The fly:
ing fish, their wings like cello
phane and their bodies delicate,
maneuvered in the air like aero
bats.
The dolphins, whose meat Is
excellent. were with me most Of
the voyage. 20 or more keeping
close. to the raft for weeks. I
could recognize them by their
wounds and marks. There were
many bonitos. but they stayed
farther off. The sharks were
generally there, often in such
numbers that the sea seemed full
of them.
Whales Peril Raft.
In some regions there we're
some tuna, but they kept their
distance. I saw no porpoises at
all. Three or perhaps four times
! saw whales, always in pairs.
Once, when two came close to
the raft, I feared they would
bend the rudder. But they ap-
parently were only curious and
there was no danger. Once q
pair, Is to 80 feet long, swim
ming a little, taking air and
then descending again, played
all night around the raft. Early
in the voyage I saw, only for a
minute, q hammerhead shark,
its snout like a shovel.
In the mornings / found many
squid. their bodies six or eight
inches across. ON deck and even
atop my cabin. Always, /
noticed. the ssquid on each
particular day seemed to be of
about the same size some days
only small ones, other days all Of
them much larger.
I Fer the large fish that ac-
companied my voyage. the flying