This post was written by Astrid Jimenez for ProDelphinus.
I spent the day in a boliche boat, or purse siener surrounded by what I consider a real life experience, the things that cannot be seen or heard, but that one has to live to fully understand them. Today, around me, the ocean seems to swallow part of a continent and as part of this landscape, a group of fishermen sail upstream in search of what will be their catch for the day. The night will be long but the enjoyment of being at-sea makes it worthwhile.
When the fishermen find a good fishing zone, the net is thrown into the water, with the purse seine positioned as a vertical fence around the schooling fish. The vessel circles the fish and closes the two ends of the net together. The bottom cables or ‘purse strings’ are then tightened and the technique begins to work. They gradually lift the nets and in this process, it appears that the fishermen are trying to remove a scoop of the sea.
From a distance I spot few black dots in the sky start to take shape as they approach. These ‘dots’ were seabirds, mainly pelicans, boobies and seagulls. These birds also try to remove something, but this time the perception is that what they seek belongs to the fishermen. Along with them, sea lions enter and leave the nets as many times as they want, to eat the fish already encircled in the nets.
After the fishing trip, I reflected on the tiredness of the fishermen, but also the quick disappearance of seabirds and sea lions, in that wonderful blue world.