I have recently returned after twelve days at-sea off the southeast coast of Brazil, where we were fishing for tuna in an area bordering our neighbours and friends from Uruguay. The zone is favoured for the convergence of cold and warm water fronts, which form further north reaching well into Brazilian waters in the austral winter.
This warm-cold water front forms an area characterised by rough sea conditions with waves varying from one to two and a half metres high, but often reaching over 4 metres. It can be quite scary to witness from our perspective aboard a small vessel!
Work on board is intense and exhausting. The crew manage to sleep whenever possible but fishing activities demand long, hard hours. Fishing operations start in darkness, typically in the early hours of the morning, at which point the crew deploys the fishing gear from the aft of the vessel. After this, there is a couple of hours rest before work continues and the captain tracks the radio beacon to start hauling the gear. Fishing lines, hooks, floats and most importantly, fish is brought aboard the open deck through an opening in the side of the vessel.
This work cycle is constant while the weather permits. On this trip we had heavy seas with winds from 41 to 47 knots (~70km/h) on most days and fishing was even suspended for a few days for crew safety.
Below: Fabiano Nassin at sea off the southeast coast of Brazil
I observed 13 species of seabirds, including Northern and Southern Royal albatross passing on extended wings with their typical graceful flight. The great albatross are species that really take your breath away.
There were also many of the smaller, but equally important storm petrels. These species have interesting behaviours that have caught the attention of the crew. In Brazil these small birds are known as fire-feet, hot-feet, or even cork-feet. The fishermen are very observant and explain that storm petrels never rest on the water.
Such behaviour, over time is converted in stories and myths about these birds. The crew believe that the typical dancing behaviour exhibited by storm petrels as they forage oil droplets and particles from the water is down to the birds wetting their feet because they are too hot. This seems funny but would make perfect sense! Others myths tell of how the birds' feet are made of cork. These are typical fishermen tales commonly discussed to help pass the time as they work long hours on deck.
One of the many seabird myths describes the action of the “bathing” shearwater. Seabirds have to constantly preen their feathers to keep them waterproof, which requires a certain amount of fussing. It can be an amusing sight to behold at sea, and in Brazil this behaviour has become the focus of another fisherman's tale. According to the crew, this bathing is a sure sign of impending bad weather, with swollen seas and strong winds. However, on this trip we were able to debunk this particular myth. Soon after we watched a greater shearwater taking a "bath", the sea began to calm, the wind abated and the rest of the fishing trip remained quiet until we finally returned to port.
Having spent a first introductory trip with this vessel, I will now return to sea with them to conduct instruction in the use of mitigation measures and collect comparative data to demonstrate the efficiency of the measures... and no doubt hear more amazing fisherman's' tales!
Below: A great shearwater fresh from a bath