Landing in the wilderness of Suwarrow has given us the opportunity to live off the land/sea. In addition to hunting coconut crabs, Eric has learned to spearfish. Yesterday he got his first kill and now he's hooked! It's been a grand learning experience for us all.
Our friends on Mulan (who are currently in transit to Seattle) had passed on their spear gun to Oso before leaving the South Pacific. Equipped with gun, Eric joined the ranger, Apii, and our friends Jamie (s/v Totem) and Mike (s/v IO) for the hunt. Paired with Jamie, Eric's primary role became shark watcher. As soon as the first kill is made and fish blood pours into the water, the sharks instantly appear and they are ready to eat. When the hunter gets the kill, he immediately shoots to the surface, holds the fish above the water and jams back to the boat as fast as his fins will propel. There the boat tender will unload the fish from the spear. The hunting partner's job is to make sure the sharks stay safely away from the killer and his fish. Yesterday we had the kids with us and when several whitetip and blacktip sharks decided to hang out below the dinghy and wait for the kills to return, we called the kids in from the water. Niall and Bear continued to venture out with the hunters and watch the process from above. However when the sharks became too active, we pulled them out as well. It only took a half hour for three men to get eight fish for the evening's dinner. By then the sharks were near frenzy as Jamie had wounded a grouper but failed to reel it in. Score one for the sharks. It was time to go.
Being inexperienced, Eric's first several shots bounced right off the fish. But he got the hang of it and we all cheered when he came up with a nice sized grouper on his spear. Hoo-ha!
Back on shore, Apii showed us how to clean the various types of fish. There were parrot fish, grouper, bluefin travaley and another unidentified specie. For dinner, we fed three families poisson cru (raw fish in lime and coconut juice) and many types of grilled fish. It was excellent and we all felt satisfied with the adventure as well.
