We’ve been steaming towards Minerva Reefs since yesterday afternoon. The swell has been from the southwest so the vessel has been rolling a bit. A few of the passengers have been suffering with the conditions.
We paused briefly in the early morning at Ata Island to do some fishing. Dan caught a mahi mahi (Coryphaena hippurus) and two yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), and Charlie caught a threadfin bream (Nemipterus) that we haven’t been able to identify.
Daniel Jolly with a mahi mahi caught off Ata Island.
Photo: Richard Robinson, www.depth.co.nz
Ata Island was occupied by people until 1869 when the Tongan monarch removed the population to avoid any more people being stolen by blackbirders to work in Chilean mines. Life would have been hard on this steep, rugged island with no landing sites.
A morning view of Ata Island.
Photo: Richard Robinson, www.depth.co.nz
Early tomorrow morning we will cross the Tropic of Capricorn just before we reach North Minerva Reef, our first stop in the subtropics.
By Dr Tom Trnski
