Journal of the seventyeighth day on board

19th July, 1999

Tuna Therapy

Angelo, Caterina and Stefano's efforts have been repaid. We watch on a television and on a tv monitor a big dark shape. We are all excited and fix our eyes on the "underwater eye" that is a closed circuit videocamera allowing us to see what's happening under the boat.

After an instant the shape disappears leaving everybody astonished. Come on Angelo tell us what's going on.
We don't give up hope and keep on chumming and watching the videocamera on board. Again another tuna appears on the monitor and this time its perfect and sharp. We are looking at a gigantic example of a 2 metre long tuna to be followed shortly after by 2 of them.
In an instant we are all at work.
Alberto begins to get the equipment ready, Angelo starts to distribute plenty of sardines in order to attract the two giants and keep them close, Caterina films the scene.
Two tunas slowly become confident and approach the Alicudi eating sardines. Alberto dives into the water. We cannot imagine the tuna's reaction and we believe that not many people have had the opportunity to run into this fascinating free fish.
We keep our fingers crossed but our doubts vanish observing the accommodating behaviour of the 2 fish (they look like red tunas, giant tuna of the Mediterranean) accepting the divers presence.

We are really facing an extraordinary spectacle where man has only been able to watch thanks to technology. These elegant and powerful tunas keep on going in front of the videocamera and catching the sardines with their mouths wide and giving us the necessary time to admire their beautiful colours and their fins bending, lifting, widening at will.
They speed up, slow down, turn, and go up and down without a break. After Alberto I decide to enter the water too. It is such a great opportunity for a biologist. I'm filming Alberto who is filming the tunas watching us. Tomorrow they will tell the other tunas that there are men distributing food without hooks. One of them has already had this experience according to the large fishing line hanging from its mouth. We hope our chum will not make him unaware of the dangers.
An hour later the tunas go away and we get on the beat again without commenting. It has been a wonderful experience and for the moment nobody feels like saying anything except for Alberto, according to whom diving with tunas has healed his broken toe.
Are we experiencing the tuna therapy age?