Actually, it's fishing season all year round. Fish here thrive on the food scraps we dispose of into the ocean. Of course, there are other scraps that we throw into the ocean too, if you know what I mean (we're 120 kilometres out - of course it all gets flushed to the sea - after some, erm, processing of course)
Back to the fish. A large school of tuna-lookalikes thrives under our living quarters, ever ready for anything we toss into the sea. Anything that drops down, edible or not, is descended upon like a pack of wolves. It's pretty fascinating to watch.
Almost as constant a presence are the fishermen. While ours is a so-called restricted area, we don't mind them so much as long as they don't endanger themselves hanging out too near our platform. Of course, one never knows if the innocent looking wooden dinghy with the national flag is actually a masquerading member of the Abu Sayyaf or a pirate - but most of the time these folks are actually endangering themselves more than us.
Mind you, we have tons of flammable gas in our piping. Put together a sudden release and a fisherman lighting a cigarette...well, enough said.
Everyone has to make a living right? Cari makan. Company procedures dictate that we should get our standby boat to drive them away, but we try not to set our standby vessel on them if they stay in the "clear" zones. After all, it's a hard life, rocking in their tiny boats and at the mercy of the sun, sea and storms. I wonder how many days at a time they are out, and how their boats hold up to the strong wind and waves we've been experiencing lately.
One of the fishing boats apparently gifted our standby vessel with a catch of theirs - one of the lot living under our quarters. From 20 to 30 metres up where we stand on the platform, they don't look all that big.
As you can see, they are not at all like the average fishes one gets at the local market.
This one was pregnant.
Apparently the flesh is too tough to eat fresh, so our catering crew will salt and dry the flesh. Guess this monster will provide enough salted fish for quite a couple of months. And yes, it is edible, albeit not very delicious. But hey, nothing beats fresh fish right out of the ocean, right?
Disclaimer: Fishing from an offshore platform, is, by my company's rules, illegal. WE DID NOT CATCH THIS FISH.
Just one of the gorgeous views we get every day...
Can't resist showing off (just a little). Looks like something out of a movie, isn't it? The sun's rays shining through the clouds - there's something heavenly about this scene.
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