Rainbow Fish - Fawn Harbor, Vanua Levu Island, Fiji

Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sun 12 Jul 2009 20:03
16:43.650S  179:43.622E
 
On July 8th, we left Albert Cove with our broken washing machine and sailed the 35ish miles back to Fawn Harbor for the night on our way to Savusavu.  Just around the corner from Albert Cove we caught our first mahi-mahi.  Don was debating about whether to keep it given its smallish size (10ish pounds) when it performed the triple back flip double twisting freedom move and extricated itself from the industrial size double hook we use.  So much for that one.
 
After we sailed and motored through the Somosomo strait next to the once again veiled Taveuni Island and neared the entrance to Fawn Harbor, we caught another mahi-mahi.  This one didn't put up much of a fight and was slightly bigger than the previous one.  We determined that this one was a female, who unlike her male counterpart, did not fight fiercely and somehow never learned the triple back flip double twisting freedom move.  Good for us and bad for her.
 
The only bad thing about catching a mahi-mahi is watching their brilliant blue and gold sparkly color fade to black and mud brown as they die.  Not pleasant.  Don brought the fish on board, ensured she was dead and left her in the cockpit with a towel over her head until we could get through the pass to Fawn Harbor and anchor in the calm waters there where it would be much easier for him to go about the process of gutting and cleaning.  About ten minutes later, the fish twitched, which is normal I suppose...not unlike a chicken running around with its head cut off, but the noise caught my attention so I glanced at the fish (until then I was avoiding looking at it as it lay black and mud brown, half towel covered, on the floor of the cockpit).  It had turned bright blue!  Nearly the same incredible blue it was before we hauled it aboard.  We both stared in amazement as I documented the phenomenon with the camera (picture below - towel removed so you can see the entire blue fish).  After that I kept a close eye on the fish.  It proceeded to turn bluer with brighter blue spots, then its belly turned shiny bright gold and a few minutes later it was back to black and mud brown.  Amazing.  I wonder if others have seen the same with a dead mahi-mahi? 
 
We ended up with enough mahi-mahi fillets to make three or four meals and ate the first one that night.  Marvelous.  There's nothing like catching your own fish and eating it the same day.  The rest went in the freezer.  Still can't get over the dead fish color changing show though.  We've seen a good many rainbows since we arrived in Fiji, but that's the first time we've seen one demonstrated on a dead fish.  Makes you wonder what's in store for us next, doesn't it?
Anne 

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