A Boat or Two

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to  the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.
By John Masefield

Funny the things that you can remember from school.  I had to google the third and fourth lines :-)
This morning we went to the Maitai Seafood Research Facility.  It was a trip organised by the foresters fishing club.  We were there to see the baby fish they are breeding.  There are 48 sea water tanks all drawing their water from Nelson Haven which shows that water quality is okay for fish.  We saw baby cod and snapper as long as your little finger.  They grow them for a year and then release them into Nelson Haven.  They can been monitored while they are living there and the scientists have found their babies living happily with the wild populations.  Also proving the quality of the Haven as an environment for fish.  When the water temperature drops the fish move out to sea.  These fish will give the wild population a boost  and in time revitalise the local fishery.  The fun fact for the day was that each snapper has it own unique pattern of spots.  The scientists would like to encourage fishermen to photograph the fish they catch and send the photo to them.  They can run the photos through the software, which they have developed, and will be able to analyze where their baby fish have gone to after they grew up.  I wondered who had the job of photographing all the baby fish.  You can tell a hatchery fish from a wild fish by the nostrils.  A hatchery fish has fused nostrils.  Can you imagine all those crusty fishermen peering at the noses of their catch then taking its portrait on their cellphones?  
P.S At Rainie's suggestion I have tried a square crop of the main picture.  Interesting to see something that someone else sees.  If you get my drift?