Journal of the fiftyseventh day on board

28th June, 1999

We are sheltering north of Lampedusa in a very beautiful bay below overhanging walls full of caves. If there were sea lions and iguanas it would seem as if we were in the Galapagos.
Here its teeming with life: the shearwaters shriek, little fish jump out of the water and on the bottom the 'salpe' graze amongst the underwater grass while bright rays swim in formation. Meanwhile, behind the Taccio Vecchio point, the sea rumbles while on board the weather forecaster's voice continuously crackles a stormy warning.

We take the opportunity to discover the caves.

June is almost over and, including today, out of 64 days of the expedition, we have been able to work only on 19 of them.
Let's hope for July. It seems that at this time the Mediterranean has become a Bermuda Triangle and more difficult to work in my home sea, ours in fact, than in the Pacific or Atlantic.

A ray passed quickly under the boat and another jumped in front of the dinghy. It all lasted only a moment. In the next few days we hope to meet again these Mediterranean mantas, close relations to sharks.