Thanks to Kurt Schaefer, Arthur Bloomer, and Toke Aw we still have plenty of photos to share and today I want to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to several individuals who contributed significantly to the success of this venture. First, Kurt Schaefer and Dan Fuller from the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission who demonstrated their expertise in tagging activities as well as knowledge about yellowfin and Big eye tuna. It is very safe to say that this project would not have come to fruition without the efforts of these two incredible individuals. Second, Gabriel Aldana Flores from Instituto Nacional de Pesca (INP) in Mexico for his contributions as a scientist, participant, and observer on this visionary tagging cruise to the Revillagigedo island reserve. Gabriel?s scientific credentials and plentiful offshore experience were always evident in his professionalism, actions and demeanor. We could not have been more fortunate than to have a partner such as Gabriel on this voyage. Finally, I have to say a few words about my good friend Michael Joseph who many of you will remember as our land based manager in Panama. Michael and I have shared a dream of beginning the first large scale tagging project on wahoo in the Eastern Tropical Pacific and it was very gratifying to see this dream come to fruition. Michael volunteered his time on this voyage to assist with tagging operations as well as promote the idea of such voyages well into the future. With many contributions on Royal Star to his credit, Michael is an important component in our future vision for Royal Star.

The first photo features from left to right Michael Joseph, Gabriel Aldana Flores, Kurt Schaefer, Captain Tim Ekstrom, and Dan Fuller well satisfied after an evening ripper at Roca Partida where we tagged about fifty yellowfin tuna.
The second photo features angler Dave Hall in the skiff pulling on what became a two hundred pound class yellowfin tuna.

The third photo, and one of my trip favorites, is of angler Tim Samuelson, Michael Joseph, and I dead lifting Tim?s one hundred eighty pound class yellowfin on the side of the skiff for a quick photo just before release. This was an amazing moment thankfully captured by the quick trigger finger of Kurt Schaefer.

The last photo is one for the Royal Star scrapbook that is perhaps the finest at sea photo of Royal Star that I have seen. Socorro Island?s Cape Pearce provides the background as Royal Star sits at anchor just after sunrise.

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