You enter and a high heeled debutante flashes you a bright smile. She let's you know that your table is ready and then you follow her, click-clacking down the dimly lit corridor. A piano is being played somewhere in the distance. Your hostess disappears and you are left to pour over the menu. It is extensive. Likewise, the wine list could confuse anyone that doesn't speak at least three languages. Luckily, there is a somewhat intimidating middle aged waiter to help make the decision for you. He convinces you to choose the second most expensive white, tonight is about seafood. Grilled scallops and braised sea bass, risotto with shellfish, lobster. You aren't sure what you want, but the ambience has led you to believe that whatever you order will be special. Your dinner was plucked just moments ago from a raging sea, perhaps by that nice young woman's uncle. The catch was placed in a whicker basket and carried to this fine dining establishment. It is fresh. 

Maybe. Go to ninety percent of the world's fish markets and you might think otherwise. There is little glamour in a fish market. Though, I like them just the same. The stench is at times unbearable, but that can't be avoided. The activity of fishermen coming and going, dumping massive quantities of squid on the cement dock. The colors. The textures. Bright red piures floating in a gooey mess. Spiky black urchins, iridescent fish, big and small. The gnarled hands of a man that has baited a hook every Sunday of his life. Ugly dogs waiting for something discarded to gnaw on. Give me a pair of rubber boots and I could hang around all day.

These photos are from Puerto San Antonio, likely this grimiest site that we sampled this past summer.  After deciding that it would be best not to get in the water- hepatitis, heavy metals, angry sea lions- we enlisted the help of some friendly fishermen to take Pablo out on their boat to cut piure from the buoy lines. Meanwhile, I had plenty of time to snap some photos.

giant wheel of algae

so many giant squid

Pablo hard at work

piure :)

Having traveled very little in Chile, we did not know that parts of the central coast are extremely populated... and not with dense marine fauna, but with humans.

But, hey, if you can't avoid the crowds, you might as well join in the fun! That means you get your little umbrella (which you can rent!) and find your spot, even if its in the third, fourth, or fifth row back. Bring your ceviche and tons of sugary soda, and voila, a regular chilean day at the beach. Basically its Margaritaville and the metro at rush hour all wrapped into one sandy package. 

Really, we tried to avoid the crazy beach towns, but with sample sites every 20km stretching north and south from Valparaiso, remoteness was not always an option. As some have said, we did some nice transects for sampling piure and for sampling chilean social life. I would say that from the mansions in Zapallar to the crowded beaches of Quisco to the tiny town of Tauco, we saw it all. 

got some time to kill while the rest of your team is sampling? pop up some shade and drink a soda!

fish market near Vina

only a true star can rock the wetsuit overalls

Snorkeling in ports and cutting up slimy creatures on the back of your truck is generally a good way to get attention.

I am very sad that I didn't get a picture of all of the people that we talked to along our trip. There were gnarly fishermen that gave us tips, wrinkly old villagers that gripped at us, and heaps of curious and confused onlookers. Apparently, its not everyday that a piure hunter comes to your neighborhood.

The photos shown here are from the less famous side of Zapallar, the mansion-strewn beach town, getaway for the rich and famous. Unlike most other people there, we weren't drinking pisco sours in an infinity pool, but we did very much enjoy a swim in the clean little port and met some very helpful members of the artisanal fishing union. Two thumbs up for Zapallar!

took a stroll through the fish market!

everyone being silly while getting ready... there's just something about neoprene...

can you see our little safety float? snorkeling for piure...

great bird shots by Erwan!

letting Pablo and Vale do the work while we goof off!

Out of office message: We're on a Piure hunt. Will return at the end of the month.

We left Valdivia on the 16th, and since that time we've collected several hundred of the smelliest beasts that roam the sea. Pyura chilensis is an ascidian (sea squirt) that, while pungent, is readily eaten by Chileans and other crazy people. As a local fishery, we hope to better understand how connected are distant populations. Do Valdivian piures produce babies that repopulate stocks farther north? As such, for two weeks we are out on the road in search of piure. We pester fishermen, we snorkel in murky ports, we dive in algae forests, we put tiny pieces of tissue into tubes, we drink a lot of beer, we watch the sunset. All for the piure. 

See you in a few weeks with reports of the trip.

We think we should ask Escudo to sponsor us.

Guess who's working with us?? Los Frenchies! Erwan and Vale moved to Valdivia! Now they get to wash wetsuits and label tubes too!

Not such a bad job...