西南季風來了

母親節這天，島上四處可聽到「母親節快樂！」的招呼聲，
西南季風帶來溫暖潮濕的空氣，濡濕了地板，溫暖了心房。

島嶼西面村落的海浪不小，但北面的朗島村外是一面平穩的海水，

夜潛的軌跡

夜潛的人在海面下照出的光跡

溫和的天氣，適合夜潛的天氣，亮亮的光線飄在各處海面上。

前幾天也與朋友晚上去抓龍蝦，黑壓壓的海水沒有想像中恐怖，
拿著手電筒在水裡照呀照地找龍蝦，還有種尋寶的刺激感，
但這些安心感都是因為有當地人帶我們的緣故吧。

璀璨的蘭嶼夜

今夜的蘭嶼天空很熱鬧。

看見大海的銀河 the witness of sea galaxy

昨晚再度出海捕飛魚，偶爾飄雨的夜晚沒有滿天星斗。
但是海星星(註1)再度給我驚喜。
我們一度因沒燈而在黑暗中拉網，這時附著在魚網上的海星星便在黑暗中閃耀，

時晴偶雨

天氣時雨偶晴，風向瞬息轉變，
蘭嶼人大都躲在家裡，我們也找了個秘密基地烤肉。
從午餐烤到晚餐，彩虹退去、新月升起，
70年代的老歌在洞裡迴盪著，
吃得滿嘴油。

壞天氣，好心情。

駛過黃濁海水的捕飛魚日 The fishing day in the muddy yellow sea

雨勢不停歇，今日近海仍是黃濁色。
老漁人們都說：「海水這麼混濁，不會有飛魚進來啦。」
但我們仍是開著小船出海，離開混濁的海水，下了三次網，邊等飛魚邊釣鬼頭刀。
兩百多公尺的魚網每次收網頗耗功夫，我的手因收網起了三個水泡，這雙平常只用來拿相機、按快門的手指也太嬌嫩了些...
最後如同老人們預測的，我們只網到三尾飛魚。所幸另有捕到近30條尖嘴魚，讓這趟出海還算有些收穫。而沒有飛魚群，自然也釣不到會尾隨飛魚獵食牠們的鬼頭刀。

The rain won’t stop; the color of the coastal water is still muddy yellow.

The old fisher men always say, “there won’t be any flying fish in such condition!”

But we still ride on a small boat, leaving the muddy water, casing the net for three times, waiting for flying fish, and catching dolphin fish.

It is very effort-consuming to pull the 200-meter net. The net had given me three blisters on my unbelievable tender hands which are mostly used for carrying camera and pressing the shutter release button…

Eventually, as the elder predicted, we only got three flying fish. Luckily, we got nearly thirty pipefish, which makes this trip abundant. However, without flying fish, it is reasonable to have zero harvest of dolphin fish, which follows and hunts flying fish. 

蘭嶼下爆雨

這兩天受到滯留鋒的影響，蘭嶼雨勢不斷。
中午出門時，看到的是我在蘭嶼所見過最為混濁的海，海被挾帶大量泥沙的溪水染成黃褐色，

山上出現瀑布宣洩而下，甚至還有小土石流影響道路通行。
經過紅頭村時，瞧見一名男子在野溪出口，拿著魚網在看來有些驚險的黃色泥水中，不知要捕捉什麼。

沒落的拼板舟文化 The decline of traditional canoe culture

最近差不多是飛魚群的高峰期了，單一艘機動船捕獲的飛魚數量從數百到破千都有。
而划划拼板舟出海的人，若可以有數十條就算不錯了。

相較於機動船，拼板舟速度慢、划不遠、不耐風浪，還要自己砍樹建造。
「機動船在我附近跑來跑去的找魚，魚群都被引擎聲趕跑啦。」一個划拼板舟出海的老人這麼跟我說。

拼板舟應該將來不會消失，它們會存在於博物館、展示櫃、海外某收藏家的客廳內。
可能還可以在飛魚季期間的灘頭上看到幾艘的蹤跡，只是不再下海；或者，下海也是讓遊客體驗划拼板舟，而非捕魚。

拼板舟的軀體以某種方式留著，但是拼板舟文化/靈魂消失了，但這就是時代變遷的必然性吧。

It is the peak of flying fish season at this moment. The fishing harvest can be over hundreds or thousands for those on a motor-driven boat. Conversely, the harvest of ten fish is fair enough for those on a traditional canoe.

Compared to a motor-driven boat, the speed of a traditional canoe is low, and it cannot go very far. It is not durable to wave, and it is hand-made of woods.

“A motor-driven boat is speeding around me, the shoal of fish is scared away by the sound of the engine!” an old me sailed a traditional canoe told me.

The traditional canoe shall not disappear, its appearance can be found in a museum, in an exhibition hall, or in a living room of an overseas collector’s house. Maybe we can still see its appearance on the seashore, but it is not used for sailing. Or, it can be used for sailing for the purpose of tourism, not fishing.

The body of a traditional canoe will exist in a certain form, but the soul of a traditional canoe is gone. I guess it is the necessity of the change of time.