With a little travel time to reflect and decompress it is now time to share a element of this voyage for which the majority of you know I have tremendous enthusiasm. For our anglers it is a huge bonus to be a participant in the yellowfin tuna tagging project that has been taking place on select fall ten day voyages since 2002. Headed up by Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission senior scientist Kurt Schaefer and scientist Dan Fuller, this project has been a colossal success serving as a model of joint cooperation between the sport fishing and scientific communities. The successes of this project, and the enthusiasm anglers have demonstrated for volunteering captured yellowfin tuna for tagging, provided the impetus for the Revillagigedo tagging project, a collaborative effort between the IATTC, Mexico's Instituto Nacional de Pesca or National Fisheries Institute, and Royal Star.

The fall yellowfin tuna tagging project on Royal Star is only a part of a much larger project known as TOPP or Tagging of Pacific Pelagics. Rather than provide details in today's report, I would encourage all of you to look up the TOPP project on the internet to learn more about the incredible successes and remarkable information that has been gathered through tagging pelagic marine organisms in the North Pacific Ocean during the past six years.

Among the many unique opportunities this project offers to Royal Star anglers is the ability to learn volumes about yellowfin tuna behavior and biology from Kurt and Danny who are leading experts in this field. Far from bookwormish nerd types, Kurt and Danny are extremely personable, very enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge of yellowfin tuna and many results from tag recoveries in this project, and foremost are genuine fishermen who do a fantastic of job of providing good company at the rail while capturing many specimens for the project themselves. Kurt and Danny's enthusiasm for their work and professionalism is impossible to miss and is sincerely appreciated on every voyage; especially by our entire Royal Star team.

That said I want to commend this group of anglers to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude for their eagerness to provide specimens for tag and release right out the gates this voyage. I was again amazed and incredibly encouraged to see anglers without a fish in the hatch volunteering fifty to ninety pound yellowfin tuna for tagging perfectly satisfied to do their part for science and extrodinarily enthusiastic about providing more. These angler's perspective, like so many others on Royal Star voyages, is a glowing example of how long range anglers have evolved with the slaughter everything in the ocean attitude being abandoned for taking reasonable quantities of fish and gladly releasing others. They are the reason this project has been successful beyond all projections. So my most sincere thanks to this group of anglers, to Kurt and Danny of the IATTC, and Dr. Barbara Block of the TOPP project for providing the opportunity for Royal Star to make the contributions we have in this arena. Many eyes have been opened as a result of this opportunity and subsequent accomplishments.

In closing for the day, I must add that every angler who provided specimens for the project was richly rewarded by the fish gods for their good deeds in the end. As reported yesterday, we are traveling north in decent conditions entirely satisfied with the beautiful catch of giant yellowfin we have in the RSW tanks. Honestly, any greater quantity of fish on board would be pure gluttony. As such we are making way towards home triumphantly reveling in our achievments while looking forward to our arrival in San Diego on Monday, December 3rd. In the meantime we are keeping close track of the action below in preparation for our next voyage that departs on December 5th. If I have any more thoughts to share I will report again tomorrow. Otherwise look for reports to resume on the fifth. All is well.

Tim