The Eloquence of the Sardine

In the blink of an eye, the sea was no more than an expanse of churning foam for hundreds of yards, an immense lapping, a dazzling chaos. Thousands of sparkling anchovy rose to the surface, panic-stricken, assailed by predators. Northern gannets dive-bombed the churn like falling javelins. Dolphins darted deftly in and out, slicing through the swirling waters. Terns dived in frenetic flocks, shearwaters belly-flopped into the water with childlike giddiness. I had only just glimpsed the gleam of massive, dark, streamlined shapes, hurtling through the air and slapping the waves as they fell in an iridescent spray, when suddenly the air echoed with the terrible, deafening, formidable cry of the tuna.