We are out in the ocean, out of sight of land, en route from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. Last night, when we stepped out of the restaurant, which is on an upper deck, into the open air, we looked at what we expected to be the black midnight horizon. But strung along the edge were clusters of brilliant points of light. It looked like theatrical spotlights pointing at us from the outer wall. It felt like the Truman Show reality of this cruise was suddenly laid bare. We were on a huge water stage.
Turns out these are large fishing boats, shining powerful lights into the water to attract squid along the edge of the continental shelf. The open ocean isn’t empty.