Fugu Death

...Not death by fugu (poisonous blowfish), but death of fugu.

Every spring at about the same time of year, dozens of dead fugu wash up on our* little strip of beach. As there is nothing except flies that seem to eat their deadly corpses, the blowfish just lie on the beach, sometimes for weeks, until their bodies are eventually covered by sand.

The first year we were here, we decided to speed up the process by giving each fish a burial followed by words of farewell. It sounds strange, but the kids really enjoyed this activity and we made it an annual family event. However, as there is an average of 70 dead fish lying on the beach all at once, this year we modifed our tradition to include only the burials. In lieu of funeral eulogies, I am posting a few pictures of the dearly departed in this entry. I guess you could call this post an obituary of sorts. May they rest in peace.

*The beach isn't really "ours," but so few other people visit it except for during summertime that it seems like our own private beach.