The Fish Market with Bill and Terrie

We visited the fish market in Coquimbo with Bill at Terrie. It is fun to go out by the dock and look at the sea life.

This bird we hadn't seen before. It's coloring kind of reminds me of a penguin.

Another one of those funny signs.  We were joking that this sign meant that this a good place to drive your car into the ocean.

It is fun to watch the sea lions waiting for fish scraps.

Please beware of the next few pictures. These were taken in rapid succession when a bucket if fish leftovers were thrown over the dock. This is the reason why the sea lions and birds hang out here. It is a pretty gruesome feeding frenzy.

BJ and Evan wanted to get in on the action.  Grandpa Bill showed them where the scrap bucket was being filled.

They each reached in that bucket of fish guts and pulled out some food for the sea lions. 

It is hard to tell from the look on Evan's face, but he really was having  a great time and went back for more a few times for refills.

I didn't want to deprive my little boys of some fun with fish scraps, but I did have to take some deep breaths after having to clean guts and scales from their jackets when all the fun was over.

It was so great to see a sea lion out of the water. You can really see his mane when he is drying off. These guys are ginormous.

These are the fishing boats that go out to get fresh catch for Coquimbo.

This is the fish we like.  It is called reineta.  It might not be too pretty to look at, but it is tastey and relatively inexpensive and easy to debone.

This is the famous Chilean eel called Congrio.  We hear they make a nice soup out of it called Caldia de Congria.  There was even a poem written about it which is basically the recipe for the soup.

Here I am by the assorted bits.  These cups are very popular in the market.  We see people all the time eating them.  But, friends say it is best not to eat from here.  I am more than happy to head that advice.

I wish I had gotten a video of this one.  Since this a gross, fishy, blog post, I might as well go all out.  This guy is carving up some kind of a sea squirt.  He slices away at this big, brown, ugly thing that has been dragged from the ocean and slips in his finger and pulls out what is pictured below.  And everytime he slices the things squirts up sea water.  It was really something to behold.

We see batches of this red stuff from the sea squirt all over the market.  I have no idea how it is consumed.  I don't think I want to know just yet.