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438 Days (continued.)

Ch. 7 A Fight for Life:  Cordoba gives up.  Asks A. not to eat him when he dies.  After he dies, Alvarenga talks to him for a while.  Finally Cordoba, essentially a mummy, is gently buried at sea. Depression for A.
Ch. 8 Swimming with Sharks:  A. hones his hunting skills; flock of birds on board.  Cruelty of boats.  He sees them repeatedly, but they don't see him.  No flares, no matches. Risky, stupid swim to Styrofoam.
Styrofoam's whiteness lures more birds to his boat and to his stomach. Swimming strategy to avoid sharks:  when the smaller fish are relaxed, he is relaxed.  When they panicked, he got back on board.
Ch. 9  Encounters with a Whale--huge creature, several times longer than his boat; eye as large as A.'s head;  whale shark--30,000 pounds; talks to the gentle giant; carries whole ecosystem with him.
Whale Shark leaves, baby takes it's place.; rowdy, smashes boat.  3mph drift is faster!  Moonless nights hardest, can't judge the next wave; 90 in the day; 85 at night; turtle blood his greatest source of nutrients and energy.
Ch. 10  Road to Nowhere; soccer games played by birds; scratched his name on metal bands of birds; one bird as pet--"I would spend hours speaking to a person and would talk with him for hours.
Resourcefulness:  Turtle shell as sombrero; talks to himself of beautiful women; pretend long walks or drives or bike rides.  "I could induce my mind that I was actually doing something. Not just sitting there, thinking about dying.
Ch. 11 & 12  Boat escapes its circular flow (doldrums) and heads west--great--but his food source dries up again. Rain stops. Must eat his pet bird . . . eats fingernails . . . barnacles from boat . ..  another close call with large ship that just sails by, not seeing . . . physical failure.

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