I think the time is really overdue to put a little spotlight on the behind the scenes crew who put in the hours and face the deadly cold dark waters of the Bering sea, right along with our favorite fishermen! Last season, Ben Zupo was a rookie on the F/V Cornelia Marie and we all know what a roller-coaster of a breaking in that must have been, right? Well this season Ben is spending his time on the F/V Northwestern and according to the Sacramento News10 article below, he’s expecting Opilio season to be particularly grueling…
Rookie Returns to Deadliest Catch
Tibetan prayer flags hang in front of the window in Ben Zupo’s Sacramento bedroom. Pictures of Zupo in a kayak descending death-defying waterfalls crowd his walls. A small duffel sits on the wood floor packed with necessities for his next adventure.
“The most important things I’m bringing: long johns and this natural ginger sea sickness remedy,” said Zupo. He is heading to Alaska where he will spend the next six weeks aboard a the crab-fishing vessel the Northwestern in the Bering Sea.
Zupo works as a photographer on the Discovery Channel’s immensely popular show “Deadliest Catch.” Last season he was a rookie on the Cornelia Marie. Now he knows exactly what kind of danger awaits him.
“It’s freezing cold, wet, sometimes we work 25 hours straight,” said Zupo. “We were in a really bad storm last year where I got hit by a huge wave. It gets scary out there for sure.”
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