I don't understand this? Could they have eaten fish directly from the sea? or lobsters or prawns or anything. When they were on the barren island and they could make ships on that island, why could they not make sharp sticks for hunting sea food? They were even able to start fire on that island so they could have a real feast in that island.
shareWell these things have to be available too you know. In the book they had tortoises for a while, but that eventually ran out. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) they managed maybe to fish some, but not enough to feed everyone.
At the island they basically ate anything they could. Eggs from birds to the extent the birds stopped coming to the island.
If you're talking about Moby Dick starvation wasn't an aspect of the tale at all.
I'm no expert, but isn't dehydration and starvation the main issue with anyone that was actually stranded on a boat?
shareAnd exposure to the elements... most people stranded in lifeboats don't have sunblock!
shareDehydration will get you long before starvation. A couple days versus a couple weeks.
shareSure you can eat from the ocean...did they have tackle and lines? There was a scene where Chris Hemsworth was throwing a simple line overboard. But the fish don't usually hang out near the surface that far out at sea.
As far as the island and making a boat...this wasn't Gilligans Island and they didn't have the necessary tools laying about to make boats, or improve theirs. I don't think they had many saws available to cut down a green tree to make a mast, nor make planks of lumber. In addition, the food intake they would need to satisfy themselves after expending that many calories wouldn't be possible. I'm sure the dead guys in the cave had already thought of those things.
It was real life, not an episode of Survivor.
Your own OP said the island was barren - meaning devoid of life/things sustaining life. Hence the skeletons on the cave. They were able to collect some fresh water at first until their source disappeared under high tide. They ate birds and eggs and but then the birds stopped coming. The book explains it more thoroughly. They were on a different island than they thought, too.
shareI understand your concern, but if you have studied marine biology at all, you would know that only about 1/3 of saltwater fish are edible raw, and only about 1/2 cooked. They also don't hang out anywhere near that close to the surface that far out from shore. All freshwater fish are edible raw, but many still require scaling and such (Like sunfish). The effort required to get any fish at all would out weight the benefit anyway.
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