Dogfights Over Fish

"No big deal." Wheeler laughs. "I would have survived."

At 11:30 p.m. Wheeler's home is dark, but the front door is wide open. Down the hall the door to Wheeler's bedroom is also open. He's on his knees, saying his prayers. Wheeler flew 10 hours today—over Cape Cod Bay, around the tip of the Cape to Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard—and did not see a single fish. Nothing. Tomorrow, he says, we're going 60 miles out. "Don't let me forget to take the life raft," he says.