Leaving the island includes saying good-bye to old friends, and odd friends. The following are self-portraits of Tom the Grouper and myself posing with a tear in our eye.

A descendant of the mighty Ben, Tom the grouper is Jerry‘s sidekick, the new kid on the block, the trainee, the apprentice, the junior. He’s been following Jerry in his (her) interactions with us, day after day, keeping a safe and respectful distance.

But right now Jerry has left Bloody Bay to go take part in the spawning festivities off the West End, and this morning a very affectionate Tom showed us that he is ready to take on the leading role.

I think he was posing with much more class than most of the puppets at the Academy Awards last night…