Green Flash and Brown Noddy

 This update came in from Keith Rittmaster July 27, 2011 from the NOAA Marine Mammal Assessment Cruise.
Above is a picture of a Brown Noddy that hitched a ride on board for awhile.    He wrote in his email  that Capes Hatteras and Lookout are  marine mammal hotspots, and Lookout is a loggerhead hotspot.  But Lookout also seemed to be the trash hotspot.  He also said how interesting it was to experience the different biology of the inner and outer continental shelves.  

   He continues: "Now we're in blue water off northern Florida and seeing pilot whales, bottlenose dolphins, spotted dolphins, and grampus whales around the inner shelf break.  No sperm whales since Lookout.  We saw a mola breach high out of the water which I would have never imagined could be possible.  In fact I didn't believe my eyes, but 2 other people saw it too.  

Offshore bottlenose dolphins are very entertaining bow riders twisting and doing back flops." 

   

These pictures of the green flash are amazing, they are the best representation of it that I have seen. All the decades I've lived on one coast or the other and looked for the green flash, I never saw one. (You may want to enlarge the pictures to see it better).

Today's Dining Room fare:  Wahoo ceviche for dinner.  Quesadillas with mango salsa for lunch.  Every breakfast has 'ship made' yogurt, fruit salad, pancakes, and omelets to order.  Our bananas are on the way out so we've been eating lots of banana bread. The chef even makes soy milk and tofu on board from organic soybeans." 

I know he misses home but it's hard to feel too, too sorry for him.