Not Just Any Other Day

So today has been unlike any other. It started just before dawn. We had a sampling this morning at around 5:00AM and so I got up to prepare. By the time I was ready, the eastern sky was starting to glow orange and yellow and magenta; the beginnings of the most amazing sunrise I have every witnessed. Last night was a full moon. And so on one side of the boat, we had the sun, rising over the horizon, cloaked in a cape of clouds that reflected the colors like stained glass. And on the other side was this large bright full moon, slowly sinking below the horizon; veiled in a cloak of blue and indigo and night. To add to it all, the waters were incredibly calm and caught all of this light, shinning like oil. Together, all of these factors lead to this brilliant juxtaposition; the warm sun rising in a bright pallet of reds and yellows while the cool moon sank in a sea of twilight.

Sun rise

And just as the sun peaked over the horizon. WHAM! A flash of green blew forth like an explosion at the earths edge. A green flash. This phenomenon occurs when the sun is just peaking over the horizon. The atmosphere diffracts the first of the sun's rays, and for an instant, the emerging sun looks like a green LED bulb. Green flashes are quite rare and some people do not believe they exist. The cause is still unknown. But I got the joy of glimpsing one this morning. And I was ecstatic.

The setting moon

Later today, around 15:30, we got a call from the bridge. "Movement spotted off the port bow". And so the science party rushed up to the weather deck for a look. And we were not disappointed. In the distance, about 1 mile from the boat, a pod of dolphins splashed. At least thirty animals were breaching at the surface, blowing mist into the air and smacking their tails against the water. Tho the dolphins never got close, it was quite a show, with the members of the science party exclaiming "oo" and "ah" when ever a dolphin jumped or splashed.

The three black specs in the photo are three dolphins. The one on the right is splashing his tail.

But there is more. Around 17:00, another sight brought us on deck. Around us, floating on the surface of the water, were thousands of Velella jellyfish. These creatures are not true jellys but are technically a colony of hydrazoa. They float on the surface by inflating an air sack with carbon monoxide. The sack acts like a sail and pushes the Velella along with the current. Velella are a close relative to Portuguese Man of War so no one was in any hurry to go swimming.

Velella Jellyfish. Note the large sail.

And finally, as the sun sank below the horizon we were greeted with one last surprise. Just as the sun was setting, a huge orange moon was rising above the opposite horizon. The orange moon was not quite full but filled the sky and cast an orange glow over the dark waters. And in those waters, a visitor was lurking. Off the starboard bow, swimming quite slowly, was a blue shark. This beautiful creature had found our little boat in the middle of the pacific and decided to check us out. It slowly circled the boat, contemplating if it was of any interest. Then, silently, the shark slipped off, out of sight beneath the dark waters. The crew and science party watched the shark as it circled us. Quite an amazing sight to end the day.

The blue shark that lurked in the dark. Photo taken by Kelsey Bisson

33N 152W