Sights at sea

[Cottontop]

Originally Posted by Don C L

WOW! Beautiful!!
Where can I get one of those cameras?

Glistening Waters in Jamaica:

[TJ D]

Well, this was a land sight, but I was at sea, so here goes.

We were motoring N from Zihuatanejo, it was one of those hot, glassy calm days that are so common down there. We were running a couple of miles off, I was sitting in the cockpit bored, staring at the land, mostly just trying to stay out of the sun and stay hydrated.

Suddenly, the top of the mountain I happened to be looking at BLEW OFF. A big cloud of smoke and ask went way into the sky. I had randomly seen the instant of eruption. Definitely a once in a lifetime thing.

I announced it on that evening's ham net, and nobody believed me. No matter. That was definitely the most interesting sighting from a boat.

TJ

[RaymondR]

We get a lot of humpback whales in Queensland inside the Great Barrier Reef. Pretty well always create a feeling of wonder no matter how many times you have seen them before.

[waterdog]

One day sailing south from Los Islotes after an afternoon swimming with sea lions, we came upon a group of Marlin lazing on the surface, a few hundred yards behind them were a group of humpbacks breaching, and in the distance a super pod of hundreds of dolphins heading north. All this in one field of view.

[44'cruisingcat]

"Supermoon" tomorrow night!

[Scottuk]

One of my favourite memories was sailing from Ustica to Sardinia at night. The sky was full of stars, the wind was abaft of the beam and I was alone in the cockpit. Some dolphins appeared and were swimming towards the beam at right angles with their trails exhibiting bioluminescence. The first one made think it was a torpedo.

Once will crossing the Gulf Stream while I was again alone on deck I was startled by the cockpit becoming suddenly illuminated. I turned to see the source and caught out of the corner of my eye a low light streaking across the sky. Since I only caught a glimpse I'm not sure what it was but, though I didn't think it was a flare, I called up my wife and did a full turn. Never did find out what it was but to add to the story it was in the Bermuda Triangle.

[four winds]

Each and every time I've headed out offshore, and every time returning I've had a dolphin escort in the pass. Taken as a good sign always.

Never knew about the green flash until a few years ago. Offshore at sunset with a clear sky and calm seas my brother was telling me about it. Was wondering how I had never heard about this before. Then the sun set and I saw the green flash! Less than an hour after learning there was such a thing.


At 3:00 am on an overnighter with another boat my friends saw a white light astern and hailed me on the radio. It appeared to be following us as we sailed on parallel courses about a quarter mile apart. It was airborne at low altitude at a distance that was difficult to perceive. But, it moved from my friend's starboard side to my port side in maybe ten seconds. Then back and forth again a couple of times. Based on its change in relative bearing it was either close astern or it was farther away and very fast.

Tried hard to make it out to be some type of aircraft lighting but it simply did not look like any lighting I've seen before. And the movement didn't look feasible either. It was freaky.

After maybe half an hour it slowly fell back and dimmed to nothing. Just a few seconds after it disappeared an owl glided into view in the glow of my stern light. The owl hovered in the light and stared at me for a couple of seconds before turning away into the darkness. An owl eighteen miles offshore flies up to my stern and looks at me, like he's saying 'dude, did you see that strange light?'

[sartorst]

While night sailing I saw what I thought was a huge asteroid going through the sky , When the leading ball of fire went out of sight on the eastern horizon there were still a trail all the way to the western horizon Turns out it was the space shuttle re entering the atmosphere !
Again while sailing on a very dark night I began to get the sensation I was going down a wave but it lasted for so long that it scared me into thinking that the bow was sinking while I was below checking the bilge the sensation changed to going uphill when the sun came up I could then see these very large totally benign swells
Another time I had the sheet scared out of me when a light on the water came from behind me and crossed ahead of me at about 40mph the intensity was much too low and no beam leading to it like a spot light and it did not appear to have come from under water ?????? Still get that look from people when I tell the story

[Delancey]

Saw St Elmo's Fire once. Balls of it on the spreader tips and masthead with a glowing on the standing rigging. Also a ball of it on the end of the LORAN antenna mounted on the pushpit. Won't forget that experience anytime soon either.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by four winds

Each and every time I've headed out offshore, and every time returning I've had a dolphin escort in the pass. Taken as a good sign always.

Never knew about the green flash until a few years ago. Offshore at sunset with a clear sky and calm seas my brother was telling me about it. Was wondering how I had never heard about this before. Then the sun set and I saw the green flash! Less than an hour after learning there was such a thing.


At 3:00 am on an overnighter with another boat my friends saw a white light astern and hailed me on the radio. It appeared to be following us as we sailed on parallel courses about a quarter mile apart. It was airborne at low altitude at a distance that was difficult to perceive. But, it moved from my friend's starboard side to my port side in maybe ten seconds. Then back and forth again a couple of times. Based on its change in relative bearing it was either close astern or it was farther away and very fast.

Tried hard to make it out to be some type of aircraft lighting but it simply did not look like any lighting I've seen before. And the movement didn't look feasible either. It was freaky.

After maybe half an hour it slowly fell back and dimmed to nothing. Just a few seconds after it disappeared an owl glided into view in the glow of my stern light. The owl hovered in the light and stared at me for a couple of seconds before turning away into the darkness. An owl eighteen miles offshore flies up to my stern and looks at me, like he's saying 'dude, did you see that strange light?'

That is an interesting anecdote.

Sometimes natural phenomena, that are rarely seen, can be mysterious.

See the part up above about a low level light following the boat.
Then note the owl landed a few seconds later, and the mention of the stern light.

I suspect what you saw was the stern light reflected in the eyes of the owl that was flying and following behind your boat. The eyes of an owl reflect light (like a wolf, cat, and other nocturnal animals. So, the stern light's light could be seen reflected back to the sailor, and the flying would make it appear to move from side to side and then disappear as the owl reached the boat.

Here is an article that explains what this type of reflection is called in animals.
Mini's Nature Site

Excerpt:
"An owls eyes can however appear to glow when a light is shone at them at night, or in the flash of a camera.

An owl's eyes have a layer at the back of them called the tapetum lucidum (Latin for 'bright tapestry') that causes light to reflect back through the retina (a light sensitive layer in the eye, like the film in a camera).

This is to improve the probability that light will reach the retina. This allows owls to see much better at night. The tapetum lucidum causes the 'eyeshine' or glow that you see. This layer is not unique to owls, in fact many animals have it, especially those which are nocturnal (come out at night) or live in low light conditions."

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by sartorst

While night sailing I saw what I thought was a huge asteroid going through the sky , When the leading ball of fire went out of sight on the eastern horizon there were still a trail all the way to the western horizon Turns out it was the space shuttle re entering the atmosphere !
Again while sailing on a very dark night I began to get the sensation I was going down a wave but it lasted for so long that it scared me into thinking that the bow was sinking while I was below checking the bilge the sensation changed to going uphill when the sun came up I could then see these very large totally benign swells
Another time I had the sheet scared out of me when a light on the water came from behind me and crossed ahead of me at about 40mph the intensity was much too low and no beam leading to it like a spot light and it did not appear to have come from under water ?????? Still get that look from people when I tell the story

The last thing you mentioned (fast moving light on water that came from behind and went ahead of boat) sounds to me like another example of a dolphin or fast fish in bioluminescent water swimming past the boat. I have seen this many times.

[Steadman Uhlich]

The amazing visual spectacle of a dolphins in bioluminescent water, swimming beside a boat at night is one of my most cherished memories while sailing. I saw this many times as dolphins would streak by and sometimes play by the bow while sailing at night. It was a very special, unforgettable sight.

Someone mentioned it was like watching some ghosts in a movie. I agree. And I can imagine how sailors long ago would have seen these as mermaids or spirits of lost sailors.

And, they can swim remarkably fast! Some appear like streaks of light. Some fast fish do the same, such as Dorado.

___________

My second most amazing sight was a total glass-like mirror-like ocean during a Flat Calm in the Pacific High. I have seen realatively "flat seas" before. But this was strikingly different. The water was smooth like a surface of mercury and during the day the partly cloudy sky had clouds reflected from the sky in the water all the way to the horizon. I had never seen anything like it before. It was like sailing (we were not moving, we were becalmed) on a mirror that stretched to the horizon in all directions. It was the reflection of thousands of small puffy white cumulous clouds that made it so increadible too, because they were perfectly reflected on the surface, like a mirror. I took photos of this, but they were lost. My description of it does it no justice, as I have to say it was AWESOME an beautiful and seemed like something from a dream.

[sartorst]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

The last thing you mentioned (fast moving light on water that came from behind and went ahead of boat) sounds to me like another example of a dolphin or fast fish in bioluminescent water swimming past the boat. I have seen this many times.

I have seen the bioluminescence but it was not that type of light it was on the surface and there were no boats or planes in sight ? Since it was shortly after sundown I could not help but think it was light reflected off of something high in the atmosphere ???

[redhead]

I have seen bioluminescence in Long Island Sound and all around Puerto Rico. It's magical.

More than anything I want to see the Aurora Borealis and the green flash before these eyes fade.. I'd better get moving.

[Bill Seal]

Back before the days of holding tanks, you could play Tinkerbell and watch the sparkelies when you pumped the head.