28 Jan 24 - ORCA Saga Caribbean Calypso Day 11 - The Mythical Green Flash

Our fifth day at sea after leaving Tenerife started with another promising day of early morning sunshine. Sadly, another day where I failed to see any Cetaceans. However, the Mirrorwing Flying Fish and Small Clearwings were still being regularly seen throughout the day.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish

We were also regularly encountering Sargassum Weed. There were many large patches of Sargassum Weed that had broken off from the main Sargassum Weed belt in the Sargasso Sea. This Sargassum Weed moves in a clockwise rotation around the centre of the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is approximately two thousand by seven hundred miles in size and occurred to the North of our route. Sargassum Weed is an brown macroalgae. It forms vast rafts in the Sargasso Sea and it provides an important breeding ground for many Fish and other marine species.

Sargassum Weed: We were frequently encountering large patches of Sargassum Weed

A close up of a small piece of Sargassum Weed

Occasionally, when I've seen large numbers of Flying Fish, I see a Smurf or two. Smurfs are the name given to the youngest of Flying Fish. Typically, they are only a couple of inches in length and when you see them leap out of the water, they only manage about a few feet before they drop back into the water. To the naked eye, they appear to be round. Due to their limited flying range, they are just about impossible to photograph. They have dropped back into the water, before I even get the chance to lift the camera. However, I was lucky enough to be trying to photograph an adult Flying Fish, when I saw a Smurf appear.

Smurf sp.: Sadly, it is out of focus, but it is possible to see it is a mini Flying Fish

It had been a long day with no Cetaceans. Jan decided to pack up the surveying just before sunset, to allow Terry to start working on the daily slide. There was only a few minutes before the sunset, so I decided to stay up on deck as I cannot resist an atmospheric sunset. On this occasion, the sun dropped behind the cloud on the horizon.

It was a good-looking sunset: Then it got a lot better

But suddenly, the sun reappeared through a gap in the cloud on the horizon. I was intrigued as I hadn't seen that before. I carried on watching the sun with the bins right on last light, when magically the yellow-orange sunlight changed to lime green. This was the mythical Green Flash that I had looked for on many occasions, but I hadn't seen. It lasted about fifteen seconds. I was worried I wouldn't have the time to raise the camera in time to get a photo, so, I just enjoyed it. I had always wondered why it was green. I was expecting that it should be a violet-blue colour, if it was down to light being refracted into different colours by the earth's surface. When I googled the Green Flash phenomenon that evening, I saw this was confirmed. However, these violet-blue frequencies tend to be quickly absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere and the frequencies that aren't absorbed produce the lime-green colouration. Perhaps the low cloud helped to reflect the lime-green colouration or maybe it is provides a darker background which makes the green colouration stand out better.

It had been a good day. I had photographed my first nigh on impossible to photograph Smurf and seen this mythical phenomenon.

26 Jan 24 - ORCA Saga Caribbean Calypso Day 9 - In Range Of Flying Fish

After two quiet days at sea after leaving Tenerife in the Canaries with lots of poor visibility, the conditions improved as we finally left the Saharan Sand behind. On the third day we were enjoying warm sunny weather in the middle of the Atlantic.

We were on deck before sunrise, which allowed me to photograph the sunrise

With two days of not seeing any Cetaceans, I had a short view of a probably Minke Whale. But it dived quickly, didn't resurface and I hadn't been able to eliminate the possibility of it being a Beaked Whale. Sadly, that is the reality of some sightings. But it is important to be accurate on recording sightings, rather than trying to get a name to a sighting on the briefest of views.

It was good to have a reasonable number of passengers on deck throughout every day with us

Although the Cetaceans were few & far between, fortunately, we finally started to see good numbers of Flying Fish.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: They can be identified by their glassy and veined wings. Some have a broad transverse clear bar from base of the wing to its middle and a broad light grey band on rear half of the wing. The pelvic fins are enlarged and clear. They can get up to about a foot in length

Seeing Flying Fish is always a treat and it is endlessly enjoyable. Firstly, they are good to convince you that when you aren't seeing anything at sea, it is because there isn't anything appearing. So when you see Flying Fish, then you know you aren't just staring sleepily at the sea.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: They range across most the tropical Atlantic from as far North as the Caribbean and Cape Verde to as far South as Brazil and St Helena within their core range, but they occur less frequently North and South of this core range

Secondly, they are great to show the passengers and tell them about their interesting ability to jump out of the water and glide to escape a predator: they assume the ship is a giant predator.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: This was the commonest species of Flying Fish that I saw with over one hundred individuals seen daily as we headed for the Caribbean

Finally, they are a photographic delight and with practice, it is possible to get some nice photos. Having photos is great, as it is then possible to show the passengers their exquisite fins which is often difficult to see in the field. When I was not on survey, I was generally standing in a good position and looking for Flying Fish, whilst chatting to passengers. This allowed me to get a few nice photos. I also skipped one lunch to try some photography from closer to sea level. Unfortunately, this coincided with a period of few Flying Fish.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: This is one of about seventy-two species of Flying Fish

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: Their identification is difficult as I've yet to find a field guide covering their identification. There is the useful Fishbase website which covers the species, along with some identification information and range maps. However, it is focused on identification of caught specimens and it doesn't have photos of them in flight

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: Another problem with their identification is that the colour of the wings of Flying Fish rapidly fades once they are dead and this will make it harder to correlate the species in flight with caught specimens

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: This photo shows that the forewing is clearer than the rear of the wing

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: This Flying Fish is about to drop back into the water

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: A final splash and it was gone

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: When the finish their glide, they often drop their lower tail into the water & flick it side to side. This gives them enough speed to lift off the water surface again and often in a different direction. They also produce excellent wavy ripples if the water is calm. The best Flying Fish can repeat this two or three times and get close to forty or fifty metres from where they jumped out of the water

It wasn't always wall to wall sunshine during the day: There was some threatening weather ahead during the afternoon. Fortunately, we missed this rain squall

The rain showers did produce this good rainbow

Our fourth day at sea was similar to the third day, with a good sunrise.

It was an atmospheric sunrise: (27 Jan 24)

We also saw a number of Small Clearwing sp. They were typically around six inches long, with a dark bluish upper body with pale undersides & clear wings with obvious veins. The Fishbase website confirms the specific identification of the Small Clearwing sp is tricky. There are two species, Exocoetus volitans and Exocoetus obtusirostris, which both occur and have similar ranges along the route of the Saga Caribbean Calypso. Exocoetus volitans can be distinguished from Exocoetus obtusirostris by having a less blunt snout and by the origin of the anal fin being at a location behind the origin of the dorsal fin. This feature isn't possible to clearly see in my photos.

Small Clearwing sp: This was the second commonest species of Flying Fish that with around thirty or so individuals seen daily as we headed for the Caribbean (27 Jan 24)

We saw Mirrorwing Flying Fish on a daily basis as we continued our journey to the Lesser Antilles.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: (27 Jan 24)

We finished the day on deck with an equally atmospheric sunset: (27 Jan 24)

22 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Twenty Four: From Big To Small

We had already had a good selection of Seabirds on the Atlantic Odyssey on the final day at sea before reaching Ascension Island. However, it was a bit of a frustrating day for Cetaceans. Before breakfast we had a pod of distant Dolphins that were too distant & the views too poor to figure what they were. Later, while everybody else was at lunch, I picked up a logging Surfboard, either a Pygmy Sperm Whale or Dwarf Sperm Whale, about a half mile in front of the ship. Unfortunately, it close to dive before I could get any photos. Again, the views were too brief to be able to identify it to a species & I was the sole observer. Fortunately, we were more successful with our first party of Striped Dolphins which appeared at the end of breakfast & were around for a few minutes. Having got used to a quick breakfast, I had been back on deck for some time, but a number of people were still eating breakfast & missed them. Still that was their choice to have a leisurely breakfast.

Striped Dolphin: They have a habit of these high jumps as I've also taken photos in Biscay of one doing a similar jump

Striped Dolphin

Striped Dolphin: The thin black stripe is one of the key features for Striped Dolphins. It looks like the back individual is a youngster

After lunch, we were told that we would be passing over a sea mount during the early afternoon. This is effectively an island that never made it to the surface & while the top was probably a few hundred metres below the surface, it was a prominent seabed feature given the seabed would typically be at least two or three kilometres deep. Mountains on land are generally windy & turbulent places. Seamounts are similar with the turbulent sea conditions produce upwellings which bring food & nutrients to the surface. The food & nutrients will attract Fish & other sealife, which in turn provides food for Cetaceans. Around 14:00 we encountered a distant blow of a large Whale, but again it was too far to be sure about its identity. Finally, couple of hours later, two Sperm Whales were found logging (floating & in no hurry to dive) on the surface. Their presence was probably related to the seamount.

Sperm Whale: One of two Sperm Whales that were logging on the surface a few hundred metres from the Plancius

Sperm Whale: Having had the superb close encounter with the Sperm Whales on the previous day, the Expedition Staff decided we would not stop for another close encounter

Sperm Whale

Sperm Whale: The small dorsal fin is just visible at the right-hand side

It was good to see this Sunfish next to the Plancius. It was close to the surface when I picked it up, but it went into a crash dive as the camera was raised.

Sunfish: Honest. I only saw three on the Odyssey & this was the best photo. If you want to see a photo of what they should look like here is a Sunfish I photographed later in the summer on the Portsmouth - Santander ferry

Given the water temperature was 28 degrees, it is no surprise that we saw good numbers of Flying Fish. Although nearly all were Small Clearwings, there were also the larger Mirrorwing Flying Fish & a few Four-winged Flying Fish.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: I saw around 25 of these during the day

Mirrorwing Flying Fish: Another individual

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): This was easily the commonest Flying Fish & I saw around 500 during the day

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): They associate in shoals & when we disturbed a shoal around 30 - 50 would fly out of the sea for a single short glide

One of the other new highlights seen today was my first Portuguese Man-of-war Jellyfish. I carried on seeing a few roughly every other day until we reached Madeira. They are a bizarre Jellyfish with a large pale pink floating sac, with the tentacles dangling under the water.

Portuguese Man-of-war: The first of two seen during the day. The tentacles are clearly visible on this individual

Portuguese Man-of-war: Water on the sac can catch the light & cause them to glisten which allowed me to pick one up later in the trip at 400 metres in front of the Plancius, even though the sac is only a few inches long

17 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Nineteen: At Sea From Tristan Da Cunha To St Helena (Flying Fish)

Today was the final day at sea before we arrived at St Helena. There had already been some interesting Seabirds including Red-billed Tropicbirds & a Leach's Storm-petrel within a party of Band-tailed Storm-petrels. I also saw a good number of Flying Fish seen with the same four species that we had seen on the previous day. I also saw a Smurf which is believed to be an immature Flying Fish. They are only a few inches long, have small forewings & are only capable of flying a few metres before they drop back into the sea. Given the short distance of the flight, I never managed to get any photos of the Smurfs.

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): There are several potential Flying Fish species with black wings and pale yellow or white bands across them. However, the most likely on range that occurs between Tristan da Cunha & St Helena seems to be Blacksail Flying Fish

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): Another individual which dropped back into the sea (a few frames after this photo)

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): A third well-marked individual showing they can control the flight by closing the rear wings

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): The third individual opened its rear wings (a few frames after the previous photo)

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): A fourth individual. They have a very distinctive broad white eyering which can only be seen when they change direction so they are not flying directly away from the Plancius

Mirrorwing Flying Fish

16 Apr 18 - Atlantic Odyssey - Day Eighteen: At Sea From Tristan Da Cunha To St Helena - Mantas & More Flying Fish

The third full day at sea been Tristan da Cunha and St Helena had been an excellent day for Cetaceans with a pod of Strap-toothed Beaked Whales, a close old male Blainville's Beaked Whale (which I saw, but failed to get any photos of) & a lone Dwarf Pygmy Whale. However, in between it was another good day for Flying Fish, albeit I didn't see as many Small Clearwings as seen on the previous day. But I did managed to photograph three new species of Flying Fish.

Geoff has gone full blown Bush Tucker Man today to keep the sun off while chasing Flying Fish: He has the strong Ozzie accent to go with the look

On the previous day I had seen a couple of Four-winged Flying Fish, but I failed to get a photo of these common & large Flying Fish. The Small Clearwings were around 6 inches long & only had two wings. The Four-winged Flying Fish were about a foot long, had two long forewings & two smaller rear wings. Four-winged Flying Fish were distinctive as they had sooty grey forewings with an off white trailing edge to the forewings. They look similar to the Necromancer that Steve Howell covers in the identification pdf guide to Flying Fish. However, it seems that Howell's Necromancers are probably a related species, rather than the Four-winged Flying Fish (Hirundichthys affinis).

Four-winged Flying Fish (Hirundichthys affinis): They were about a foot long, with sooty grey wings & an obvious off white trailing edge to the forewings. The small hindwings are clear & the lower tail is black

I saw Four-winged Flying Fish on most days from today until the final day at sea before Cape Verde. On some days I saw several hundred Four-winged Flying Fish. The IUCN Red List describes them as occurring from the Gulf of Mexico & Eastern Caribbean to the Gulf Stream & off the African coast from Mauritania to Angola.

Four-winged Flying Fish (Hirundichthys affinis): Generally, they appeared on their own, although it wasn't unusual for a few others to be seen soon after

Four-winged Flying Fish (Hirundichthys affinis): They tended to make several glides, with the tail re-entering the water to get another kick for the next glide. They often changed directions between glides. The overall glide could last over 30 seconds & the distance travelled could be up to about 60 - 80 metres

Four-winged Flying Fish (Hirundichthys affinis): They are quite good at being able to change direction by how they angled their forewings & tail

I also saw a couple of other less common species of Flying Fish, including this superb Blacksail Flying Fish: which was another foot long, four-winged Flying Fish.

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): I only saw a few of these good looking Flying Fish which showed a pale wing band. There are several potential Flying Fish species with black wings and pale yellow or white bands across them. However, the most likely on range that occurs between Tristan da Cunha & St Helena seems to be Blacksail Flying Fish

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): A more distant view of the same individual. They are about a foot long & look superficially similar to the Four-winged Flying Fish, but have this noticeable pale wing bar

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): A pity this wasn't sharp, but it does show how they can flick their tail to gain lift to keep gliding

Blacksail Flying Fish (Cheilopogon nigricans): This was another individual which showed an extreme pale wing bar

The other new species was Mirrorwing Flying Fish. This was another foot long, four-winged Flying Fish.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish (Hirundichthys speculiger): This seemed a scarce species along our route. I only saw them on three days on both sides of St Helena

Mirrorwing Flying Fish (Hirundichthys speculiger): This is a large four-winged Flying Fish with clear wings with obvious veins & a dark tail. In some of the photos it's possible to see that they have slightly darker broad rear edge to the wings and paler forewings.

Mirrorwing Flying Fish (Hirundichthys speculiger): A series of tail flicks to get some fresh momentum

Mirrorwing Flying Fish (Hirundichthys speculiger): Just getting clear of the water

Mirrorwing Flying Fish (Hirundichthys speculiger): Take off for another glide

We also saw quite a few Small Clearwings which the other common species of Flying Fish that I saw most days until the last full day at sea before the Cape Verde islands.

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): They curve the forewings on take off

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): Once in glide, the forewings are flattened

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): Another taking off

Some of the Birders & Bird photographers on the Plancius might have been unimpressed with these Flying Fish as they were only Fish. I certainly didn't share that view. We got told as we got closer to St Helena that Flying Fish were one of the favourite foods of Red-footed Boobies & sometimes Red-footed Boobies would try to keep up with the Plancius, as the Plancius ended up flushing Flying Fish. I later saw this on a couple of occasions & this was something that made even the most focused Bird photographer appreciate the Flying Fish a little bit. 

Small Clearwing (Exocoetus sp.): This individual shows the pink central stripe that Steve Howell mentioned as a feature of Small Clearwings. It wasn't particularly clear on the individuals photographed on the previous day

Finally, it's time for a larger species of Fish. In the late afternoon we saw a set of confusing fins on the surface & there were still there when they passed the Plancius about 30 metres off the starboard side. I was struggling to get my head around what they were, but there was a shout (probably from Marijke or Hans) that there were a mating pair of Manta Rays. This initially left me just as confused as I've been lucky to scuba dive in Micronesia & see several Manta Rays passing over head. They were much bigger than the individuals were were watching on the Plancius. However, as there is more than one species of Manta Rays and perhaps this was one of the smaller species.

Manta Ray sp.: This was the first confusing view of a single pale tipped fin

Manta Ray sp.: It suddenly became very confusing as 3 fins appeared

Manta Ray sp.: Back to two fins

Manta Ray sp.: An obvious fin & a less obvious one

Manta Ray sp.: They were now a lot closer & while I was struggling to figure out what I was seeing at the time, looking at the photos now it was fairly obvious they were some sort of Manta Ray or something similar. But it is easier to figure this out without having an image on the camera constantly flashing

Manta Ray sp.: Note, the orange underwing in the previous photo is purely a paler grey underwing which was catching the strong orange glow from the setting sun (this photo was taken less than a second after the previous photo)

Manta Ray sp.

Manta Ray sp.: The underwing colours look a bit more realistic in this photo
It was a perfect evening to hang around on deck for the sunset & the mythical green flash. This time I thought I would also try capturing the green flash with the camera. Well both I & the camera failed to see a green flash. However, it was a great sunset.

Sunset

Sunset: Supposedly, you aren't meant to look at the sun until the very last moment

Sunset: Well maybe I'll need to look on another night for the green flash. Although most days only had light cloud it was rare that there was no cloud on the horizon at sunset