Far out to sea

Red-footed boobies are known to wander far from land and to be agile fliers, capable of catching flying fish in the air. This booby evidently knew that ships often stir flying fish to flight. I watched as it captured a fish at the water's surface-- no plunge-diving required. With my eye on the bird rather than the target, I did not know whether or not the fish was airborne when it was caught.

The previous day had been stormy with greatly diminished visibility. At North 9 degrees 3 minutes, West 130 degrees 27 minutes, a lone dowitcher struggled against the wind for about twenty minutes, flying along the port side of the ship. Finally, it turned and flew off on a westerly course. That seems a long way out to sea for a dowitcher, but a few actually show up regularly in the Hawaiian Islands during migration.