African Sunrise

I've decided there is nothing quite like sitting on a boat, on an almost perfectly calm sea, watching the sunrise. Last night, we did a seal survey at Seal Island. Because most of the seal movement on and off the island takes place at night, the survey is an all night deal. One shift of interns went out from 18:00 to midnight and then I went out with the shift from midnight to 06:00. Since there were six people on each shift, we broke the six hour period into three, two hour shifts. That meant when you weren't on survey, you could sleep--a very nice prospect around 2 am. It was actually incredibly comfortable just lying at the front of the boat, rocking back and forth. 

How do you see the seals when it's dark? Listening for splashing as they swim is the first clue. Once you've heard them, you can locate the group fairly easily and get a rough count of how many there are and whether they're heading towards or away from the island. It also began to get light fairly early in Emily and my 4-6 am shift, so that made it even easier. We also got to see the gorgeous sunrise! 

Mossel Bay at night from the water.

Good morning!

Emily bundled up in the crow's nest.

Phenomenal Sabbath sunrise over Mossel Bay.
Counting my blessings every day I'm here!