National Geographic's "Sea Bird"

The National Geographic ship Sea Bird has been in port fairly often recently at the 17th Street docks by the Maritime Museum. At first I thought they might be doing some kind of research or photography, but it seems this is a cruise ship in conjunction with Lindblad Expeditions, and both logos are on the side of the ship. Unlike most of the tour ships that stop in Astoria, the focus of these tours is on active observation of nature.

The Sea Bird's primary destinations are north and south of us: Washington, British Columbia and Alaska to the north, and Baja California to the south. The passengers are encouraged to snorkel, kayak and hike, and the ship searches out pods of whales and other of nature's wonders that can be observed on the sea and around the coast. They advertise: "Expedition Equipment: Bow Camera, hydrophone, kayaks, snorkeling gear, Splash-Cam, underwater video camera, video microscope, Zodiac landing craft and wetsuits in Baja." Sounds intriguing. Coming back to my computer, it was a little odd to see the same logo on my tiger mousepad as I'd just seen on the ship.

The dull colors you see in these photos reflect our recent weather: lots of rain and low clouds. In this photo you can actually see more variety in the sky than usual. As I look out the window this morning, it's a flat gray and the horizon is barely visible. Happy Skywatch Friday.