Gone to See the World. Semester at Sea Spring 2016 Voyage on the MV World Odyssey. Day 10: Crossing the Pacific Ocean.
During the voyage we had several discussions regarding the identity of the Boobies that followed the MV World Odyssey across the Pacific Ocean. We were in general agreement that the birds following the ship before Hawaii were Brown Boobies. Then after Hawaii, we had both Brown Boobies and Masked Boobies. The Brown Boobies had three color patterns — all brown; brown top with tan/mottled brown bottom; or brown top with white bottom. I now understand these are the different juvenile through adult forms of the Brown Booby. The Masked Boobies were mostly white with black on the ends of the upper wings. It was bright and sunny on this day. We had twenty plus of the Bobbies using the thermals from the ship to soar and then dive for flying fish. I actually captured a sequence of images where a Brown Booby caught a flying fish.
Brown Booby with dark brown top and bottom. The individual images in the slide show are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Brown Booby with brown top and and tan or mottled light brown bottom. The individual images in the slide show are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Brown Booby with brown top and and white bottom. The individual images in the slide show are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Masked Booby mostly white with black on the ends of the upper wings. The individual images in the slide show are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.
Brown Booby caught a Flying Fish The individual images in the slide show are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.