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Eyes Above

May 29, 2016

Galapagos swallow-tailed gulls soar above R/V Atlantis during a 2010 expedition near the Galapagos Islands. The unusual birds, the only fully nocturnal gulls and seabirds in the world, flocked around the ship at night, feeding on squid and small fish that rise to the sea surface every night to consume plankton. Atlantis travels the world’s ocean, stopping at ports where groups of scientists and crew can arrive and leave for different legs of the voyage. Sometimes years elapse between the ship’s departures and returns to its home port of Woods Hole. (Photo by Mark Spear, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)