I also have to reveal this event from today.
Every once and a while, I would say to Jason; "there is a crab pot flag on your starboard, or there's a couple of birds sitting off to port". Jason would take a good look and say, "damn you have good eyes". I told him it's part of my job (mate on Patent Pending).
Suddenly, I saw a wake off to starboard. Not big, but definitely a wake. I pointed it out to Jason, and he thought it was just from the wind. I said, it's going in the wrong direction. He then though it might be from a passing boat. I said, what boat, we are the only ones in sight. Besides, this wake is short, maybe 6 ft. long. A boat wake should be much longer. It was moving fast enough to have a crest (white water) at the top of the wake.
It disappeared briefly, but soon showed again. The third time we saw it, Jason took out his $1,400 pair of stabilizer binoculars and said he saw a fin!
He thought it looked like a shark
I have seen porpoise in the Choptank. This didn't look like them. They come up, show their backs (and fin) and dive; only to reappear and do it all over again. This was a steady push through the water for too long of a period of time.
I have seen whales off OC when they spout, show their backs (which seems like forever), and dive, never to be seen again (because they hold their breath so long).
I have seen cow nose rays playing and finning through the water in the summer. I've never seen Chessie, the manatee we had one summer, but the water should be too cold for her this time of year.
It was a little spooky. I almost expected a sub to surface under a periscope! I though Tawn's shipmates had come to celebrate his retirement
Whatever it was, we didn't catch it, thank goodness
5th (Marty)