The fabled green flash

A 40-year veteran of the high seas, Greenpeace Captain Peter Willcox has been at the epicentre of almost every dramatic ecological conflict of his 30 years with Greenpeace. In his action-packed memoir, Greenpeace Captain: My Adventures in Protecting the Future of the Planet, as you’d expect Willcox recounts many incredible tales. From the globally televised imprisonment of his crew, the ‘Arctic 30’, by Russian commandos to international conspiracies involving diamond smuggling, gun-trading and al-Qaeda, Willcox has braved the unimaginable and triumphed.

Not all of his stories are of conflict and drama, however. Throughout Greenpeace Captain are Willcox’s reflections and observations of world we occupy and the people he’s encountered. At one point he describes a very special event in the Marshall Islands in the central Pacific. After a voyage of almost 11,500 nautical miles, across some of the most remote stretches of ocean on Earth, he was treated to a beautiful and rare display provided by nature – a sight few people ever encounter.

Here is Willcox’s account of witnessing ‘the green flash’, as told in Greenpeace Captain:

It had been a very enjoyable and successful passage, albeit a very long one, and when we brought the Rainbow Warrior into the atoll I was greeted by one of the most beautiful, mysterious, and rare displays provided by nature: the fabled green flash.

The green flash is the stuff of legend for most sailors, and only a very lucky few of us have ever seen one. It occurs when the sun is just below the horizon, in very clear atmospheric conditions and calm seas. The air and the Earth’s curvature refract the sun’s light and, if its colors are separated under just the right conditions, for the briefest moment, there is a brilliant and pure green flash that disappears in the blink of an eye. It looks like a giant green camera strobe. They’re so rare that even after more than forty years at sea, this green flash is still the only one I’ve ever seen.

I’m convinced that many of the people who think they’ve seen one of these rare events have actually just been staring into the setting sun for too long and burned out their retinas. That, or they’ve been staring at the bottom of a recently emptied rum glass. Generally, green flashes occur only at sunset. This one was even more unusual in that it appeared at sunrise. Sailors consider a green flash to be a good omen and it left me feeling that the task that had brought us to the Marshall Islands was blessed by Nature herself.