(Photo by Paul Nicholson)

4:48 PM: That big drill we mentioned yesterday, with air and sea action off West Seattle, is ramping up right now. If you missed the advance alert, it would look pretty alarming, given that the intent is “to test and solidify the capabilities of the Regional Maritime Tactical Action Group in response to an active shooter or hostage type event aboard a vessel in the Puget Sound”:

(WSB photos by Patrick Sand from here down, unless otherwise credited)

The King County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Section invited media to go out on the Water Taxi vessel Sally Fox to observe and photograph, and co-publisher Patrick Sand is there for WSB.

5:28 PM: KCSO just tweeted this video of officers boarding the boat via helicopter:

Our photo is a different view from below, while that was in the works:

11 PM: The drill was expected to go at least until now, and MarineTraffic.com shows the Sally Fox is still out there. David Hutchinson shares an afternoon view from Jack Block Park:

That’s where media crews went after the briefing at T-5 that started the observation period. T-5 was headquarters for the helicopters, both KCSO’s Guardian One, the same helicopter that shows up to help Seattle Police with searches sometimes:

And a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter:

That agency had a boat, too:

See more photos after the jump:

Sheriff’s deputies, landing on the shore:

(Photo by David Hutchinson)

KCSO, further out in the bay:

Back over on this side, you can see Seacrest in the background of this photo from on board the Sally Fox:

Photographers were mostly restricted to the cabin, but officers from federal, state, and local agencies walked through: