Thanks to David Hutchinson for photographing the R/V Sally Ride, seen off West Seattle today. It’s a U.S. Navy=owned research vessel, operated by the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, named for the first American woman in space. Tonight, MarineTraffic.com shows it off the north end of Harbor Island. The 238-foot vessel was built by Dakota Creek Industries up in Anacortes.

P.S. If you’ve been noticing the big gray USNS Bob Hope anchored across the bay in recent days – looks like it finally left today; MT shows it currently up in Everett.