# Keeping watch at sea. With binoculars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077 "2023-09-14T00:20:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/1 "2023-09-14T00:20:10Z")
Below is a pic from a CBC news [article](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-armed-forces-recruitment-1.6963988) of a Canadian sailor: [![](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6964387.1694620818!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/sailor-looks-from-bridge.jpg) ](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6964387.1694620818!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/sailor-looks-from-bridge.jpg) Am I wrong in thinking that any ship or threat that’s visible through binoculars would also have been picked up by radar, and at a greater distance? If so, what’s the point of ‘keeping watch’ with binoculars (especially when no threats are expected, i.e. not in a war scenario)? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/2 "2023-09-14T00:29:30Z")
I know this is FQ, but the photographer may have just asked for the sailor to “do something” for the picture and then the journalist may have just written a throwaway caption. I wouldn’t take this one picture as evidence that sailors spend any significant amount of time scanning the horizon with binoculars hoping to see something. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/3 "2023-09-14T00:36:56Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Am I wrong in thinking that any ship or threat that’s visible through binoculars would also have been picked up by radar, and at a greater distance? Could be a log in the water, or a swimmer. They are not just looking for ships that might be shooting at them. And even then, a periscope might be hard to see. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/4 "2023-09-14T00:44:28Z")
I’m just here to admire the Canadian Navy’s grooming standards. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/5 "2023-09-14T00:47:48Z")
I went poking around on google, and apparently the U.S. Navy still uses binoculars. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Could be a log in the water, or a swimmer. Could also be a whale or a buoy. I also found a Reddit post where someone in the Navy was complaining about how their ship binoculars sucked and was asking for recommendations so that he could buy a decent pair himself. A lot of the replies were that he should document the shortcomings and force the Navy to pay for it instead of paying to fix it himself. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/6 "2023-09-14T00:49:06Z")
You might want to see what people are actually doing on a boat. Like smugglers or if they are armed. Or sunbathers. I would have thought that cameras would have made binoculars obsolete by now. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/7 "2023-09-14T00:51:21Z")
From the United States Navy [Lookout Training Handbook](https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/lookout.pdf) (2000): > [@](#): > > In this United States Navy with its nuclear-powered warships, computerized guidance systems, and the most accurate search radars in the world, you, the lookout, play a critical role in safe ship operations. Your trained human eye is far superior to the most sophisticated equipment. As a lookout, your eyes are the eyes of the ship, and on your alertness and skill rest the safety of the ship. > > In the naval service there is probably no Rule of the Road more conscientiously observed than Rule 5 of the Navigation Rules, Commandant Instruction M16672.2, which states: > > Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision. This rule is repeated in the current [Amalgamated International & U.S. Inland Navigation Rules](https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/navigation-rules-amalgamated#rule5). The Lookout Training Handbook devotes many pages to binocular use. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/8 "2023-09-14T00:52:53Z")
Radar can fail, or miss something significant (like, say, floating debris). There’s still no system better than human eyes and decision making. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/9 "2023-09-14T02:31:12Z")
Could be watching activities on deck that are at the far end. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/10 "2023-09-14T02:38:01Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > From the United States Navy [Lookout Training Handbook](https://maritime.org/doc/pdf/lookout.pdf) (2000): > > > [@](#): > > > > In this United States Navy with its nuclear-powered warships, computerized guidance systems, and the most accurate search radars in the world, you, the lookout, play a critical role in safe ship operations. Your trained human eye is far superior to the most sophisticated equipment. As a lookout, your eyes are the eyes of the ship, and on your alertness and skill rest the safety of the ship. > > > > In the naval service there is probably no Rule of the Road more conscientiously observed than Rule 5 of the Navigation Rules, Commandant Instruction M16672.2, which states: > > > > Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision. **Aha!** Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/11 "2023-09-14T02:53:38Z")
The most common use for binoculars in my experience was to classify and identify precisely what the radar was showing you. Is that green blob on the radar a merchant ship, a warship, or an offshore oil rig? Does its aspect through the binoculars correspond to what the radar is saying as far as heading? Are there any [day shapes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_shapes) hanging from the masthead? And, yes, as noted, the old partially submerged log is something to look out for as well. I would also note that one does not spend hours upon hours just staring through binoculars. Rather, one will devote most of one’s time to scanning the horizon with the naked eye, and occasionally referring to the radar screen (if one is at hand) and making quick sweeps of the horizon all around and in the direct path of the ship with binoculars. The photographer here just chose to take a picture of the lookout as he was using binoculars, but the lookouts eyes were surely not glued to the binoculars the whole watch. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/12 "2023-09-14T03:18:06Z")
“Iceberg!! Dead ahead!” ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/13 "2023-09-14T08:37:05Z")
All this fancy technology, but you can’t beat the Mk1 Eyeball. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/14 "2023-09-14T13:48:01Z")
Yeah, he looks a bit more like a pirate than a sailor in a nation’s navy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/15 "2023-09-14T15:34:51Z")
I recall the joke where a USN ship radios for a RADAR contact to change course, and a guy radios back that he is in a light house. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/16 "2023-09-14T15:39:04Z")
Also the consideration that the sea is not always calm, so smaller targets - lifeboats etc. - may only bob into view occasionally, and similarly the vessel on the horizon will be obscured by the waves, you can only catch glimpses. In that case, binoculars help resolve those momentary views. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/17 "2023-09-14T15:50:45Z")
Sailboats and other small craft are pretty much invisible on radar ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/18 "2023-09-14T16:36:30Z")
As stated above, radar is not good for spotting smaller craft on the surface. It’s more for large undersea obstacles. Currents and even temperature can alter how radar responds. Visual contact is far more reliable. Charts only tell you how the sea floor looked the last time somebody passed this way - if they are even that well updated. The sea floor can change dramatically with a single storm. A well-trained and experienced look-out can read a great deal from the ripples and waves. They can tell what the current is doing, or what changes are coming up in the sea floor if it is shallow. They can predict a current about to push the vessel off course and advise corrections. Radar can’t see flow. Lookouts are also watching local weather signs, which don’t always match the reports from the satellite level. It’s a whole thing. Extremely important job. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/19 "2023-09-14T16:57:07Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > All this fancy technology, but you can’t beat the Mk1 Eyeball. Well, maybe with a Mark-1 eyeball and a pair of binoculars. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2023, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077/20 "2023-09-14T17:10:15Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > As stated above, radar is not good for spotting smaller craft on the surface. It’s more for large undersea obstacles. > > Charts only tell you how the sea floor looked the last time somebody passed this way - if they are even that well updated. The sea floor can change dramatically with a single storm. ? Radar can’t see anything under the water. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/keeping-watch-at-sea-with-binoculars/990077.md?page=2)