aerial photos - tanker lightering

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to photograph a tanker lightering. What is lightering, you ask?
Well, first of all, thank you for asking. I've been dying tell someone all I've learned about this process. :)
When the big supertanker comes down the channel (Delaware Bay), and it's full of that "black gold", it sits too low in the water to make it through. So, along comes the mini-tanker to offload some of the oil, making the big ship lighter...get it?

So, I drove up to Newark so that I could catch my helicopter ride back down South. I loved it! We flew down along the coast and I got to see the sunrise while hovering over the Bay. Here's the proof...