Photographer Mike McAuliffe was at the Edmonds Fishing Pier taking some photos Thursday morning when two U.S. Coast Guard boats showed up at the Washington State Ferries (WSF) Edmonds-Kingston dock, circled the dock area (first photo), then positioned themselves in front of the dock (second photo). A few minutes later, the ferry arrived from Kingston and unloaded, then loaded again. The Coast Guard boats waited for the ferry to finish loading and then escorted the ferry to Kingston (third photo.)

According to Coast Guard spokesperson Lt. Lucy Wright, the operation was a standard high capacity passenger vessel escort. “These escorts are routine and randomly assigned to deter, respond to and prevent terrorism and illicit activity in the Port of Seattle and our area of responsibility throughout the Puget Sound,” Wright said, “specifically in protection of the WSF system and waterside facilities.”