what is this boat doing?

[khedron]

I used to see these boats occasionally on the Chicago river, downtown, spraying water in all directions. I just saw my first one in New York. (Click the image for a different, larger picture.)


What is it doing? Why?

Comments

[sconstant.livejournal.com]

It is spraying water.

S.

(It's a fire boat. I think they do this for practice and routine maintenance / equipment checking. They also do it for ceremonial occasions. I learned this from watching Third Watch reruns on A&E.)

[khedron.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh! Okay, that makes sense. Enough sense, at least. ;-) So many sprays in so many directions was just mystifying, and I was about to wonder if it was for under-bridge graffiti blasting or as a tank in the fight against those nasty water-allergic alien invaders...

[verin-the-brown.livejournal.com]

OK, so I buy that explanation of it being a fire boat. But now here's a harder one. On the Chicago river, near where it flows into lake Michigan, just a little east of Columbus street, there is a water jet on the North bank of the river that sprays water in a huge arc over the river, all the way to the south side. It's not on all the time, but at some kind of regular interval. What on earth could THAT be for?