Dolphins, Sea turtles, Whales and helicopters

The trip is very nice, we’ve been visited by dolphins at least two times a day since departure, and we spotted some blowing whales in the distance. A very nice big sea turtle of about 1.5 meters in diameter floated next to the boat as well. During my night watch, sailing close to the Sardinian coast the funniest thing happened. The weather was a bit rough, I was dressed in foul weather gear and the rest of the crew was sleeping. At one point I looked behind me, and saw a – what I thought to be – a sailboat closing in very fast. I clearly saw a hoisted sail and the port and starboard light (red and green). At first I thought it to be a hydrofoil Catamaran or something. I quickly grabbed the binoculars to get a positive ID. At first, no sails where to be seen, I thought I was hallucinating, clearly something was there. As it closed in, it appeared to be a helicopter, with its search lights on. It had me in its spotlights for about 5 minutes, hovering maybe 30 meters above sea level just next to the boat. I looked up, wondering who was looking down at me and why. I guess the where checking for illegal immigrants from Africa or so?