On a windswept, rocky outcrop high above the north coast of the Greek island of Lesbos, a small group of volunteers peered through binoculars at an inflatable boat bobbing across the waves a few miles away.
A Turkish coastguard ship loomed large and approached the little dinghy, briefly eclipsing it, before sailing away and anchoring idly nearby - raising questions about how effective the billions of euros recently pledged by the European Union to Turkey to help with sealing its borders to refugees will actually be - but boosting spirits among those on board.
The dinghy was towed gently to the beach of Skala Sikaminias where the bedraggled occupants were met by a motley crew of Greek anarchists smiling and bellowing 'Khosh amadid' to the mainly Afghan group who were fed, clothed and drinking tea within ten minutes of arrival.
More than 460,000 are estimated to have passed through the island this year, their usually defective orange lifejackets becoming one of the iconic images of the refugee exodus to Europe, one now burned into the collective memory of the island of 90,000.