🔍 Key Concepts

• Coordinator Surface Search (CSS) role in a Search and Rescue (SAR) operation • Standard day shapes and flags used to indicate special functions or restrictions • Difference between distress signals and coordination / control signals

💭 Think About

• Which of these options looks like a distinctive day signal meant to identify a coordinating unit, rather than a vessel in distress or restricted in ability to maneuver? • Think about where you would expect to find the prescribed signal for a CSS: is it in ordinary COLREGS day shapes, in flag signal codes, or in SAR-specific guidance (like IAMSAR)? • Look at each choice and ask: does this shape/flag combination more commonly indicate quarantine, restriction, distress, or coordination?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify in SAR references (e.g., IAMSAR Manual or national SAR guidance) what visual signal is assigned to the Coordinator Surface Search (CSS). • Check that the symbol you choose is not already used in COLREGS for another standard meaning (such as restricted in ability to maneuver or vessel at anchor). • Confirm whether national SAR exams specifically associate one of these options with the CSS function, and not with general distress or communication flags.