What am I missing....the article doesn’t say anything about a left hand salute; not that I see anyhow.
The article in the early part said no photos were taken but it seems someone got a picture or perhaps this is an older photo of him shielding his eyes and it looks like he is trying to render a slaute to a couple Marines who were in the area.
The point is, when a salute is rendered to one who rates it, such as a senior officer, it is done with the right hand, never the left. Is this the question you have? If so, I hope my answer helped.
Cheers.