Sunflower

Today was a dreary day in Los Angeles, but I know I can’t complain. I live where the sun shines all the time…well almost all the time.

That got me thinking…what about everyone living in not so sunny areas. What might cheer them up on a dreary day?

It seems to me the next best thing to sunshine is the color yellow.

Seeing yellow always brightens my day. (Full disclosure: yellow is my favorite color.) But you have to admit, it’s tough to feel down and out around the color yellow, it’s so bright and cheery, it’s contagious!

Yellow dahlia

So in an effort to spread yellow cheer to anyone out there facing a dreary day, here are a couple photos to share a little sunshine.

Photo credit: Michael Daniel Ho

I’m finally reading Moby Dick for the first time in my life.

It was never assigned reading during my entire educational experience and I never got around to reading it post-college. And then the book club I joined last fall decided they wanted to read Moby Dick and as the whale enthusiast in the group I had to vote for it.

Let’s just be honest, while a classic, Moby Dick is not the easiest read. Sometimes I think Melville is hilarious, other times I think he just needs to get on with the story already and other times I’ll read two pages and can’t recall a single detail. Moby Dick is definitely a reading journey, not a destination.

One section of the book that fascinates me is Chapter 32 titled “Cetology.” This is where Melville discusses the study of whales and lists the whales he is familiar with.

Through his main character Ishmael, Melville feels he is up to the task of tackling Cetology in a very hyper self-aware fashion, “As no better man advances to take this matter in hand, I hereupon offer my own poor endeavors. I promise nothing complete; because any human thing supposed to be complete, must for that very reason infallibly be faulty. I shall not pretend to a minute anatomical description. My object here is simply to project the draught of a systematization of cetology. I am the architect, not the builder.”

After this dramatic introduction, he launches into whether or not a whale is a fish. Ishmael quotes Linneaus, the father of taxonomy, who separated whales from fish in his famous System of Nature circa 1766 upon discovering many of their mammalian traits. But this isn’t good enough for Ishmael, he runs Linneaus’ ideas past some “messmates of mine in a certain voyage,” and they think separating whales from fish is “humbug.”

Ishmael concludes, “Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that the whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me.” Strangely enough, he then goes on to explain how a whale is different from a fish, but a fish nonetheless.

Well, we now know that Melville was wrong and Linneaus was right. But what about Melville’s list of whales? How well did it withstand the test of time? That is what I’m still trying to figure out.

Note: Quotes are from “Moby-Dick: or, The Whale” (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) with a foreword by Nathaniel Philbrick p. 147-148.

Thanks to Michael Daniel Ho for the amazing sperm whale photo!

Killer whales surfacing in front of the boat

Finally, here are the rest of my killer whale photos!

One of the questions everyone asked me after the trip was: “How close did the killer whales get to the boat?” The photo on the left captured the answer: very close. When these two whales surfaced directly in front of the boat there was a collective gasp from everyone on board.

As I was going through all my pictures, it became obvious that I took several photos of the same killer whale with two notches on the back edge of its dorsal fin. If you look closely at the photo on the right (directly below), you can see a large notch and just above it a much smaller notch.

Killer whale with two notches in dorsal fin

This post also includes photos of one of the killer whales that kept slapping its tail on the surface of the water giving us quite a show.

The rest of the photos are a selection of my favorites that I just wanted to share. Enjoy!

Killer whales including tail show

Killer whale surfacing

Killer whale trio and tail

Killer whale trio

Killer whale with cool white swirl

Killer whale mom and calf

I just wanted to share some of the killer whale photos I took last Thursday. This post features some mom and calf shots. The first one on the left is definitely the best one, it’s clearly a mom and calf.

Unfortunately, my 300mm lens can only get so close, so the calf in the photo below is very difficult to see. If you look really, really close at the whale on the left, there’s a baby in the mist. You might have to trust me on this one since I can’t post the high resolution version of the photo here.

Killer whale mom and tiny calf

In the last photo, the calf is a bit easier to see. Look closely at the whale on the far right, in the mist next to the whale there’s a calf arching its back.

During the whale watching trip, I saw at least two cow/calf pairs, but it’s hard to tell from my photos if I captured both pairs or just one pair three times.

Is anyone out there trying to figure out how to get rid of an old 500mm lens?

Killer whale trio with mom and calf on the right

One of the killer whales I saw

I’m thrilled to say that I had the chance to see killer whales this past Thursday. This was a first for me, I’ve never seen killer whales in the wild before and the entire experience blew me away.

Before launching into what happened, I should explain that I’ve never understood people’s fascination with killer whales. At all the whale conferences I’ve attended, the killer whale researchers are the “cool people” who everyone wants to talk to. I’ve met many people who talk endlessly about killer whales, travel to see killer whales in the wild and are pretty much obsessed with killer whales.

But what’s all this fuss about? I mean don’t get me wrong, I realize killer whales are cool. They are the top ocean predator after all, they sport an unequaled sleek black and white exterior and they are crazy smart. But are people forgetting that some killer whales prey on gray whale calves? That doesn’t seem very sportsmanlike, preying on the helpless and weak. I know, I know, that’s nature…but still…that always rubbed me the wrong way.

Now that I’ve seen killer whales in the wild…I get it. Now I understand people’s obsession with killer whales.

Here’s what happened. On Thursday, I absolutely had to go whale watching. I hadn’t been out on a boat yet, even though it’s almost a month into gray whale watching season. I tried to go whale watching Thursday morning on the Voyager in Redondo Beach, but it just didn’t work out with other projects I needed to get done. Thursday afternoon was looking good though, there has to be a boat going out somewhere…so I called Harbor Breeze Yacht Charters and Cruises in Long Beach to see if they were headed out for some whale watching. Affirmative. They go everyday at 12pm and 3pm. Excellent, sign me up for 3pm.

I rushed down to Long Beach and make it in time to be the first person in line. The 12pm trip returned and I see friends on board looking very excited. “What did you see?” I yelled. One of my friends held up her hand in the shape of an “0.” Oh crap I thought, they saw “0″ as in zero, nothing?! No, the “o” stood for orcas, I was very excited.

One of the oil rigs I was happy to see

The 3pm group hustled onto the boat ready to see orcas. We learned from the crew that they were really far out by the oil rigs, which is about 9 miles offshore. Oh man I hope they are still there, it would be awesome to finally see a killer whale! The boat sped towards the oil rigs, I never thought I would be happy to see an oil rig…but on Thursday I was. Watching the oil rigs loom into view meant we were that much closer to the killer whales.

And there they were…a huge pod of killer whales. Hooray!

It was hard to get a handle on how many whales there were because they were spread out over a large area. Naturalists on board with the Aquarium of the Pacific estimated that there were 30 to 40 killer whales. We saw a couple moms with their calves up close and a large male.

What’s most amazing about seeing killer whales in the wild is feeling the raw natural power they emanate. There’s nothing quite like it that I’ve experienced before. In the the presence of killer whales, it becomes clear that they truly are the ocean’s top predator, they rule the seas and graciously accept us as guests, but they could just as easily choose not to.

And yes, I’m addicted now. I finally get it.

(Note: I’m still going through my photos and will post more soon. In the meantime, if you would like to read more about this offshore group of killer whales, check out this article that ran in the Los Angeles Times.)

Photo credit: Larry Fukuhara

Have you ever gotten so frustrated or annoyed that you just wanted to smack someone? You are not alone. And it turns out we as humans are not alone.

I recently had to go through boxes of old newspaper clippings (long story) and came across this headline in the pile: “2nd surfer nailed by whale tail.” What?!

Very intrigued…I continued reading: “For the second time in less than two weeks, a surfer has been swatted by a migrating gray whale, county lifeguards reported on Sunday.”

Wow, I had no idea gray whales have slapped people!

The article ran in the Long Beach Press-Telegram on May 4, 1981. (The online archives only go back as far as 1990, so I couldn’t add a direct link to the article.) It turns out that a surfer, identified as Mike Divine, 18, of Reseda, was surfing with several friends off Zuma Beach when a group of migrating gray whales swam close to shore.

Here’s what happened according to the article: “Divine accidentally got between the female whale and her calf while they were about 25 yards off-shore. The 30-to-40-foot whale responded to Divine’s presence with a flick of her tail and hurled him and his surfboard nearly eight feet into the air.” Thankfully, Divine was okay and did not require medical treatment.

The article concludes with a summary of what happened to the first whale tail victim. “On April 21, 15-year-old Ian Baird was hit by a gray whale while body-surfing off Laguna Beach. Baird reportedly swam out to get a close look at a migrating whale when it struck him with its tail. Baird suffered bruised ribs in the incident.”

Dang! Watch out for those migrating gray whales and keep your distance. Two reasons: 1) It’s the law to keep a distance of 100 yards. 2) The gray whale might smack you.

It sounds like Divine had no idea he was surrounded by gray whales and just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, Baird may have been a little too curious and ended up getting a bit too close.

The moral of this story: If you get up in a whale’s business, you could pay the price.

What I keep wondering: What if a blue whale hauled off and smacked an annoying fleshy human with its tail? Hopefully, that question will remain unanswered…

Photo credit: Ciar

Alas, my hummingbird feeder project has been delayed.

Right after I wrote about scoring a hummingbird feeder during a white elephant gift exchange, painters showed up to “touch up” the apartment building and fix the roof. Both of these activities involve a lot of loud talking, ladder dragging, and stomping around on the roof. Basically, there’s a lot of noise everywhere around the building.

Hanging a hummingbird feeder during a ruckus doesn’t seem like the best strategy. Based on my observations, hummingbirds are skittish and it doesn’t take much to sending them flying off so quickly that sometimes I wonder if I really saw a hummingbird because it was such as brief encounter.

I asked our landlord how long this painting / roof project might take and he said he didn’t know. So there you have it…the hummingbirds will have to wait for an undetermined amount of time before enjoying sugar water off my balcony. A real bummer because I was looking forward to having them as guests.

Photo credit: José Eugenio Gómez Rodríguez

Gray whale watching started December 26th and it’s shaping up to be one of the best whale watching seasons ever! There has been a ton of press coverage, so this post is definitely on the late side. But it’s still worth mentioning in case anyone missed the news or needs a reminder.

Volunteers for the ACS/LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project have spotted more gray whales this season than in the last 28 years for the same time frame. On several days volunteers spotted more than 20 whales. Even better…transient killer whales have been visiting Los Angeles and giving whale watchers quite a show.

On Wednesday (January 4th), a pod of killer whales was seen near Point Vicente by ACS/LA Census volunteers. I drove out there with fellow whale enthusiasts to see them, but by the time we got there the killer whales were out of sight hunting sea lions. Bummer! I still haven’t seen a killer whale in the wild…there’s still time though since this is the very beginning of whale watching season. (Gray whale watching season lasts through early April.)

The bottom line is that this is an amazing time to go whale watching! Visit Cabrillo Marine Aquarium’s website for a list of the Los Angeles whale watch landings. For ongoing updates on the number of gray whales seen each day, “like” the ACS/LA Facebook page, it’s also a great place to see photos and read recent whale related news. Also, if you have any questions about whale watching near Los Angeles, feel free to ask me through the contact page.

Photo credit: Anonymous

One of the surprise treats I received during Christmas was a hummingbird feeder!

Technically, I didn’t receive the hummingbird feeder as a gift, I stole it from another person who opened it during a white elephant gift exchange. Thankfully, the person who opened the hummingbird feeder didn’t really want it anyway. (White elephant gift exchanges are a strange thing…stealing gifts just seems wrong, but it’s all part of the game everyone says, and in this case I ended up with a hummingbird feeder.)

Now that I have a hummingbird feeder, I keep wondering why didn’t I get one before? They’re obviously not that much money since the gift exchange had a 10 dollar limit, which was confirmed by a quick search for hummingbird feeders on the internet.

Plus, I’ve seen hummingbirds in my neighborhood and one time a hummingbird flew right through the tree in front of our window. Only once that I saw anyway, maybe they are constantly flying through and I just don’t notice.

After I scored the hummingbird feeder, someone gave me a box of hummingbird greeting cards as a true gift, meaning I didn’t have to steal them. It’s a sign! 2012 is the year of the hummingbird. The hummingbird feeder experiment will begin soon in a very urban area of Los Angeles…

Ocean aisle at Powell's City of Books

I spent the last week of 2011 in book heaven! It was a wonderful way to wrap up the year and start the New Year with new wildlife books to read and more fascinating information to absorb.

Book heaven happens to be Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon. If you love books, you have to go there! There are several Powell’s locations in Portland, but the biggest and most impressive of all the stores is the Burnside location in the Pearl District. It takes up a full city block, is three stories tall and is literally, a city of books.

The store has split levels that lead into different color-coded sections containing numbered aisles dedicated to subjects with labels categorizing books by specific topics. One of my favorite aisles was 663 in the rose section, where I perused books on oceanography, aquatic life, exploration and shells.

One of the best things about Powell’s is their massive collection of used and out of print books. Even better, they also carry new books, so many times you can inspect all the used copies and find a good deal or if the used copies are really beat up, then you can buy a new copy.

Also, there’s little signs all over the place with staff recommendations, which is how I discovered Amazing Jellies: Jewels of the Sea by Elizabeth Gowell. This is a tiny book packed with information on sea jellies (jellyfish) and for only $9.95 it is now part of my reference collection.

In the bird aisle, I discovered tons of bird books, entire books dedicated to owls, crows, ravens, herons, geese, ducks and on and on. There are also shelves dedicated to birding, bird photography, bird feeders, birds of North America, birds of South America, birds of Europe…well you get the idea. Among the bird books I found a great used copy of Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien, a memoir about raising an injured barn owl, with great information on owls since Stacey also happens to be a biologist. And I picked up a book on hummingbirds called World of Hummingbirds by Erik Hanson.

With some great books waiting to be read, I can tell 2012 is going to be a great year! Happy New Year everyone!