Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) is the fastest growing plant in the world. It clings to the ocean floor and grows upward toward the surface, buoyed up by gas-filled pneumatocysts. Growth occurs at the tips of the plant – the fronds – which resemble leaves of a terrestrial plant.

Kelp frond showing pneumatocysts (air bladders). San Clemente Island, California, USA. Image: 03406   Species: Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

San Clemente Island is the finest place in the world to swim in a kelp forest. (Kelp is found at many other places in similar temperate waters, but San Clemente’s clean blue water and relatively warm temperatures make it ideal among such places.) Similar to the towering redwood stands of the Pacific Northwest, forests of giant kelp soar above the ocean floor, swaying to and fro with passing ocean waves. These forests are home to fishes, rays, sharks and myriad invertebrates that grow on the kelp itself or the neighboring rocky reefs. When a kelp plant is tall enough to reach the ocean surface, it continues growing and spreads out in a huge flat mat, blocking the sun.

San Clemente Island, California.

Keywords: kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, giant kelp, kelp forest, underwater photo, pneumatocyst, frond.

Machias Seal Island is one of the best places in the world to observe Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica), and is certainly a fun place to get to. Machias Seal Island, near the US border with Canada in the Gulf of Maine, is accessed by a short boat from the easternmost tip of the United States, using services at either of the Maine coastal towns of Jonesport or Cutler. This is a beautiful section of the Maine coastline, worth a visit in its own right to see what “downeast” Maine looks and feels like away from the more touristy and crowded areas, but for wildlife enthusiasts the likely chief attraction will be a visit to Machias Seal Island to see sea birds. There are approximately 3000 breeding pairs of Atlantic puffins at the summer breeding colony on Machias Seal Island, and good times to visit are late May through September, with the peak numbers of birds somewhere in the middle of that period.

Atlantic puffin, mating coloration. Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA. Image: 03135   Species: Fratercula arctica Location: Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Once on the island, visitors take turns walking through the breeding colony to permanent blinds (actually small huts with tiny windows). Once you are inside your blind – and presumably invisible to the puffins – the small birds resume their normal activities and you can observe them from very close range. This is a special opportunity, since Atlantic puffins are now gone from many of their former island breeding colonies, due to historic hunting and continued predation by several species of gulls.

Atlantic puffin, mating coloration. Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA. Image: 03139   Species: Fratercula arctica Location: Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Atlantic puffin, mating coloration. Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA. Image: 03118   Species: Fratercula arctica Location: Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Atlantic puffin, mating coloration. Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA. Image: 03145   Species: Fratercula arctica Location: Machias Seal Island, Maine, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

I have taken the 90 minute trip to the island with Barna Norton of Jonesport. His small boat was crowded with passengers, but the trip was short (by my standards) and pleasant enough with enthusiastic talk and anticipation amongst the experienced birdwatchers (of which I am not) being the pursuit on the way to the island, and quiet reflection (i.e., napping) the name of the game on the way back.

Bold Coast Charter Co. in Cutler, Maine offers a similar boat trip to the island, with nearly identical cost. The drive to Cutler is longer than the drive to Jonesport, but the reward is a shorter boat trip from Cutler to the island than from Jonesport.

BirdingAmerica.com and Mainebirding.net both offer great summaries of what a visit to Machias Seal Island is like, from a birdwatcher’s point of view.

Keywords: Machias Seal Island, Atlantic puffins, puffin photos, Fratercula arctica, Maine, Jonesport, seabird, sea birds, Arctic tern, photo, photograph.

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

U.S. Humane Society sues S.D., demands rope barrier for seals

By Ray Huard
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 26, 2005

The Humane Society of the United States filed suit yesterday against the city of San Diego, demanding that officials restore a rope barrier at La Jolla Children’s Pool beach part of the year to protect newborn seal pups. “Our marine scientists are telling us that the presence of the barrier during pupping season is crucial to make sure harbor seal pups are not killed,” said Jon Lovvorn, Humane Society vice president for animal protection litigation. (continued…)

Read The Full Story

Read Our Opinion Regarding Protection of the La Jolla Seals

A Pacific harbor seal hauls out on a rock. This group of harbor seals, which has formed a breeding colony at a small but popular beach near San Diego, is at the center of considerable controversy. While harbor seals are protected from harassment by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other legislation, local interests would like to see the seals leave so that people can resume using the beach. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 03011   Species: Phoca vitulina richardsi	A Pacific harbor seal hauls out on a sandy beach. This group of harbor seals, which has formed a breeding colony at a small but popular beach near San Diego, is at the center of considerable controversy. While harbor seals are protected from harassment by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other legislation, local interests would like to see the seals leave so that people can resume using the beach. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 01925   Species: Phoca vitulina richardsi	A mother Pacific harbor seal and her newborn pup swim in the protected waters of Childrens Pool in La Jolla, California. This group of harbor seals, which has formed a breeding colony at a small but popular beach near San Diego, is at the center of considerable controversy. While harbor seals are protected from harassment by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other legislation, local interests would like to see the seals leave so that people can resume using the beach. La Jolla, California, USA. Image: 02134   Species: Phoca vitulina richardsi

Above the granite walls surrounding Yosemite Valley are found many examples of glacial erratic boulders. These glacial erratics are so named because they are erratic (i.e., differ materially from the naturally occuring stone nearby) and they were deposited by slow-moving glaciers, sometimes after having been moved a considerable distance (e.g., tens of miles) from their origin.

Glacial erratics atop Olmstead Point. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 09966   Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Glacial erratics atop Olmstead Point, with Clouds Rest in the background. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 09968   Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA

A glacial erratic hangs precariously at the precipice to Tenaya Canyon, with Clouds Rest in the background. Erratics are huge boulders left behind by the passing of glaciers which carved the granite surroundings into their present-day form. Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 09969   Location: Yosemite National Park, California, USA

The edges of Tenaya Canyon, especially granite expanses at Olmstead Point, are good places to find glacial erratics, as well as the Half Dome and Little Yosemite Valley trails.

Keywords: glacial erratics, glacial erratic boulders, glacier, granite, Yosemite National Park, photograph, picture.

Yosemite Valley offers panoramic views that, in many cases, cannot be effectively captured with a single photograph (a frame of film or a single digital image capture). Stitching photographs together digitally offers a way to produce panoramic images using non-panoramic cameras. Below is an example of this technique, considering Half Dome and Washington Column viewed from Stoneman Meadow in Spring. A series of eight digital photographs were taken, with considerable overlap between each, and then stitched together using software to produce a panorama that spans 270 degrees along the horizontal plane:

Half Dome (center) and Washington Column (left), late afternoon in spring, viewed from Ahwahnee Meadow. Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Image: 07152   Location: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, USA Pano dimensions: 2852 x 7689

As an byproduct of this technique, aside from the a “flat photograph” shown above, is a Quicktime Virtual Reality image as well, which the viewer can explore with tilt, pan and zoom controls. To see this QTVR version of the panoramic photo above, you will need Apple Quicktime installed. When you are ready to view the QTVR version, click here.

Nikon D100 and 17-35mm f/2.8 lens, multiple frames using identical exposure (exposure unrecorded), Yosemite National Park, California.

Keywords: Yosemite Valley photo, Half Dome, Washington Column, panoramic photo, stitching, QTVR, Quick Time Virtual Reality.

Some years ago I was freediving around an open ocean kelp paddy with Mike Johnson. We were photographing a few blue sharks that we had attracted to the paddy with a small bucket of chum. Two small yellowtail jacks were flanking one of the blue sharks, swimming closely beside it and repeatedly brushing along he shark.

North Pacific Yellowtail brushing against blue shark. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 01000   Species: Seriola lalandi, Prionace glauca Location: San Diego, California, USA

I believe the yellowtail were bumping the shark in order to remove parasites against the rough skin of the shark. The shark seemed bothered by this but there was nothing the shark could do – the yellowtail are so much quicker and more agile that the blue shark had little hope of actually biting them or chasing them off. This behaviour persisted for about 10 minutes, at which point the blue shark probably became exasperated at the yellowtail that were pestering him and left. Open ocean about 10 miles offshore of San Diego.

Keywords: blue shark photo, yellowtail, kelp paddy, underwater photo, Prionace glauca.

One great white shark photo on our website that is viewed more than almost all others is this one:

A great white shark underwater. A large great white shark cruises the clear oceanic waters of Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe). Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico. Image: 10119   Species: Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico View this Image in Google Earth!

It appears that the great white shark in this photo is smiling at the cameraman, or is perhaps preparing to chomp the guy. In fact, this great white shark had just taken a mouthful of bait and was opening and closing its mouth in order to free bits of the bait from its teeth or gill slits. The exposure was made just as the shark happened to have both an open mouth and a gaze directed at the divers in the cage. Isla Guadalupe, Mexico.

Keywords: great white shark photo, Carcharodon carcharias, Guadalupe Island.

The California sheephead wrasse, Semicossyphus pulcher, is an interesting fish. It begins its life as a female and remains so until adulthood. When the region’s dominant adult male dies or leaves then switcheroo! one of the remaining adult females will switch genders to assume the role of dominant male of the reef. Note the distinctly different colorations of the juvenile, female and dominant male sheephead wrasses below:

Juvenile sheephead, Farnsworth Banks. Catalina Island, California, USA. Image: 05184   Species: Semicossyphus pulcher Location: Catalina Island, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Juvenile sheephead wrasse. Image: 08647   Species: Semicossyphus pulcher

Sheephead wrasse, adult male coloration (a juvenile or female is partially seen to the right). Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico. Image: 09624   Species: Semicossyphus pulcher Location: Guadalupe Island (Isla Guadalupe), Baja California, Mexico View this Image in Google Earth!

Keywords: California sheephead wrasse photo, Semicossyphus pulcher, gender change, underwater photo, Guadalupe Island.

This photo of schooling jack mackerel, shot at Guadalupe Island, Mexico in 2004, graced the cover of Nature, one of the premiere scientific journals in the world, on February 3, 2005 to accompany Effective leadership and decision-making in animal groups on the move (Couzin, Krause, Franks and Levin):

Humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, are known for displaying a wide range of surface behaviors (i.e., behaviors seen from above water), such as breaching, head lunging, tail lobbing and spyhopping. Among these behaviors, pectoral fin displays are some of the most interesting. Humpback whales have the longest pectoral fins of all cetaceans – indeed the latin Megaptera translates to “giant wing” – and they will often lift their long fins well out of the water. This behavior can be seen when the whales are gathered in social groups as well as with solitary animals.

Humpback whale swimming inverted with both pectoral fin raised clear of the water. Maui, Hawaii, USA. Image: 04116   Species: Megaptera novaeangliae Location: Maui, Hawaii, USA View this Image in Google Earth! See usage restrictions

North Pacific humpback whale, pectoral fins. Maui, Hawaii, USA. Image: 00984   Species: Megaptera novaeangliae Location: Maui, Hawaii, USA See usage restrictions

North Pacific humpback whale, pectoral fin. Maui, Hawaii, USA. Image: 01471   Species: Megaptera novaeangliae See usage restrictions	Humpback whale surface active group, one whale lateral swimming with raised pectoral fin. Maui, Hawaii, USA. Image: 04244   Species: Megaptera novaeangliae See usage restrictions

These photographs were taken during Hawaii Whale Research Foundation research activities conducted under NMFS scientific permits 633, 882, 587 as well as various State of Hawaii permits. Their use is subject to certain restrictions.

Keywords: humpback whale photo, megaptera novaengliae, pectoral fin.

These photographs were taken during Hawaii Whale Research Foundation research activities conducted under provisions of NOAA / NMFS and State of Hawaii scientific research permits.

The spring wildflower bloom is happening right now at Anza Borrego Desert State Park, as well as many other places in California. The bloom appears to be early and thick this year due to the heavy rains we had over the past few months. Here are some examples, shot Sunday February 6, 2005. For the best current reports visit Carol Leigh’s California wildflower hotsheet.

Dune primrose blooms in spring following winter rains. Dune primrose is a common ephemeral wildflower on the Colorado Desert, growing on dunes. Its blooms open in the evening and last through midmorning. Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA. Image: 10458   Species: Oenothera deltoides Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Brittlebush (yellow) and wild heliotrope (blue) bloom in spring, Palm Canyon. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA. Image: 10457   Species: Encelia farinosa Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Arizona lupine is a common early spring ephemeral wildflower of the Colorado Desert. The purple-pink flowers show a yellow spot on the upper petal, which changes in color to red once the flower has been pollinated to discourage insects from visiting it after pollination. This photo shows both red and yellow petals. Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA. Image: 10526   Species: Lupinus arizonicus

Dune primrose (white) and sand verbena (purple) bloom in spring in Anza Borrego Desert State Park, mixing in a rich display of desert color. Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Borrego, California, USA. Image: 10477   Species: Oenothera deltoides, Abronia villosa

Keywords: desert wildflower photos, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, wildflowers, spring, bloom.

This is a stand of giant Sequioa trees, Sequoiadendron giganteum, in Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Park, California. The United State Postal Service recently licensed this image as artist reference (to create a painting version of the photo) for a postage stamp and associated paper and philatelic (stamp collecting) products. A stamp = my 15 minutes of fame, big time.

Sequoia trees. Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California, USA. Image: 02352   Species: Sequoiadendron giganteum Location: Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park, California, USA

Keywords: giant Sequoia, forest, tree, redwood, photo, photograph, stamp, postage, National Park, Kings Canyon.

Mother and newborn pup Northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, central California coast. This newborn pup had just been born minutes before this photo was taken. Placental material, seen in the background, has attracted sea gulls who will consume it. The pup will be weaned surprisingly fast, in as little 2-3 weeks. Until that time the pup will consume its mother’s rich milk and build up a thick layer of blubber, which it will live off of for another 1-2 months before it ventures into the sea to forage and hunt for itself.

Northern elephant seal, mother and neonate pup, gulls eating placenta. Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California, USA. Image: 00945   Species: Mirounga angustirostris Location: Piedras Blancas, San Simeon, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Sandy beach near Piedras Blancas lighthouse, central California.

Keywords: northern elephant seal, elephant seal photo, birth, mating, mother, pup, baby, weaning, weaned.

Seen here is the upper 20′ of a giant kelp forest. The kelp grows from the ocean floor, 30-100′ below, all the way to the surface where it continues growing, spreading out to form a canopy. This species of kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, is the world’s fastest growing plant (if you want to consider this algae a plant), growing over 2′ per day in ideal conditions. The kelp is buoyed upward in the water by clusters of pneumatocysts, gas-filled bladders at the base of each leaf-like blade.

Kelp forest. San Clemente Island, California, USA. Image: 04660   Species: Macrocystis pyrifera Location: San Clemente Island, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

A museum client has licensed this image for a 7′ x 10′ museum metal wall display. Magnet-backed life size photos of kelp forest creatures will be placed by kids on the wall. It sounds like it will be a cool exhibit.

San Clemente Island, California, USA.

Keywords: kelp forest photo, giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, San Clemente island, underwater, diving, photograph.

Among collectors of ancient coins, the Tribute Penny has great appeal, especially to Christians. You may recall from your study of the Bible that Matthew 22:17-22, Mark 12:15-17 and Luke 20:22-26 all describe Jesus commenting on a denarius, a coin that we would refer to today as a “penny".

Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way. (Matthew 22:17-22)

An original tribute penny. Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 A.D.), depicted on ancient Roman coin (silver, denom/type: Denarius) (AR, Denarius Obverse: Bust right TI CEASAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Reverse: Livia seated right, holding olive branch, ornate legs on chair. PONTIF MAXIM. Tribute penny. Sear 567.). Image: 06528	An original tribute penny. Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 A.D.), depicted on ancient Roman coin (silver, denom/type: Denarius) (AR, Denarius Obverse: Bust right TI CEASAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Reverse: Livia seated right, holding olive branch, ornate legs on chair. PONTIF MAXIM. Tribute penny. Sear 567.). Image: 06529

This particular denarius bears the likeness of Tiberius, who was Caesar at the time Jesus said those words. It is widely considered that the coin to which the above Biblical passage refers was one of the denarii struck during the reign of Tiberius. While one expert offers a fine explanation of this theory, another notes that in fact the actual coin may have been a denarius minted during the reign of any of five previous Caesars.

From a private collection.

Keywords: Tribute Penny, Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, photo, picture, photograph, denarius, denarii, ancient roman coin.

Blue shark showing ampullae of Lorenzini, eye and small portion of nictitating membrane. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 01076   Species: Prionace glauca Location: San Diego, California, USA

This is a photograph of a blue shark, Prionace glauca. We bait for them offshore of San Diego, anywhere from 5 to 20 miles offshore (however far it took to get to clean blue water) and then wait for them to show up. We get in the water and swim around with them, usually with just freediving gear to remain unencumbered and agile, hoping they come close enough for really good pictures. At times we tie the boat off to a kelp paddy, allowing us to frame the sharks against something other than simple blue water. The best lens to shoot these sharks is a Nikonos 15mm lens, it is tack sharp in situations like this – check out the pores on the shark’s nose – and I don’t think any housed lens can beat it, plus framing these sharks properly is no problem with a Nikonos’ rangefinder method. The underside of a blue shark is quite white and very reflective, so stopping down to f/11 - f/22 is required in many cases, which is just as well as it helps to balance the sunburst in the background. This is essentially a silhouette exposure with strobe fill, tiny little manual MCD strobes were used, with diffusers.

Keywords: blue shark photo, shark picture, underwater photograph, Prionace glauca.

The blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus, is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth. Depending on which expert is cited, blue whales once attained lengths of 100 to 120 feet (32 meters) and have weighed up to 160 tons (145 metric tonnes). Blue whales are found throughout the worlds oceans. Estimates put their worldwide population at approximately 10% that of prewhaling size, and blue whales are listed as endangered throughout their range. The population of blue whales in the Southern Ocean was hunted especially hard.

Blue whale, Baja California. Image: 03027   Species: Balaenoptera musculus	Blue whale fluking up before a dive, Baja California (Mexico). Image: 03332   Species: Balaenoptera musculus	Blue whale, adult and juvenile (likely mother and calf). Image: 01964   Species: Balaenoptera musculus

Blue whale, mother and calf. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 02304   Species: Balaenoptera musculus	Blue whale. Image: 02169   Species: Balaenoptera musculus	Adult blue whale surfacing, Baja California (Mexico). Image: 03380   Species: Balaenoptera musculus

Two of the images above show blue whale pairs likely composed of a mother with calf/subadult. Blue whale calves will accompany their mothers for approximately… [more]

Here’s a photograph we licensed today for a book in Australia. Can you guess what the bright white object is?

Ocean sunfish. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 02030   Species: Mola mola Location: San Diego, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

It is an OCEAN SUNFISH (Mola mola), laying flat on the ocean’s surface, far offshore of the San Diego (California, USA) coastline. The ocean sunfish is the largest bony fish in the world (sharks and rays are cartilaginous). Southern California seems to be one of the best places in the world to see an ocean sunfish, since they are typically found offshore of southern California and Baja California in the summer. Some years they appear in great numbers while other years they are harder to find on the surface. Often the first ocean sunfish that one sees is a resting one, laying flat on the ocean surface. It may look dead or sick, but it almost certainly is not. When it senses the approach of the boat, it will “wake up” and assume its normal vertical orientation and start swimming – either away from the boat if it is started or toward the boat if it is curious. Ocean sunfish do not have any natural predators. They eat zooplankton such as salps and jellyfish.

This photograph was taken in January about 20 miles offshore of San Diego and 2 feet above the water