Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

The Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) found in southwestern California, is a subspecies of the North American desert bighorn sheep that occupies the rocky and arid Mojave and Senoran deserts of the American southwest and northern Mexico.

Desert bighorn sheep, male ram. The desert bighorn sheep occupies dry, rocky mountain ranges in the Mojave and Sonoran desert regions of California, Nevada and Mexico. The desert bighorn sheep is highly endangered in the United States, having a population of only about 4000 individuals, and is under survival pressure due to habitat loss, disease, over-hunting, competition with livestock, and human encroachment. Image: 14651   Species: Ovis canadensis nelsoni

Desert bighorn sheep, male ram. The desert bighorn sheep occupies dry, rocky mountain ranges in the Mojave and Sonoran desert regions of California, Nevada and Mexico. The desert bighorn sheep is highly endangered in the United States, having a population of only about 4000 individuals, and is under survival pressure due to habitat loss, disease, over-hunting, competition with livestock, and human encroachment. Image: 14653   Species: Ovis canadensis nelsoni

The desert bighorn sheep prefers steep, rocky mountainsides that afford them a view with which to view approaching predators, for their eyesight is excellent. They are hardy animals that can survive without water during the winter, provided there is green vegetation to be found. Male desert bighorn sheep (rams) have huge spiraling horns, used to batter other rams during courtship and mating contests over access to females (ewes).

More desert bighorn sheep photos.

The Oceanside Pier is the longest wooden pier on the West Coast of the United States. The concrete base of the pier was built in 1925. The wooden pier itself has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1988. The names of locals who donated to the construction of the pier are engraved on the pier’s wood timbers. On a clear winter day one might see migrating gray whales, dolphins, pelicans and gulls, La Jolla and perhaps even Catalina. When the swell is up the pier is a good spot to watch surfers. People fish from the pier, but their catch never seems particularly appealing.

Oceanside Pier at dusk, sunset, night. Oceanside, California. Image: 14628

Oceanside Pier at dusk, sunset, night. Oceanside, California. Image: 14629

More Oceanside Pier photos.

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park, San Diego, at 250 feet long by 75 feet wide and 60 feet tall, was the largest wood lath structure in the world when it was built in 1915 for the Panama-California Exposition. The Botanical Building, located on the Prado, west of the Museum of Art, contains about 2,100 permanent tropical plants along with changing seasonal flowers. The Lily Pond, just south of the Botanical Building, is an eloquent example of the use of reflecting pools to enhance architecture. The 193 by 43 foot pond and smaller companion pool were originally referred to as Las Lagunas de las Flores (The Lakes of the Flowers) and were designed as aquatic gardens. The pools contain exotic water lilies and lotus which bloom spring through fall.

The Botanical Building, Balboa Park, San Diego. At the time it was built in 1915, the Botanical Building was the largest wood structure in the world. It is fronted by a long reflecting pool and is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego. Image: 14577	The Botanical Building, Balboa Park, San Diego. At the time it was built in 1915, the Botanical Building was the largest wood structure in the world. It is fronted by a long reflecting pool and is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego. Image: 14576

The Botanical Building, Balboa Park, San Diego. At the time it was built in 1915, the Botanical Building was the largest wood structure in the world. It is fronted by a long reflecting pool and is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego. Image: 14579	The Botanical Building, Balboa Park, San Diego. At the time it was built in 1915, the Botanical Building was the largest wood structure in the world. It is fronted by a long reflecting pool and is one of the most photographed landmarks in San Diego. Image: 14580

More Botanical Building photos.

Marymere Falls is located near Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. 90 feet high, Marymere Falls marks the spot where Barnes Creeks drops down a vertical rock face on its descent to nearby Lake Crescent. An easy one-mile trail leads the visitor from the Storm King ranger station on the shores of Lake Crescent through a peaceful forest of massive sword ferns and soaring cedar and fir trees. Kids will enjoy the corrugated metal tunnel under old Highway 101 and the narrow wooden bridge over Barnes Creek. At the end of the trail, a brief ascent offers two lookouts from which to admire Marymere Falls.

Marymere Falls cascades 90 feet through an old-growth forest of Douglas firs, near Lake Crescent. Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13765	Marymere Falls drops 90 feet through an old-growth forest of Douglas firs, near Lake Crescent. Lake Crescent, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13768

See more Marymere Falls photos.

The Birch Aquarium is located at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Completed in 1992, the aquarium was named for benefactors Stephen and Mary Birch. The Birch Aquarium contains over 60 tanks, including a 70,000 gallon kelp forest exhibit and 13,000 gallon shark tank. It is located on a bluff overlooking La Jolla Shores and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

Visitors admire the enormous kelp forest tank in the Stephen Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. The 70000 gallon tank is home to black seabass, broomtail grouper, garibaldi, moray eels and leopard sharks. Image: 14542	Visitors admire the enormous kelp forest tank in the Stephen Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. The 70000 gallon tank is home to black seabass, broomtail grouper, garibaldi, moray eels and leopard sharks. Image: 14543

Pot-bellied seahorse, male, carrying eggs. The developing embryos are nourished by individual yolk sacs, and oxygen is supplied through a placenta-like attachment to the male. Two to six weeks after fertilization, the male gives birth. The babies must then fend for themselves, and few survive to adulthood. Image: 14472   Species: Hippocampus abdominalis	A tropical reef fish tank in the Stephen Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, California. Built in 1992, the Birch Aquarium has over 60 tanks including a 70000 gallon kelp forest tank and 13000 gallon shark exhibit. Image: 14550	Leafy Seadragon. Image: 07819   Species: Phycodurus eques

More photos of the kelp forest tank at the Birch Aquarium.

Sol Duc Falls is one of the gems of Olympic National Park. Located in the Sol Duc Valley, not far from the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, the trail to Sol Duc Falls is an easy 1.5 mile round trip walk through old growth hemlock and douglas fir trees (some of which are over 300 years old). Sol Duc Falls itself drops over a sandstone brim into three separate falls, joining again at the bottom to flow under a dramatic wooden footbridge that crosses the river. Just before reaching the river, hikers encounter the Canyon Creek shelter, an old wooden cabin with cupola built by the Civilian Conservation Corps – its worth a peek inside.

Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in Olympic National Park, seen here from a bridge that crosses the canyon just below the falls. Surrounding the falls is an old-growth forest of hemlocks and douglas firs, some of which are three hundred years in age. Sol Duc Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13747

Old growth forest of douglas firs and hemlocks, with forest floor carpeted in ferns and mosses. Sol Duc Springs. Sol Duc Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13757	Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Falls is one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls in Olympic National Park. Surrounding the falls is an old-growth forest of hemlocks and douglas firs, some of which are three hundred years in age. Sol Duc Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13750	Log cabin on the trail to Sol Duc Falls. Sol Duc Springs, Olympic National Park, Washington, USA. Image: 13764

Here are more photos of Sol Duc Falls.

The Star of India is the world’s oldest seafaring ship. Originally built in 1863, the Star of India is now a maritime museum docked in San Diego Harbor, and occasionally puts to sea for special sailing events.

The Star of India is the world’s oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863, she is an experimental design of iron rather than wood. She is now a maritime museum docked in San Diego Harbor, and occasionally puts to sea for special sailing events. Image: 07618	The Star of India under full sail offshore of San Diego, California. The Star of India is the worlds oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863, she is an experimental design of iron rather than wood. She is now a maritime museum docked in San Diego Harbor, and occasionally puts to sea for special sailing events. Image: 07784

The Star of India is tied to her dock along the waterfront of San Diego harbor. Image: 14530	The Star of India is the world’s oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863, she is an experimental design of iron rather than wood. She is now a maritime museum docked in San Diego Harbor, and occasionally puts to sea for special sailing events. Image: 07620	The Star of India under full sail offshore of San Diego, California. The Star of India is the worlds oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863, she is an experimental design of iron rather than wood. She is now a maritime museum docked in San Diego Harbor, and occasionally puts to sea for special sailing events. Image: 07785

The Star of India was built in 1863 on the Isle of Man at the Ramsey Shipyard in an experimental design that employed iron rather than wood. She originally bore the name Euterpe, named for the Greek goddess of music. The early history of the Euterpe was dramatic. On her first voyage to India she endured both a collision and a mutiny, while her next voyage to India put her in the path of a cyclone from which she barely escaped. Unfortunately, Euterpe’s first caption died on board soon after. Four more voyages to India followed, with no mishaps, before Euterpe was sold to the Shaw Savill company of London in 1871. She spent a quarter century ferrying emigrant travelers, primarily to New Zealand. During this time Euterpe made over 20 circumnavigations of the globe, trips that could last as long as a year. In 1898 Euterpe was sold to new American owners who put her in service from Oakland to the Bering Sea ferrying fishermen north and canned salmon south. Euterpe was officially renamed Star of India in 1906 by the Alaska Packers Association, and was also rerigged in 1901 from her original full-rigged configuration to her present rigging as a barque. By 1923, large sailing ships were no longer needed, having become obsolete in the face of steamship technology. A group of San Diegans, formed by reporter Jerry MacMullen, purchased the Star of India in 1926 for $9,000 and brought her to San Diego. However, the Star of India’s condition deteriorated during the depression and World War II until the late 1950’s, when piecemeal restoration finally began. In 1976 the Star of India, fully restored, went to sea after a hiatus of 50 years. She is now maintained by a crew of enthusiatic volunteers, and sails on the ocean at least each year.

Star of India photos.

San Diego likes to boast that it is America’s Finest City. Perhaps – at least the notion is debatable. However, San Diego does have a beautiful downtown waterfront and city skyline. A few places to admire the lineup of hotels and buildings at dusk are Harbor Island, Coronado Island and Cabrillo National Monument (from a distance).

San Diego downtown skyline, viewed from Point Loma. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 06482   Location: San Diego, California, USA

San Diego city skyline at dusk, viewed from Harbor Island, a sailboat cruises by in the foreground, the Star of India at left. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 14526   Location: San Diego, California, USA

San Diego city skyline at dusk, viewed from Harbor Island, the Star of India at right. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 14533   Location: San Diego, California, USA

San Diego city skyline and cruise ship terminal at dusk, viewed from Harbor Island. San Diego, California, USA. Image: 14536   Location: San Diego, California, USA

Downtown San Diego skyline, viewed from Coronado Island. Coronado, California, USA. Image: 07953   Location: Coronado, California, USA

Here are more San Diego skyline photos.

The original Point Loma lighthouse was built in 1855 and operated until 1891. It was one of the original 8 lighthouses built on the West Coast and was designed in the Cape Cod style common to all of them at the time. East Coast lighthouses were then built on promontories and hill tops so it was natural to do so on the West Coast as well. This was soon realized to be a major blunder: the lighthouses were too high for the weather, above the low-lying fog that is common on the West Coast, and thus not visible to coastal mariners. In 1891 the Point Loma lighthouse was replaced by another one closer to sea level. The “old” Point Loma lighthouse, which has been refurbished to its 1880’s condition, is now the principal attraction of Cabrillo National Monument and offers unobstructed views of San Diego Bay, North Island Naval Air Station and Coronado Island, Mexico’s Islas Coronado and the Pacific Ocean.

The old Point Loma lighthouse operated from 1855 to 1891 above the entrance to San Diego Bay. It is now a maintained by the National Park Service and is part of Cabrillo National Monument. Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, California, USA. Image: 14522

Here are more Cabrillo Monument photos.