Wedge August 27
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 33° 35' 36.81" N, Longitude: 117° 52' 53.97" W, Coord: 33.593561°, -117.88166°
Filed under: Surf on 8/27/2006
A photo from the Wedge this morning. It was pretty small and mixed up, the southern swell was fading.
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| Breaking wave, the Wedge. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 17023 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA  View this Image in Google Earth! |
Keywords: The Wedge, Newport Beach, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, wave, surf.
Wedge August 26
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 33° 35' 36.81" N, Longitude: 117° 52' 53.97" W, Coord: 33.593561°, -117.88166°
Filed under: Surf on 8/26/2006
Some photos from the Wedge this morning. For a while it was glassed off and the water looked pretty tropical. More from today are here.
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| Brian Washburn, the Wedge. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16986 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Backlit wave, the Wedge. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16988 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Tropical-looking summer water, the Wedge. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16987 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
Keywords: The Wedge, Newport Beach, bodysurfing, bodyboarding, wave, surf.
Whisper Bear
Psst, hey buddy, the salmon fishing sucks here and I’m starving. On three I say we bust a move and take out that white-meat photographer over there…
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| Brown bear (grizzly bear). Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA. Image: 17158 Species: Ursus arctos Location: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
See also:
Photos of brown bears catching salmon
Photos of brown bears eating salmon
Photos of brown bears fighting
Photos of brown bear cubs
Grizzly bear photos
Brown bear photos
Recent Newport Surf Photos Posted
Thanks to Tom Cozad / Newportsurfshots.com for the kind words on his web site recently, Tom knows what is happening in the NB surf. If you are looking for my shots of the recent swell, here are three blogs with selected large versions: August 4, August 5, August 6.
If you want to sift through all of the images (a few hundred), they are online separately for Wedge and elsewhere. For afternoon in-water shots see August 4th #1 and August 4th #2, and for beach shots see August 5th #1 and August 5th #2. For a morning of overcast water shots, see August 6th.
If you are in one of the photos and want a copy, email me and we’ll shoot it over to you gratis. We are always happy to share the images with the guys who are in them.
Moving
Quality conversation from this morning:
“Girls, don’t get any bagel crumbs on the couch, we got ants threatening and they will take over if they find any food around.”
10-year-old: “aaah, ooomf. (sound of crumbs leaving mouth.) Huh?”
6-year-old: “Yeah, that’s why we need to move. Plus I want a bigger room. Word.”
Photo of Grizzly Bears Fighting
The brown bear on the right, which we nicknamed Scarface for his battered head bearing many previous scars, got hammered hard by the boar on the left. Scarface was not having any luck catching salmon and tried to steal a fish from the one on the left. Big mistake. The bright gash on Scarface, below the left ear, was freshened just seconds before this shot. It was quite a battle, much of it obscured by flying water which killed most of the photo opportunities. It was sad to see the humbled Scarface afterward as he moved to the side but remained on the scene for a while, licking his wounds literally. Life is not easy for these animals.
 
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I did not fully appreciate the good fortune of seeing the brawl at the time it happened, I guess it is special to see such a brutal fight between grizzlies at such close range. German Stefan Meyers, a wildlife photographer with years of experience with bears who was next to me rattling off frames with his D2x, said afterward that it was a “lifetime op”.
See also:
Photos of brown bears catching salmon
Photos of brown bears eating salmon
Photos of brown bears fighting
Photos of brown bear cubs
Grizzly bear photos
Brown bear photos
Photo of Brown Bear Catching Salmon
This Alaskan Brown Bear (or grizzly bear, Ursus arctos) was quite skilled at catching salmon jumping up falls. He had honed his technique and was expert at energy conservation, barely moving until the moment he would suddenly snag a salmon in midair, then barely moving again as he ate it. While he was at the falls, no other bears challenged him for his prime fishing spot.
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The term “brown bear” is commonly used to refer to the members of Ursus arctos found in coastal areas where salmon is the primary food source. Brown bears found inland and in northern habitats are often called “grizzlies“.
See also:
Photos of brown bears catching salmon
Photos of brown bears eating salmon
Photos of brown bears fighting
Photos of brown bear cubs
Grizzly bear photos
Brown bear photos
Guadalupe Island White Shark ID Project
I had an interesting conversation with Nicole Nasby Lucas of the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research yesterday. Ms. Lucas and PIER co-founder Michael Domeier PhD have been conducting a capture/recapture study on great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Guadalupe Island, Mexico, building a database of identification photos and video of white sharks that inhabit the island. To date PIER has 73 individual sharks in their database, and the count increases each season. PIER also places a small number of satellite tags on Guadalupe white sharks to learn where they are going once they leave the island. Interestingly, some of the sharks tagged at Guadalupe Island swim all the way to the Hawaiian islands, including two of the sharks tagged during the most recent season. By observing the white sharks in this way, the PIER researchers are able to collect evidence about how the sharks utilize the island habitat and their migrations to and from the island.
I have had the good fortune of naming five of the PIER sharks by virtue of being the first photographer to capture each of them on film. The three females are named after my two daughters and my mother (you don’t think I am stupid enough to name one after my wife do you?). The two males are named after the notorious bachelors on Sex in the City: Big and The Russian.
In this case Ms. Lucas was able to link the right side and left side photographs by finding a common element between them: a notched tip on the left side ventral fin. Here she is, Guadalupe Island great white shark #57, “Leslie”:
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For more information about PIER’s white shark research at Guadalupe Island, how the identification process works and what scientific publications have resulted from the study, visit the PIER website and see the online catalog.
Keywords: great white shark photos, Carcharodon carcharias photos, Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research
Torpedo Ray Photo
In this photo a California torpedo ray (Torpedo californica), or electric ray, is hovering amid the kelp forest while my diving partner Brad Silva is filming it with his bright torchlights and video camera. Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, California.
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Here are all of our Torpedo Ray Photos
Galapagos Photos
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 1° 22' 44.11" N, Longitude: 91° 48' 42.23" W, Coord: 1.3789222°, -91.811731°
Filed under: Galapagos Diaries on 8/7/2006
We have posted 575 new images shot on our latest Galapagos Islands diving trip, a 15-day run on the liveaboard M/V Sky Dancer. We had phenomenal encounters with schools of hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), literally by the hundreds and thousands on nearly all dives at Wolf and Darwin, not to mention good luck with Galapagos sharks (Carcharhinus galapagensis), Galapagos penguins (Spheniscus mendiculus) and brief looks at marine iguanas underwater. Diving in the central islands was OK, not great, although we did have good fish displays at Cousins and clean water and sunlight at Gordon Rocks.
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| Scalloped hammerhead shark. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16246 Species: Sphyrna lewini Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Galapagos shark. Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16239 Species: Carcharhinus galapagensis Location: Wolf Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Hammerhead sharks, schooling, black and white / grainy. Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16254 Species: Sphyrna lewini Location: Darwin Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador View this Image in Google Earth! |
Galapagos photos (July 2006)
Galapagos photos (all trips: 1996, 1998, 2006)
Wedge August 6
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 33° 35' 36.81" N, Longitude: 117° 52' 53.97" W, Coord: 33.593561°, -117.88166°
Filed under: Surf on 8/6/2006
I’ve posted a few of the shots from this morning, here they are: August 6 photos. (Go here to find shots of August 4th and 5th). The sky this morning was really overcast and on top of that I didn’t compensate for it properly and my exposures were dark, I had to lighten them on the computer so … sorry for the bland colors. If you are in a shot and want a copy, shoot me an email and we’ll get it to you. Here are three that I thought came out ok. I’ve got a lot to learn however…
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| Brian Antonopoulos, The Wedge, overcast day. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16914 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
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| Tanner Ferrell, The Wedge, overcast day. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16915 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
Newport Photos from an August Swell
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 33° 35' 36.81" N, Longitude: 117° 52' 53.97" W, Coord: 33.593561°, -117.88166°
Filed under: Surf on 8/5/2006
A nice swell just hit southern California. I have some photos posted. For afternoon in-water shots see August 4th #1 and August 4th #2, and for beach shots see August 5th #1 and August 5th #2. Sorry, but some of the beach shots on August 5th are backlit, I asked the sun to move around to a different position but it would not oblige. If you are in one of the photos and want a copy, email me and we’ll get it to you gratis.
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| Surfer nearly collides with stray board, #3 of a 6 frame sequence, Newport Beach. Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16835 Location: Newport Beach, California, USA |
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| Wave breaking, tube, Newport Beach. Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16802 Location: Newport Beach, California, USA |
I met both of those water photographers the following day, both good guys and I bet they have loaded up on some excellent photos. They were in the water Saturday while I was geared for the beach only, what was I thinking. As it turns out it was overcast Sunday when I got back in the water and the photos were not so hot. Won’t make that mistake again, water angle must take priority over beach angle at all times, doh.
Newport Today
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 33° 35' 36.81" N, Longitude: 117° 52' 53.97" W, Coord: 33.593561°, -117.88166°
Filed under: Surf on 8/4/2006
My wife and I took the kids up to NB for an afternoon in the sun. I had a good time in the water and got a better workout than I do in my usual pool swim, but after 3 hours of watching Dad trying to figure out how to photograph the waves without getting pummeled my kids were pretty bored so we took them to El Ranchito for dinner. Here are some wave shapes, the light was great:
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| Wave breaking, tube, Newport Beach. Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16803 Location: Newport Beach, California, USA |
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| Wave. The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA. Image: 16819 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth! |
Photo of a Galapagos Tortoise
View this blog entry in Google EarthLatitude: 0° 38' 24.98" S, Longitude: 90° 22' 35.65" W, Coord: -0.640275°, -90.376572°
Filed under: Galapagos Diaries on 8/3/2006
The Galapagos tortoise, Geochelone spp., an endemic species of the Galapagos islands, is thought to have arrived in the Galapagos archipelago on rafts of debris. As it became distributed throughout the islands, it evolved into 14 distinct species of which 11 are still in existence and are endangered. In some species of Galapagos tortoise the shell is distinctly shaped (e.g., saddle-backed, domed) depending on whether the food sources require a head-raised or head-lowered posture during feeding. Galapagos tortoises can weigh up to 600 lbs with a shell five feet across, and live up to 150 years. For many years, sailors visiting the Galapagos islands would collect Galapagos tortoises and store them aboard ship, since the tortoises could live for months without food or water and would constitute a good source of meat for long voyages. It is thought that perhaps 200,000 tortoises perished this way.
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| Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16481 Species: Geochelone nigra |
Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16480 Species: Geochelone nigra |
Galapagos tortoise, Santa Cruz Island species, highlands of Santa Cruz island. Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Image: 16484 Species: Geochelone nigra |
These free-ranging, wild Galapagos tortoises were photographed in the highlands of Santa Cruz Island (Indefatigable).
Keywords: Galapagos Islands, Galapagos tortoise, Geochelone spp., endemic, endangered / threatened
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