Photo Of The Day and Natural History Commentary

A final photo illustration of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). You can compare this one against the first and second attempts.

Blue whale swimming through the open ocean. This is a photo illustration, a digital composite of two photographs. (model / digital illustration / composite). California, USA. Image: 20789   Species: Balaenoptera musculus Location: California, USA

A photo illustration is an illustration based on photographs, perhaps with some alteration on the computer to enhance certain aspects of the photograph(s) for illustrative purposes. This is a photo illustration of a blue whale swimming through the open ocean, based on a full-scale model replica of a blue whale and an actual photograph of open ocean water. Please do not mistake this for an actual photograph!

I got out early again this morning and swam out at Cardiff just north of Seaside Reef. For the most part the size had dropped off but it was still warm, glassy, not a speck of wind and sunny at 6:30am. Once again I had a huge stretch of water to myself, only a few guys out at Seaside and the usual crowd at Cardiff Reef. The sets were inconsistent and there was a lot of waiting around. A harbor seal was swimming around near me for a while, and squadrons of pelicans cruised by all morning. It was so still for the first hour that I could hear that soft sound of water ripping along the lip just as each wave would crest before folding over. The extreme low tide at dawn was helping the waves feel the sandbars and kick up. By 8 the tide has risen enough that all the juice was gone and it went flat. Beautiful but flat. I swam around for another hour picking off a few more sporadic set waves. I left at 9 only to watch Italy lose to Spain. I think this swell is done.

Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20811   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20812   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Cresting wave, morning light, glassy water, surf. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20815   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Thank you for your patience. This is your official notification: summer is here. You are now free to dive in, a wetsuit is no longer required. Effective until September: casual Friday is expanded to include Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well. From this morning:

Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20797   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA

Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20799   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA

Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20800   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA

Dawn patrol morning surf, hollow wave. Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA. Image: 20798   Location: Cardiff by the Sea, California, USA

Another photo illustration of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). I think this one is a little better than the first attempt.

Blue whale swimming through the open ocean. This is a photo illustration, a digital composite of two photographs. (model / digital illustration / composite). California, USA. Image: 20788   Species: Balaenoptera musculus Location: California, USA

A photo illustration is an illustration based on photographs, perhaps with some alteration on the computer to enhance certain aspects of the photograph(s) for illustrative purposes. This is a photo illustration of a blue whale swimming through the open ocean, based on a full-scale model replica of a blue whale and an actual photograph of open ocean water. Please do not mistake this for an actual photograph!

Got out for the first time in a long time this morning for a swim before work. Summer is here.

Morning surf. Carlsbad, California, USA. Image: 20793   Location: Carlsbad, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Morning surf. Carlsbad, California, USA. Image: 20795   Location: Carlsbad, California, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Below is a photo illustration of a moonfish (Lampris regius), also known as an Opah. A photo illustration is an illustration based on photographs, perhaps with some alteration on the computer to enhance certain aspects of the photograph(s) for illustrative purposes. This image is based on a full scale replica model of a moonfish combined with an actual photograph of open ocean water. Please do not mistake this for an actual photograph!

A moonfish, also known as opah, swimming through the open ocean. This is a photo illustration, a digital composite of two photographs. (model / digital illustration / composite). Image: 20790   Species: Lampris regius

Here’s a photo illustration of a gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus) swimming through a kelp forest. A photo illustration is an illustration based on photographs, perhaps with some alteration on the computer to enhance certain aspects of the photograph(s) for illustrative purposes. This illustration is based on a large model replica of a gray whale combined with an actual photograph of a kelp forest. Please do not mistake this for an actual photograph!

Gray whale swimming through a giant kelp forest. This is a photo illustration, a digital composite of two photographs. (model / digital illustration / composite). California, USA. Image: 20787   Species: Eschrichtius robustus Location: California, USA

I recently had a request for a photo illustration of a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). A photo illustration is an illustration based on photographs, perhaps with some alteration on the computer to enhance certain aspects of the photograph(s) for illustrative purposes. Here is a what I made: a photo illustration of a blue whale swimming through the open ocean, based on a large model replica of a blue whale and an actual photograph of open ocean water. Please do not mistake this for an actual photograph!

Blue whale swimming through the open ocean. This is a photo illustration, a digital composite of two photographs. (model / digital illustration / composite). California, USA. Image: 20786   Species: Balaenoptera musculus Location: California, USA

From a trip to New York City a few years ago: I took a boat around Manhattan Island and saw all the bridges that cross from various burroughs into Manhattan. This one is the Williamsburg Bridge.

The Williamsburg Bridge viewed from the East River. The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn on Long Island at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. Image: 11124   Location: Manhattan, New York City, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Keywords: Williamsburg Bridge Photo, New York City.

Last one from Buckskin Gulch: a hiker considering the towering walls and narrow, convoluted passageway of the the Buckskin Gulch narrows. The trail continues behind the hiker, disappearing into the twisting walls so that it is hard to tell that it is even there. The floor of the passage is littered with large cobblestones, deposited there from upstream by powerful floodwaters that fill the slot canyon and carve it deeper into the sandstone with each passing year’s storms.

Hiker in Buckskin Gulch. A hiker considers the towering walls and narrow passageway of Buckskin Gulch, a dramatic slot canyon forged by centuries of erosion through sandstone. Buckskin Gulch is the worlds longest accessible slot canyon, running from the Paria River toward the Colorado River. Flash flooding is a serious danger in the narrows where there is no escape. Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20716   Location: Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA

Here are a few backpackers walking through the Buckskin Gulch narrows. They are blurry because it is so dark in the narrows that a tripod and long exposure must be used, which caused the backpackers to smear across the photo as they walked while the stationary walls and ground remain sharp and clear. Check out the big log jammed between the sandstone walls! It was left there by a powerful flash flood some time in the past, and is a testament to the height and strength of those floods.

Suspended log in Buckskin Gulch. Hikers pass beneath a heavy log suspended between the walls of Buckskin Gulch, placed there by a flash flood some time in the past. Buckskin Gulch is the world’s longest accessible slot canyon, forged by centuries of erosion through sandstone. Flash flooding is a serious danger in the narrows where there is no escape. Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20723   Location: Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

This is a 360-degree panorama showing, in a single image, a hiker in Buckskin Gulch both coming and going. I set my camera on a tripod in the middle of the trail through Buckskin Gulch, leveled it with a bubble level, and spun it in a complete circle taking sixteen photos roughly evenly spaced as I did so. In two of the photographs I set the camera’s self-timer and jumped into the picture myself. Later, the images were then “stitched” together on a the computer with panoramic imaging software, resulting in the single image you see. Click on it to see it larger!

Buckskin Gulch hiker. A hiker moves through the deep narrow passages of Buckskin Gulch, a slot canyon cut deep into sandstone by years of river-induced erosion. In some places the Buckskin Gulch narrows are only about 15 feet wide but several hundred feet high, blocking sunlight. Flash floods are dangerous as there is no escape once into the Buckskin Gulch slot canyons. This is a panorama made of sixteen individual photos. Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20699   Location: Buckskin Gulch, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth! Pano dimensions: 4771 x 15311

Bubble Ring Day. It was so hot in the desert today all we could do was swim in the pool. Good thing I had my trusty uber-unterwasser-oring-foto-kamera along. We blew off some fine bubble rings and had fun watching them wobble and grow as they floated up through the water. These bubble rings are actually stable toroidal air pockets that usually maintain their delicate shapes all the way to the surface (if left to ascend undisturbed). I was pretty lightheaded after spending 30 minutes repeatedly holding my breath on the bottom of the pool making these bubble rings, so I did it for another 20 minutes and got super lightheaded. It was way more funnerer than hyperventilating into a paper bag. Ah, good times.

A bubble ring. A young girl reaches out to touch a bubble ring as it ascends through the water toward her. Image: 20774

A bubble ring. A child puts her hand through a bubble ring at it ascends through the water toward her. Image: 20775

A bubble ring. A young girl watches as a bubble ring ascends through the water toward her. Image: 20776

A bubble ring. A toroidal bubble ring rises through the water on its way to the surface. Image: 20777

Trochoidal sunlight patterns on the bottom of a swimming pool. Image: 20778

A bubble ring. A toroidal bubble ring rises through the water on its way to the surface. Image: 20779

After an easy half-hour walk from the Wire Pass Trailhead, one reaches the end of the sandy Wire Pass trail. At this point the trail enters the first of two Wire Pass Narrows, two fine examples of sandstone slot canyons. Formed by years of water erosion these slots are really narrow, in some places only about two feet wide. Here’s a look at a hiker squeezing through the narrowest point:

A hiker walking through the Wire Pass narrows. This exceedingly narrow slot canyon, in some places only two feet wide, is formed by water erosion which cuts slots deep into the surrounding sandstone plateau. Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20715   Location: Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

After emerging from the first narrows but before reaching the second set of narrows, the hiker finds a brief widening of the trail with some cool striations in the sandstone:

Sandstone formations. Layers of sandstone are revealed by erosion in the Wire Pass narrows. Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20731   Location: Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

More Wire Pass Narrows photos.

If you are going to hike to Buckskin Gulch or the North Coyote Buttes, you will likely start at the Wire Pass trailhead. Here is what it looks like at 6am. The dirt road you see, on which the trailhead parking lot is located, is the House Rock Valley Road. The few times I have driven it, the road has been fine. However, it is an unpaved road and I have heard that, following rain storms, it can be nearly unpassable. Just to be safe I have always used a high clearance vehicle on the House Rock Valley Road. A few cars are in the trailhead parking lot, with hikers readying their stuff for the day’s outing or still snoozing in their campers if they spent the night there.

Wire Pass trailhead. The parking lot at the Wire Pass trailhead, early morning, as hikers arrive and set out to Buckskin Gulch, the North Coyote Buttes and the Wave. Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20745   Location: Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Here is a look at the Wire Pass Trail itself, which runs down a sandy wash. It is quite unexceptional, and does not begin to hint at the wonderful sights that it will lead one to in either the Wire Pass Narrows or at the Wave.

Wire Pass trail. The Wire Pass trail runs along a river wash through sandstone bluffs and scattered trees and scrub brush. Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA. Image: 20746   Location: Wire Pass, Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Arizona, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

While passing through beautiful Kanab, Utah, on my way to hike Wire Pass, Buckskin Gulch and the North Coyote Buttes, I spotted a cop on the side of the road, presumably speed-gunning people as they entered town. Last time I blew through Kanab I noticed it was crawling with cops, or rather, with speed traps: cops parked on the side of the road just out of sight until you were too close to slow down in time. This time I slowed down figuring if this guy was lurking there must be other cops around too. As I passed by Officer Man in his poh-leece cruiser, I noticed he had a strange complexion, sort of green and sick looking, and he had a wierd pencil neck. I slowed down to shoot him a little Whachoo looking at, badge buddy? glare. He had his windows rolled up but, since his engine was off, he had no A/C so it must have been 300 freaking degrees inside his car, and yet this guy is not even sweating. Eventually my road-weary pea-brain figured it out: the cop was inflatable, a mannikin, a dummy. I guess the real cop on duty – one of Kanab’s Finest – was off somewhat taking a little afternoon siesta with his honey and propped up this doppleganger as a placeholder until he got back. I just had to stop and introduce myself, never having had a chance to say “Officer, I suggest you use your night stick” to an inflatable adult novelty doll sporting a police costume and KMart shades before. He let me take his photo but wouldn’t comment on whether he got his training at the academy or came straight from the factory. Check out his bizarre little Hitler mustache, what’s up with that?

Inflatable cop. Kanab’s Finest, hard at work. A Kanab police officer actively enforcing the speed limit in the town of Kanab, Utah. Kanab, Utah, USA. Image: 20768   Location: Kanab, Utah, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Inflatable cop. Kanab’s Finest, hard at work. A Kanab police officer actively enforcing the speed limit in the town of Kanab, Utah. Kanab, Utah, USA. Image: 20769   Location: Kanab, Utah, USA View this Image in Google Earth!

Of course the blow-up cop did what he was supposed to – I slowed down. I’m guessing Kanab probably has the most cost-effective police force in the nation.

P.S. A Kanab resident who spotted my little blog posting kindly emailed me to say that Officer Man’s real name is Latex Larry. A search on the internet reveals that Latex Larry has worked assignments in Fredonia as well. Seems the guy works 24/7 and all over the place.