Category

Wildlife

AlaskaKatmaiKenai FjordsNational ParksWildlife

Alaska Photos (2006)

I have posted 382 photos from my 10-day trip to visit Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park and Katmai National Park, including sea otters (Enhydra lutris), Stellar sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), and most notably, brown bears (Ursus arctos, also known as grizzly bears). Here are a few: Sea otter.Image ID: 16940Species:…
September 3, 2006
AlaskaBrown BearKatmaiWildlife

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... Brown bear (grizzly bear).Image ID: 17158Species: Brown bear, Ursus arctosLocation: Brooks River, Katmai National Park, Alaska, USA See also: Photos of brown bears…
August 21, 2006
AlaskaBrown BearKatmai

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…
August 11, 2006
Channel IslandsFishUnderwater Life

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. Pacific torpedo ray in kelp forest, filming…
August 8, 2006
Galapagos DiariesSharksUnderwater Life

Galapagos Photos

I have posted 575 new images shot on my 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…
August 7, 2006
BirdsCaliforniaSeabirdWildlife

Western Gull, Larus occidentalis

The Western gull, Larus occidentalis, is a large white-headed gull common along the western coast of North America. The Western gull ranges from British Columbia to Baja California. It is exclusively marine, and nests on offshore rocks and islands. While offshore it feeds on fishes and invertebrates that it can…
April 18, 2006
Ocean SunfishWildlife

Sport Diver Cover

My photograph of an ocean sunfish alongside drift kelp appeared on the June 2003 cover of Sport Diver magazine: Ocean sunfish recruiting fish near drift kelp to clean parasites, open ocean, Baja California.Image ID: 03267Species: Ocean sunfish, Mola mola Keywords: Mola mola, ocean sunfish photos.
April 12, 2006
CaliforniaElephant SealWildlife

Piedras Blancas Elephant Seals

We have been visiting the Piedras Blancas rookery of northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) since early 1991, when it was newly colonized by animals from the San Miguel, San Nicholas and Ano Nuevo rookeries, and have watched it grow to its current size. We have had the good fortune to…
March 1, 2006
Pelicans of La JollaSeabird

Pelican Head Throw

See my Guide to Photographing Pelicans in La Jolla. Here are a few photos of California brown pelicans performing the pelican head throw, also known as the pelican bill throw. It looks painful. The brown pelican lifts its large bill up, arches its neck back until the throat gular pouch…
February 1, 2006
CaliforniaDesertWildlife

Photo of Desert Bighorn Sheep

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…
November 22, 2005
Islas CoronadoMexicoSea Lion

California Sea Lions, Baja California

Each winter California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) gather in the hundreds on the rock slopes of North Coronado Island, just south of the US/Mexico border. The bottom diving is unremarkable here the remainder of the year, but when the sea lions are gathered in such numbers it is worth making…
March 15, 2005
SharksUnderwater Life

Caribbean Reef Shark Photo

These Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) were photographed a few weeks ago in the northern Bahamas: Caribbean reef shark, ampullae of Lorenzini visible on snout.Image ID: 10550Species: Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus pereziLocation: Bahamas Caribbean reef shark.Image ID: 10549Species: Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus pereziLocation: Bahamas Caribbean reef shark swims over a…
March 4, 2005
BirdsGalapagos DiariesSeabird

Boobie Photos

For some reason many visitors to this web site have been searching for boobie photos. We simply do not understand the intense interest in photos of boobies, or in boobies in general. Boobies are just a bunch of seabirds and not even particularly rare. The blue boobies seem to elicit…
March 2, 2005
Birds

Photos of Atlantic Puffins at Machias Seal Island

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…
February 27, 2005
CaliforniaHarbor SealLa Jolla

Humane Society Sues to Protect Seals

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…
February 26, 2005
Great White SharkGuadalupe IslandMexicoSharks

Smiling Great White Shark

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). Image ID: 10119 Species: Great white shark, Carcharodon carcharias Location: Guadalupe…
February 22, 2005
HawaiiHumpback Whale

Photos of Humpback Whale Pectoral Fin Displays

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…
February 11, 2005
CaliforniaSan DiegoSharksUnderwater Life

Blue Shark Eye to Eye

Blue shark showing ampullae of Lorenzini, eye and small portion of nictitating membrane.Image ID: 01076Species: Blue shark, Prionace glaucaLocation: 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…
February 4, 2005
CaliforniaHarbor SealLa Jolla

Photos of La Jolla Seals

Controversy over the La Jolla seals continues. To make a long story short: a group of Pacific harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) has taken up residence on the sand at the Children's Pool, a small pocket cove in La Jolla, California also known as Casa Cove. Their presence there has led…
February 1, 2005