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…
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…
Phil CollaNovember 5, 2005
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 tied to her dock along the waterfront of…
Phil CollaNovember 4, 2005
Photos of the San Diego downtown city skyline. 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…
Phil CollaNovember 3, 2005
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…
Phil CollaNovember 2, 2005
My good friend and diving partner Skip Stubbs recently returned from his annual October visit to La Paz. As usual, the focus of the trip was underwater video of the excellent schools of fish that inhabit the reefs in the Sea of Cortez. For those of you who do not…
Phil CollaOctober 24, 2005
While in Seattle this past summer, I made a quick trip to Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill to catch a view of the downtown Seattle City Skyline. I was hoping to get some nice Space Needle photos. When I arrived I was surprised to find 50+ photographers there, at…
Phil CollaOctober 14, 2005
Road Trip: Day 7 Artist Point is a popular and dramatic spot to view Yellowstone Falls. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone lies before you with its steep cliffs and striking yellow-orange-pink colors, the result iron oxidation and sulfur in the soil. The Yellowstone River churns at the bottom of…
Phil CollaSeptember 23, 2005
A wave, breaking with powerful energy, at the Wedge in Newport Beach. Image ID: 16988 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA September swell at the Wedge. Image ID: 14416 Location: The Wedge, Newport Beach, California, USA Wave breaking, tube, Newport Beach. Image ID: 16802 Location: Newport Beach, California, USA…
Phil CollaSeptember 21, 2005
Tenaya Lake lies in the high country of Yosemite National Park, surrounded by enormous granite domes and coniferous forests. Tenaya Lake is surrounded by epic granite domes, with Polly Dome on the left. Late afternoon, viewed from Olmsted Point. Image ID: 09955 Location: Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park, California, USA…
Phil CollaSeptember 19, 2005
Mammoth Peak rises above Tioga Lake and Tuolumne Meadows in the high country of Yosemite National Park. Mammoth Peak and alpine meadows in the High Sierra are reflected in Tioga Lake at sunrise. This spectacular location is just a short walk from the Tioga Pass road. Near Tuolumne Meadows and…
Phil CollaSeptember 18, 2005
Lembert Dome rises above Tuolumne Meadows in the high country of Yosemite National Park. The hike to the summit of Lembert Dome is easy and leads through a forest of trees before emerging on the backside of the dome, and offers expansive view of the entire Tuolumne Meadows from the…
Phil CollaSeptember 17, 2005
Road Trip: Day 6 Yellowstone Falls marks the point at which the Yellowstone River plunges 308 feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It is a spectacular waterfall, one of the highlights Yellowstone National Park. (Actually, there are two falls, Upper Yellowstone Falls and Lower Yellowstone Falls, within a…
Phil CollaSeptember 16, 2005
Road Trip: Day 5 Gibbon Falls, on the Gibbon River between Madison Junction and Norris Geyser Basin, is one of the most stunning waterfalls in Yellowstone National Park. Gibbon Falls marks the point at which the Gibbon River flows off Yellowstone's northern escarpment and drops into the Park's lower volcanic…
Phil CollaSeptember 15, 2005
Road Trip: Day 4 Castle Geyser is, after Old Faithful Geyser, perhaps the most-viewed of the large predictable geysers in Yellowstone National Park. Castle Geyser is a short, easy walk from the Old Faithful Inn, and is well predicted with intervals of about 10 hours. Since Castle Geyser stands in…
Phil CollaSeptember 14, 2005
Road Trip: Day 4 Grand Geyser is one of tallest geysers in the world, and the tallest predictable one. It is amazing, reaching heights of 200' and often erupting simultaneously with Vent Geyser and Turban Geyser, both of which are very near to Grand Geyser and are connected to it…
Phil CollaSeptember 13, 2005
Road Trip: Day 4 Lion Geyser, in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park along the Geyser Hill boardwalk, was a lucky happenstance for me. Lion Geyser, part of the Lion Group which includes a few other geysers, is difficult to observe since it is not one of geysers…
Phil CollaSeptember 12, 2005
Road Trip: Day 3 Riverside Geyser is our favorite geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Riverside Geyser lies right at the edge of the Firehole River. It is a cone-type geyser with a tight, hose-like flow angling out over the river and reaching heights of 80' or more. Low afternoon light…
Phil CollaSeptember 11, 2005
Road Trip: Day 3 Daisy Geyser is one of the most accessible and impressive geysers in Yellowstone National Park. Daisy Geyser is in the Upper Geyser Basin and is reached by an easy paved foot and bike path from the Old Faithful Inn area. The park rangers include Daisy Geyser…
Phil CollaSeptember 10, 2005
Road Trip: Day 3 Pink Cone Geyser lies along Firehole Lake Drive in the Lower Geyser Basin area of Yellowstone National Park, between White Dome Geyser and Firehole Lake, on the left as you drive along. Pink Cone Geyser is a small cone-type geyser whose eruptions, though widely spaced at…
Phil CollaSeptember 9, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 White Dome Geyser lies along Firehole Lake Drive in the Lower Geyser Basin area of Yellowstone National Park. White Dome Geyser is a cone-type geyser whose eruption, through a narrow opening of about 6 inches, reaches heights of 30' (10m). It erupts relatively frequently -- sometimes…
Phil CollaSeptember 8, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park is an enormous and colorful example of thriving thermophilic bacteria. The temperature of the water in Grand Prismatic Spring cools as it moves outward from the spring's center. Different species of thermophilic bacteria occupy different areas of the spring…
Phil CollaSeptember 7, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 Lewis Falls is between the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park and Grant Village, just before Lewis Lake. A short trail ends near the 30-foot falls, but to view the falls from the riverside one must leave the trail and hop down an embankment. Lewis Falls…
Phil CollaSeptember 6, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 Moose Falls is at the southern edge of Yellowstone National Park, just inside the south entrance for visitors arriving from Grand Teton National Park. The falls are just a few yards off the highway, indicated by a small sign and a turnout for parking. They are…
Phil CollaSeptember 4, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 This mother and calf moose pair was spotted walking and grazing among grasses and shrubs along Christian Creek at the north end of Grand Teton National Park. Spending an hour watching them was the highlight of my time in Grand Teton this summer. Mother moose grazes…
Phil CollaSeptember 3, 2005
Road Trip: Day 2 Oxbow Bend is perhaps the most convenient -- and most photographed -- spot in Grand Teton National Park -- and for good reason. It offers a pleasing composition of Mount Moran in the distance with a sweep of the Oxbow Bend section of the Snake River…
Phil CollaSeptember 2, 2005
Road Trip: Day 1 Most attention in Grand Teton National Park is focused on the Tetons themselves and the west side of the park. However, on my most recent trip to the Tetons I took a drive out of Grand Teton National Park and up into the Bridger-Teton National Forest…
Phil CollaAugust 31, 2005
Road Trip: Day 1 The Mormon Row barns are popular with photographers in the southern part of Grand Teton National Park. The conventional wisdom is to shoot this area in the morning, with warm light on the barns and low, front light on the Tetons in the background. However, I've…
Phil CollaAugust 30, 2005
Road Trip: Day 1 Schwabacher's Landing, in the southern part of Grand Teton National Park, is a great spot for morning photographs of the Cathedral Group (Grand Teton and Mounts Owen and Teewinot) reflected in a sidewater of the Snake River. Driving north from Jackson on the Jackson Hole Highway,…
Phil CollaAugust 29, 2005
Just returned from a three week road trip. It was amazing. We had lots of fun and shot thousands of photos. It will take several weeks before I get the images organized and available online, so for now some summary statistics of the trip will have to suffice: 21 days…
Phil CollaAugust 2, 2005
Humpback whales are famous for their use of bubbles to "net" prey, especially in Alaska where coordinated bubble netting among groups of humpback whales is often seen. However, humpbacks also commonly use bubble displays and air releases in their social interactions in warm waters. It is thought the these bubble…
Phil CollaJune 23, 2005
The Galapagos Islands, an Ecuadorian archipelago straddling the equator in the Eastern Pacific, is a remarkable underwater paradise. The central and southern islands hold a wealth of temperate as well as tropical marine creatures due to the mixing of currents there. However, it is the northern islands of Darwin and…
Phil CollaJune 22, 2005
Continued from Part I You see, mahi, as open water fish are prone to do, seek cover underneath and beside any floating object that they can find. This mahi is no exception. He has seen manfish before, swimming gracefully below the surface and sporting deadly appendages that send out flashing…
Phil CollaJune 14, 2005
REVENGE OF THE MAHI, or, The Hapless Research Videographer Perhaps their reputation is unjustified. I know of no documented case where a human has been attacked by one. Nevertheless, false killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) are intimidating creatures. Have a false killer swim up to you and smile, displaying its many…
Phil CollaJune 13, 2005
When the goal is simply to swim in and admire a kelp forest, nothing beats the (relatively) warm clear waters of Southern California's San Clemente Island in late summer. On a good day the panorama at San Clemente is stunning: kelp in all directions reaching from seafloor to surface, summer…
Phil CollaJune 12, 2005
Further to the south, Santa Barbara and Catalina Island kelp forests offer somewhat less profuse animal life but warmer and clearer waters. While I don't dive these two islands often anymore, I do dive kelp originating from these islands throughout the summer: drift kelp. I was introduced to the notion…
Phil CollaJune 11, 2005
Central and Northern California kelp forests are bathed by cold, nutrient-laden currents. The waters here are generally not clear but are rich with animal life. Invertebrate displays on the rocks below the kelp forest are some of the most profuse and interesting in the world and it is common to…
Phil CollaJune 10, 2005
It is my spirited opinion, one that I enjoy defending over a beer after a long day on the water, that diving amidst giant kelp is the most magnificent diving in the world. I am fortunate enough to have had some amazing experiences underwater -- watching swarms of hammerheads soar…
Phil CollaJune 9, 2005
My first experience with seaweed was as a kid combing the shores of Newport Beach where I grew up. After storms my brother and I would find clumps of the brown stuff pushed up the beach. We would pick through them to pop the small bubbles attached to the leaves.…
Phil CollaJune 8, 2005
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