I was surprised to see this Mercedes SUV navigating over sensitive tidelands habitat in the Des Moines area of Washington. I looked it up and found that it is, in fact, legal for residents of this area. As a transplanted Californian, I was told a few times to stay off the tidelands, low or high…
Getting to Know Seattle (Again)
Hugh and I lived here for a time more than 20 eons ago, so we decided it was time to renew our acquaintance with the emerald north.
Stormy Beach People
I’m a perfect fit with Northern California, loving the storm-whipped ocean as I do. From the shoreline, that is. Keeping my eye on that 7th wave. Wrapped in layers. Wishing I could still operate my camera while wearing gloves. Keeping the UV filter on for the saline mist. Loving every second of this El-Niño-driven swell….
A Mackerel Sky
We went to the Pacific to grab lunch at Nick’s and couldn’t have anticipated the prismatic cycles of yesterday’s sky. At first a mackerel sky, then buttery, then illuminated by flame. Here’s a reasonable representation of our afternoon under the clouds.
The Art in Bull Kelp
I never appreciated kelp until, 1) I first saw this particular monster of a kelp, and 2) I saw close-ups of kelp shot by better nature photographers than I — capturing the golden palette of this gargantuan plant.
Encounters With [the Elusive] California Beach Hopper
California Beach Hopper or Megalorchestia californiana As fleas go, they’re giants. Not giants in the sense of Bikini-Atoll-nuclear-mutant-gone-bad giants. But by flea standards, they’re positively huge — about 1 inch long. That’s probably because they’re not parasitic dog or cat fleas, but rather, amphipods — shrimp-like creatures who dine on organic matter at the outer…
Marine Mammal Viewing — From a Distance
Hugh and I had another wildlife harassment incident this past week with a family on the Mendocino coast. We hiked over an unpopulated bluff and saw a mom and kids chasing a young sea lion across the rocks for a photo op. Their actions were forcing the young animal away from her resting spot, as…
Splendor in the Low Tide
An homage to Warren and Natalie — in title alone. There’s photographic magic in the sun rising over a super-low tide. At the point where dawn meets a -2.0, the strange, the stunning, the predictable and the chaotic all converge on that plane of tide pools, mudflats, and beach hopper burrows. One of my favorite…
