The wind is a constant companion on Santa Rosa Island, the second largest island in Channel Islands National Park off the California coast. The wind is responsible for much of the start beauty of both Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands in the park. The wind sculpts the sand, sea, and soil.
Read MoreCorrection - Green Barrel Sea Squirt, not a jeweled sponge
Oops. This wasn't a photograph of sponges, but of sea squirts. They belong to a group of animals more closely related to humans than any of the invertebrates species found on Earth.
Read MoreJeweled Sponges
Sponges are likely the most ancient form of multicellular life found on Earth, dating back at least 760 million years ago. Loose colonies of cells, sponges filter microscopic plankton from the water for food.
Read MoreHills of Gold
Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park in California was once the bottom of ancient Furnace Creek Lake. Various geological process contributed to the colorful sediments that are now high, dry and heavily eroded.
Read MoreFijian Sunset
The sun sets over the Somosomo Strait dividing the Fijian islands of Taveuni and Vanua Levu. Fiji was struck by an enormous cyclone last week, and much damage was done. Having visited in 2015, I hope the people there have survived and suffered minimal loss.
Read MoreRolling Prairies
Rolls of hay on the Montana prairie illustrate a basic ecological principle. Natural ecosystems are complex networks of interactions between huge numbers of species. It is all of the species found interacting within an ecosystem that we call biodiversity. A result of these interactions, generally based on flow of food from plants into animals, ecosystems supply important resources and services for all life on Earth.
Read MoreThor's Hammer
Bryce Canyon National Park is known for its fantastical sandstone structures and the impact of light reflecting off of the richly colored surfaces to create a breathtaking effect. I was able to capture this alternative view of Thor’s Hammer in the park’s main amphitheater on cool October afternoon under a sky filled with fluffy white clouds.
Read MoreFully Inflated
The Republic of Fiji in the western tropical Pacific is considered to the soft coral capital of the world. Soft corals can inflate their soft bodies to extend the polyps out into the passing currents to capture plankton. Unlike hard corals, soft corals lack the single celled algae that provide a food source and must depend on food caught by the polyps.
Read MoreMontana Prairie
An abandoned ranch house stands as a lonely sentinel on the prairie near Winifred, Montana. Temperate grasslands like the Great Plains of North America harbor the richest soil on the planet, and play a major role as reservoirs of atmospheric carbon. Once plowed under or over-grazed, this ability is greatly reduced.
Read MoreTiny Predators
Among the most colorful of fish found off the coast of southern California is the Catalina or blue-banded goby (Lythrypnus dalli). These formidable predators feed primarily on planktonic organisms drifting by in the current. Their normal behavior is to sit motionless on an outcrop and watch for organisms drifting by on the current.
Read MoreFinal Resting Place
This pet cemetery at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution had the look and feel of a cemetery for human remains. The white picket fence with peeling paint, the border of dark trees, and the white grave markers could have projected a sense of the macabre, but instead felt like a place of remembrance, solemnity, and love.
Read MoreDelicate Flowers
Strawberry anemones (Corynactis californica), sometimes called club-tipped anemones, are more closely related to stony corals, although they lack a stony skeleton, than they are to true sea anemones. Reproducing asexually through fission, they create dense patches of genetically identical individuals. The bulbous tips of the tentacles make them easy to identify, beyond the fact that if you find one, you’ll find hundreds.
Read MoreAn Icon of Oceanographic Research
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institutions has a rich history of oceanographic research. It all started in 1931 with the Research Vessel (RV) Atlantis, and continues today with the RV Knorr. I was lucky enough to see the Knorr berthed in Woods Hole during a brief visit home between research cruises across the globe.
Read MoreThe Eyes of the Scallop
While we don't usually think of animals like clams as having eyes, the rock scallop (Crassedoma giganteum) is a notable exception. Possessing perhaps a couple of dozen eyes, the scallop can sense changes in the brightness of light, which might signal the approach a predator, prompting it to close its two shells for safety.
Read MoreOn the Beach at Nobska Point Light
Nobska Point Light is located on the southwest-most tip of Cape Cod. It juts out into Vineyard Sound, and overlooks the passage into Buzzards Bay. The light station was originally established in 1826. The current light house tower was built in 1876.
Read MoreDeep Space or Deep Sea?
While diving the oil rigs off the coast of southern California last week, I was struck by the repeating nature of the vertical columns that made up part of the gigantic structure. Gazing down into the darkness of the deep sea, I got the distinct feeling that could have been looking into the void of space through the structure of some sort of a gigantic space ship.
Read MoreGreetings from Oil Rig Elly
While diving with friends on oil rig Elly off the southern California coast, I made acquaintance with this tiny fish with the extreme eyebrows. I found this mussel blenny (Hypsoblennius jenkinsi) living in an empty mussel shell in an angle of the rig structure. We shared the last few minutes of my last dive as it posed for me to take its photo.
Read MoreThe Pacific Flyway
Bird migrations have fascinated human beings since their regularity was noticed by early members of our species. In North America birds typically follow one of four migratory pathways known as the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central and Pacific Flyways. The American wigeon (Anas americana) is one of the most common travelers on the Pacific Flyway. Most breed in Canada and Alaska, and travel as far south as northwestern South America.
Read MoreCalifornia's Oak Savannas
California’s oak savannas are a disappearing part of a once dominate landscape component. Composed of widely spaced oaks surrounded by grasses and herbaceous plants, oak savannas typify what California once was. These lovely landscapes are characteristic of the Mediterranean climate of California. The changes that occur as we transition from cool wet winters to warm dry summers is every bit as lovely the changes of leaves in New England, if you know what to look for.
Read MoreBack to Bears
I've always had a soft spot in my heart for bears. Visiting Kodiak, Alaska in 2005, I got to see the place where my family had lived while my father was stationed there after World War II. These bears are magnificent, and amazingly powerful. I still hope to return to Alaska someday to see them again.
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