It's been an incredible summer for whales in Kachemak Bay. They've appeared to have left the Bay now, but just a week or so ago we saw probably 100 humpback whales feeding on the way over to the cabin.
From Eldred Passage, all the way down the south side of the Bay to Seldovia, spouts, breaching, and soundings were happening. Here's a taste of what we saw... A mere month later, that smack of jellyfish fish has grown just a little! What were 3-inch jellies have doubled in size. Ruth and I were fishing in Tutka Bay a few days ago and found this smack in the same place as the one in August. All flora and fauna are reproducing here in Kachemak Bay. This time of year we see everything from bull kelp to sea otters (and "mega fauna") in abundance. This year, in particular, there have been a lot of humpback whales in the Bay, probably because the schools of sand lance and other small bait fish have exploded. Seeing several pods of whales on the way to, and from, the cabin in Little Tutka Bay is not uncommon. I was traveling with lodge guests last week and we came upon an area of lighter-colored water that was about 50 x 200 feet long. Usually that means shallow water, but my sonar said our depth was 150+ feet. Curious, I slowly motored over to it and found a "smack" of small jellyfish, about 3-inches in diameter. Also known as a swarm or bloom, there must have been a half million "jellies" in this congregation. I leaned over the bow rail and grabbed a photo. That's my reflection on the water that you see as I peer in the depths of jellyfish. Amazing. New from Far North Press, my father's WWII diary on Kindle. This is the memoir he and I produced about 10 years ago. It's a transcription of the diary he kept when he enlisted in the US Army and was sent overseas to take part in the Invasion of Normandy.
I think it's a great, thoughtful read (but I'm biased). He has a remarkably good way of describing the people, places, and events he witnessed. The book is about 140 pages, large type, with photographs of him during the time period, and also photos he took during his service. There's a photo talked about among my Facebook friends that has reminded people of the best photograph I ever took. The image that's being talked about is this one of a little frog peering from the mouth of a fish that's just gulped it up. Photographer Angus James took it while fishing and saw the little frog when he pulled the hook out of the fish's mouth. Very cool photo. My shot below is the image people are comparing it to. Shot for the Anchorage Daily News it is the final image in my book "Snap Decisions: My Thirty Years as an Alaska Newspaper Photographer. You can buy the book here (I can personalize it), or from Amazon. In the book, here's what I said about the image. "The coolest thing about this photo is that it is what photographers call an “original image”— one that no photographer has ever taken before. You can go a whole career in photography and never get one. To make a photo like this so late in my career left me feeling my years of hard work had finally paid off." This is what my photo looked like when it was published in Sports Illustrated in 2004. |
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