Today was my best whale-watching day so far! But it was completely unexpected.
On the one hand, the gray whale migration is a remarkably orderly affair. Each season has 4 distinct phases. Phase 1: all the whales swim south to Mexico. Phase 2: a lull in the migration while the whales are busy creating (breeding) and producing (giving birth to) new whales in the Mexican lagoons. Phase 3: the males and juveniles swim back north to Alaska. Phase 4: the females and newborn calves swim back north to Alaska. The females stay in Mexico longer to allow the calves to grow bigger and strong enough for the long journey home. If you follow the gray whale sightings reported by the American Cetacean Society (ACS) each day, it is striking to see that nearly 100% of the whales follow the rules. (Of course, there is the occasional whale who swims in the "wrong" direction, but this is extremely rare.)
On the other hand, on a daily basis you never know what you're going to see. On 2 of my last 3 trips to Palos Verdes, I saw no whales at all, partly due to uncooperative weather conditions and partly due to the fact that the whales were just beginning Phase 3. As I tracked the ACS web site the next week, I noticed the numbers increasing to nearly 20 whales a day - a sure sign that Phase 3 was now in full swing. And then I couldn't believe my eyes one day when the web site reported that 45 whales had been seen that day! Yes, forty-five whales in one day!!! With visions of cetaceans dancing in my head, I excitedly drove down to Palos Verdes the next morning with high hopes of seeing a lot of whales. But alas, I saw just a few whales that day, and even those weren't good sightings. Mostly I just saw small blows from a few low-profile whales (i.e., their backs barely broke the water line), and some were quite far away. Very disappointing.
Today, I almost didn't go whale-watching because the weather was hazy and ACS was reporting that the whale traffic had slowed considerably during the past week to just 5-6 whales per day (perhaps entering the mini-lull period between Phases 3 and 4?). But being the addict that I am, I needed my weekly whale fix, so I went anyway. And lo and behold, I saw EIGHT (8) whales! But more important than the number, they were great sightings. Several whales fluked repeatedly, and close to shore, and I saw 3 different pairs of whales traveling together. Seeing 2 whales traveling together is exhilarating. First there's the thrill of discovering that you're seeing 2 whales when you were plenty happy to see just one. Second is the magical and majestic sight of watching two whales swimming side by side. In an instant, two shiny, enormous gray/black bodies rise out of the water just a few feet apart, parallel to each other. And if you're really lucky, as I was today, both whales surface at the same time and spout simultaneously. And if you're extra lucky, as I was today, both whales dive back down at the same time and fluke simultaneously. At one point, we were tracking 5 whales at once: 2 different pairs and a solo whale were all blowing in a round-robin fashion in different parts of the ocean. Seeing multiple whales at the same time, and especially whales traveling together, is a different experience from seeing solo whales pass by occasionally. The ocean seems so vibrant, so joyful, so alive.
And to think, I almost didn't go whale-watching today...
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Dinosaurs in Santa Monica
I may be the least observant person on the planet. When I'm trying to be observant (e.g., whale watching!), then I do just fine. But when I'm not actively looking for something, I could walk right past an alien spaceship with blinking neon lights and not notice it.
Case in point: I've walked around Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade several times before, but only this past weekend did I finally notice the gigantic dinosaur topiaries in the middle of the promenade. One is a friendly-looking dinosaur, and the other is a toothy TRex-like dinosaur. Very cool!
Failing to notice giant topiaries is par for the course for me, but failing to notice giant reptilian topiaries is worrying! Maybe I've been getting too much sun lately... :)
Case in point: I've walked around Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade several times before, but only this past weekend did I finally notice the gigantic dinosaur topiaries in the middle of the promenade. One is a friendly-looking dinosaur, and the other is a toothy TRex-like dinosaur. Very cool!
Failing to notice giant topiaries is par for the course for me, but failing to notice giant reptilian topiaries is worrying! Maybe I've been getting too much sun lately... :)
Tidepooling
I've been eager to try my hand at tidepooling, so I drove to Malibu to follow up on a tip that there are some easily accessible tide pools near the Malibu Pier. Tide pools exist in areas along the beach that have rocky outcrops where the waves continuously flow over and then recede from the rocks. The pockets between the rocks remain filled with water even when the tide is out, and these tide pools are often teeming with life. During periods of low tide, curious landlubbers like me can walk along the beach and search for marine life in the pools between the rocks. I'd heard that it's possible to see starfish, sea urchins, sea anemone, and even an occasional octopus!
Due to a profound lack of planning, I went during a period of high tide and most of the rocks were underwater and inaccessible, but even so I managed to find a few creatures! I discovered several sea urchins, including this sea urchin sitting in a clam shell, and I think I found a sea anemone (the larger creature on the left side of the photo - on the right side is another sea urchin). And I saw 2 crabs scuttle by (too quickly for me to snap a photo) - one was a medium-sized red crab and the other was a small hermit crab (I think). Along the path to the tide pools, I saw a stunningly beautiful hummingbird, who was kind enough to stay still for a photo session. Unfortunately, though, his beauty didn't come across on camera. His feathers were gray and black, but in direct sunlight his neck shimmered a sparkly red and his belly shimmered an iridescent green. There were also a ton of white birds, which I think are egrets, along the Malibu beach. And, of course, surfers.
More tidepooling is definitely in my future!
Due to a profound lack of planning, I went during a period of high tide and most of the rocks were underwater and inaccessible, but even so I managed to find a few creatures! I discovered several sea urchins, including this sea urchin sitting in a clam shell, and I think I found a sea anemone (the larger creature on the left side of the photo - on the right side is another sea urchin). And I saw 2 crabs scuttle by (too quickly for me to snap a photo) - one was a medium-sized red crab and the other was a small hermit crab (I think). Along the path to the tide pools, I saw a stunningly beautiful hummingbird, who was kind enough to stay still for a photo session. Unfortunately, though, his beauty didn't come across on camera. His feathers were gray and black, but in direct sunlight his neck shimmered a sparkly red and his belly shimmered an iridescent green. There were also a ton of white birds, which I think are egrets, along the Malibu beach. And, of course, surfers.
More tidepooling is definitely in my future!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Lobster
Went for a casual stroll on the Venice Pier today and saw a fisherman catch a lobster! He carefully grabbed it with a cloth and held it up for a second while I hurriedly snapped a close-up. Who knew that lobsters lived in Los Angeles! After a quick web search, I'm guessing it was a California spiny lobster.
In other news, yesterday's gray whale count was ~6-7 whales. I saw 2 whales fluke (one was a nearly perfect fluke!), but mostly I just saw lots of blows and backs. And as a bonus, I also had the coolest bottlenose dolphin sighting to date. For no apparent reason, 3 dolphins simultaneously rocketed vertically out of the water, really high, as if they were trying to touch the sky. I mean, they jumped way out of the water, incredibly high! Very cool.
(My second best bottlenose dolphin sighting was just last week at the local beach where I saw a pod of dolphin playing in the surf. Two dolphins let a wave carry them toward the beach, so I saw a wave break with two perfect dolphin silhouettes coming straight toward me. And another dolphin flipped upside down and displayed his tail high in the air.)
In other news, yesterday's gray whale count was ~6-7 whales. I saw 2 whales fluke (one was a nearly perfect fluke!), but mostly I just saw lots of blows and backs. And as a bonus, I also had the coolest bottlenose dolphin sighting to date. For no apparent reason, 3 dolphins simultaneously rocketed vertically out of the water, really high, as if they were trying to touch the sky. I mean, they jumped way out of the water, incredibly high! Very cool.
(My second best bottlenose dolphin sighting was just last week at the local beach where I saw a pod of dolphin playing in the surf. Two dolphins let a wave carry them toward the beach, so I saw a wave break with two perfect dolphin silhouettes coming straight toward me. And another dolphin flipped upside down and displayed his tail high in the air.)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Redondo Beach
The whale-watching was slow on a recent visit to Palos Verdes, so I left early and decided to check out Redondo Beach on my way home. King Harbor is the home of the Redondo Beach Pier, which is a grand, semi-circular pier that has many stores, restaurants, and even an arcade with skee-ball! (I also discovered skee-ball at the famous Santa Monica Pier, so I've been busily honing my long-dormant but not-forgotten skee-ball skills. :)
I really like the Redondo Beach Pier because it feels more down-to-earth than many of the other LA beach spots (i.e., not as touristy or "upscale"). Lots of seemingly local, blue-collar folks, families with kids, etc. On the lower level, I discovered a store (gotta love their sign!) that sells a staggering variety of live seafood items. The store had row after row of salt water tanks filled with all sorts of odd creatures that (apparently) people buy for food. They had a zillion kinds of oysters and clams, as well as many other types of unusual shellfish and mollusks, some of which I had no idea that people ate! (Well, people who aren't stranded on a desert island...)
Pictures are here.
I really like the Redondo Beach Pier because it feels more down-to-earth than many of the other LA beach spots (i.e., not as touristy or "upscale"). Lots of seemingly local, blue-collar folks, families with kids, etc. On the lower level, I discovered a store (gotta love their sign!) that sells a staggering variety of live seafood items. The store had row after row of salt water tanks filled with all sorts of odd creatures that (apparently) people buy for food. They had a zillion kinds of oysters and clams, as well as many other types of unusual shellfish and mollusks, some of which I had no idea that people ate! (Well, people who aren't stranded on a desert island...)
Pictures are here.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Retreating to Lake Arrowhead
I spent two days this week at the ISI/ISD (Intelligent Systems Division) annual retreat, which was held at The Lake Arrowhead Resort in the San Bernardino Mountains, about two hours east of LA. Unfortunately, the weather was awful -- dense fog, rain, and even hail at times. (Did I mention it was foggy? Driving up and down the mountain was extremely challenging because the fog was so thick that you could see only a few inches in front of your car on a relentlessly winding mountain road. Due to the elevation, it was literally driving through the clouds.) Consequently, I didn't explore the area at all, but it is obviously a beautiful place.
The ISI retreat was an incredibly civilized affair. This is in stark contrast to our faculty retreats at the Univ. of Utah, which are a form of torture that should be banned by the Geneva Convention. At Utah, the faculty are sequestered in a local meeting room and subjected to an endless series of mind-numbingly boring and content-free Powerpoint presentations. Except for the occasional mental jolt provided by one faculty member brazenly insulting another, these meetings could induce a coma in an otherwise healthy person. But I digress...
At ISI, the retreat spans two days, and faculty, staff, and students all attend with expenses paid by the institute. The event consists of a series of high-level research presentations, tutorials on specific topics, question & answer sessions with project leaders and the division directors, and social events. The retreat serves many purposes, including educating everyone about the work currently going on throughout the division, exposing students to a wide swath of AI research, encouraging collaborations across research groups, and supporting collegiality and morale. I was impressed ... every institution should do this kind of thing!
The ISI retreat was an incredibly civilized affair. This is in stark contrast to our faculty retreats at the Univ. of Utah, which are a form of torture that should be banned by the Geneva Convention. At Utah, the faculty are sequestered in a local meeting room and subjected to an endless series of mind-numbingly boring and content-free Powerpoint presentations. Except for the occasional mental jolt provided by one faculty member brazenly insulting another, these meetings could induce a coma in an otherwise healthy person. But I digress...
At ISI, the retreat spans two days, and faculty, staff, and students all attend with expenses paid by the institute. The event consists of a series of high-level research presentations, tutorials on specific topics, question & answer sessions with project leaders and the division directors, and social events. The retreat serves many purposes, including educating everyone about the work currently going on throughout the division, exposing students to a wide swath of AI research, encouraging collaborations across research groups, and supporting collegiality and morale. I was impressed ... every institution should do this kind of thing!
Sunday, February 3, 2008
What a Fluke!
There's no denying it. I am in the midst of a full-blown obsession. I have long been fascinated by the ocean and marine mammals, and one of my deepest frustrations has been that I can't travel on boats without getting terribly seasick. So it would be impossible to overstate how liberating and thrilling it is to have discovered a place where I can see whales from land. And this magical place is just a short drive away. Any day, any time, I can go see whales. A fantasy come true.
Since whale-watching season is relatively short (roughly January-March), I've decided to indulge my obsession and go whale-watching as often as I can. About 2 weeks ago, I drove north past Malibu to visit Point Dume, which is another recommended whale-watching spot. It's a beautiful place that juts out over the ocean, and there's a short trail to the top of a hill which affords a spectacular view of the Pacific. I saw sea lions and dolphins, but alas, no whales. I'm glad I visited, but parking was horrific and Palos Verdes has at least as good a view, so I doubt I'll return to Point Dume.
Yesterday, I went whale-watching again (see "obsession" above) back at beautiful Palos Verdes. The other huge benefit of Palos Verdes is that the "official" whale watchers from the American Cetacean Society are there. Having many well-trained eyes scanning the vast ocean and broadcasting the exact location of every blow or hint of whale activity is enormously helpful. On this day, I saw 4-5 gray whales. For 2 of them, I got a great view of their backs and flukes. I also saw the back of a third whale, and saw the blows from 1-2 additional whales but no bodies. And I learned a new factoid: a whale's heart is the size of a Volkswagon Beetle. Wow.
This day was about as good as it gets because there was nearly constant whale activity for the entire time (3 hours) that I was there. However, "constant" is a relative term. Mostly you just see blows, and often they are 5+ minutes apart. So there's a whole lot of waiting and guessing as to where the next blow will be. Seeing whales is an exercise in patience and also an art. I'm getting better at identifying blows, which are typically short and dispersed for gray whales, so not as easy to spot as you might think. I even managed to find one whale before the official observers saw it, which earned me some valuable "street cred". :) One of the observers later gave me a lesson on how to identify "prints". Although whales regularly come to the surface to breathe, their bodies aren't always visible above the water. When whales dive back down, however, their large bodies often leave behind smooth, circular patches of water. These are called "prints" and trained observers use them to verify that a blow was indeed from a whale (and not, say, a dolphin or splash from something else) and also to help track the whale's movements underwater. Following the prints can help ascertain the direction that the whale is heading and how fast it is moving, so you have a better idea of where the next blow will come from.
The observers continuously update a board with the number of official sightings, and on this day the observers who had been there from dawn to dusk saw a total of 19 whales! Another reason why it's nice to hang out with the whale observers is that it's reassuring to know that there are people who are even more whale-obsessed then me. :)
Since whale-watching season is relatively short (roughly January-March), I've decided to indulge my obsession and go whale-watching as often as I can. About 2 weeks ago, I drove north past Malibu to visit Point Dume, which is another recommended whale-watching spot. It's a beautiful place that juts out over the ocean, and there's a short trail to the top of a hill which affords a spectacular view of the Pacific. I saw sea lions and dolphins, but alas, no whales. I'm glad I visited, but parking was horrific and Palos Verdes has at least as good a view, so I doubt I'll return to Point Dume.
Yesterday, I went whale-watching again (see "obsession" above) back at beautiful Palos Verdes. The other huge benefit of Palos Verdes is that the "official" whale watchers from the American Cetacean Society are there. Having many well-trained eyes scanning the vast ocean and broadcasting the exact location of every blow or hint of whale activity is enormously helpful. On this day, I saw 4-5 gray whales. For 2 of them, I got a great view of their backs and flukes. I also saw the back of a third whale, and saw the blows from 1-2 additional whales but no bodies. And I learned a new factoid: a whale's heart is the size of a Volkswagon Beetle. Wow.
This day was about as good as it gets because there was nearly constant whale activity for the entire time (3 hours) that I was there. However, "constant" is a relative term. Mostly you just see blows, and often they are 5+ minutes apart. So there's a whole lot of waiting and guessing as to where the next blow will be. Seeing whales is an exercise in patience and also an art. I'm getting better at identifying blows, which are typically short and dispersed for gray whales, so not as easy to spot as you might think. I even managed to find one whale before the official observers saw it, which earned me some valuable "street cred". :) One of the observers later gave me a lesson on how to identify "prints". Although whales regularly come to the surface to breathe, their bodies aren't always visible above the water. When whales dive back down, however, their large bodies often leave behind smooth, circular patches of water. These are called "prints" and trained observers use them to verify that a blow was indeed from a whale (and not, say, a dolphin or splash from something else) and also to help track the whale's movements underwater. Following the prints can help ascertain the direction that the whale is heading and how fast it is moving, so you have a better idea of where the next blow will come from.
The observers continuously update a board with the number of official sightings, and on this day the observers who had been there from dawn to dusk saw a total of 19 whales! Another reason why it's nice to hang out with the whale observers is that it's reassuring to know that there are people who are even more whale-obsessed then me. :)
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