Just had to share a few more recent images. Really wonderful to see this windswept landscape come back to life now that May is here.

Reflections

Barrier Dunes in Truro

Wild Cherry

Chipping Sparrow

After a recording breaking warm month of April the weather patterns have turned back to a more normal pattern and the weather has become seasonably cooler. After several days of easterly gales and a cold front passing through the sun broke out today in all its glory. We decided to take a trip up to the Forests of the Lower Cape near PTown to see what has “dropped” in on the northern migration flyway this year so far. The butterfly below is a migrant (vanessa atalanta) which is a less frequent visitor to the outer cape.

Greater Yellowlegs on the morning hunt

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Red Winged blackbird drinks

Morning Light

Male Towhee singing!

Nashville Warbler

Black and White Warbler

Black and White Warbler

Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)

Red Admiral Butterfly (Vanessa atalanta)

Bay Breatsted Warbler

Chatham Light in Spring

Fin Whale - Race Point

Race Point - in Spring

Northern Right Whales - Race Point

Fin Whale – Race Point

Butterfly - "Question Mark"

Spring normally comes late to this part of the world. We on Outer Cape Cod are shackled to the slowly warming ocean on our shores and this keeps the ambient air temperatures lower than the mainland. Everything is later. That said -  2012 spring following our very mild winter is off to a warmer than usual start. Many signs of spring are  apparent.

Northern Right Whales at Race Point

Minke Whale at Race Point

Eastern Coyote in North Chatham

Race Point in Spring

Swimming with whales is the thrill of a lifetime. The Silver Bank is truly one of the few places you can do this anywhere in the world. I bet just watching someone who is swimming with a 40 foot 20 ton mother humpback whale and her new calf will give YOU goosebumps! Check out these two clips shot by fellow traveler Mike Morelli from Seattle. Might take a minute to load.

Mother and calf encounter #1

Mother and calf encounter #2

The Silver Bank is a very special place where one can observe the interaction between mothers and new born calves in an environment that the whales consider safe and are therefore relatively relaxed. No predators present. Tom Conlin and his team have so much time with these animals that they are able to “read” behavior of mother calf pairs and get observers in the midst of animals that are comfortable and often curious. Technique in approaching these interactions quietly is very key in being able to witness whale behavior at close range. These whales are so big you have to adjust your “comfort” zone to accept close encounters of these creatures without freaking out. It is an unforgettable experience to decode the mystery of what happens to a whale once they blow and slip below the surface. Truly magical!

Here are some more images:

Denise was a cool whale wrangler! She really knew her stuff.

This expedition brought us to the warm Caribbean waters off the north coast of the island of Hispaniola to the gentle nursery waters of the Silver Bank. Named for Spanish galleon treasures lost in 16th and 17th century storms – this area was long before New World colonial times, the winter destination of 6 – 8,000 North Atlantic Humpback whales who arrive each year to birth and nurture new calf’s and to cavort and mate to perpetuate the species. We worked with Humpback whale zen master Tom Conlin and his team, who have been active for Humpback conservation for more than 22 years and make a business out of showing photographers and thrill seekers, like us, this unique look into the natural world..

As many have heard, the ancient Mayan calendar was constructed and interpreted by ancient astronomers more than 5000 years ago. It all runs out on the winter solstice, December 21st, 2012. We decided to look and see for ourselves what this might mean to the world and check out a beautiful corner of Central America in the process. Belize is a beautiful and wild country with over 40% of the country under protection as forest or park. We visited the site of a Mayan City of 40,000 inhabitants that slipped into decay and history more than 1000 years ago. The site of La Milpa now is a sanctuary for the wilderness birds and animals as well as 300 year old mahogany trees, ferns and butterflies. Situated close to both Mexico and Guatemala Parks this area of Central America is home to the largest parcel of protected forest land in the Western Hemisphere north of the Amazon. An admirable example for other conservation minded countries and regions the local citizens are fiercely protecting their land and resources even while geologists are exploring the region for oil.

Macaws in the Forest

Many years ago Pam and I dreamed about spending time on a boat chasing wildlife in a wild place that was not in the middle of the Bering Sea. When at last this dream became a reality here in Chatham …we decided to call our small expedition craft Aleutian Dream. 

A word about the totem symbol on the bow.  This spirit symbol has been with us for more than thirty years throughout our many adventures. It is a Pacific Northwest Coast Indian (Tlingit) spirit totem called Sisioohl or as the kwakwaka’wakw refered to it, Sisiutl.  The literal translation is “Magic Salmon”. The spirit represents some “heavy magic”. Central to the themes of warrior, power, strength and invulnerability, the Sisioohl was a dangerous creature, capable of bringing harm or death to anyone coming upon it. In the myths it guarded the house of the sky people. For those with warrior power the Sisioohl became a great help – a drop of Sisioohl blood could cause a warrior’s skin to be impenetrable.  The spirit would come to the warrior on command and its body could act as a self prepared canoe to make the warrior invincible in war. The skin of the Sisioohl made into a belt  allowed the warrior who was wearing it to perform superhuman feats. This Sisioohl eyes could even be used as sling stones and were so powerful they could even kill Whales!!

Alternatively, the glare of this three headed serpent could cause a man to die, his joints turned backward, and it could cause an enemy who looked upon it to turn to stone. Fortunately, over the years we have partnered successfully with this spirit to do some amazing things and happily we are still alive and mostly in one piece…though a few times we pushed our luck a bit.

Our recent collaboration with African Wildlife Foundation has been picked up by the international press and in the process launched a resurgence in viewing of our Mountain Gorilla December encounter. Since the encounter was posted to YouTube on December 17 combined views have been mind blowing and will hit 4,000,000 views in just a couple of days. This does not count the many re-postings to other sites around the world that we cannot easily track. Among many stories – two catalyzed a lot of interest.
Der Spiegel, German weekly news magazine  (featured story in German) published January 16.

Der Spiegel – Tarzan’s Grandson (open with Adobe Reader)

Reuters Science posted Gorillas in our midst – one-off encounter, a boon for conservation efforts

http://www.reuters.com/video/2012/01/24/gorillas-in-our-midst-one-off-jungle-enc?videoId=229048436&videoChannel=74

COMING UP: Japan: NHK TV will air a program on viral videos of 2011 and feature our Mountain Gorilla encounter on February 5. If you are in Japan please tune in and let us now how it went. We were interviewed via Skype.