We hooked up with Mike Abdow aboard F/V Magic to head off shore in search of Bluefin tuna. Absolutely fine weather. Even though the fishing was a bit slow we managed to really enjoy what nature provided and brought home dinner.
Atlantic White sided Dolphin
Least Sandpiper, a bit off course, takes a rest about 30 miles off shore
Nice Dinner Prospects
These are from the backyard birding efforts of the last few days. We have a young family of Ruby Throated Hummingbirds including a tender young bird. They are seen routinely bombing around our garden and this time of year they are frequenting the blooms of Rose-of-sharon. Very hard to get to stay in one place for a photograph but managed a couple of decent images on a stormy day this week.
The Baby
All of you fans of Chatham’s white sharks and such…do not miss the opening of Shark Week tomorrow evening (August 12) with some spectacular footage facilitated by our good friends Chris & Monique Fallows in South Africa.
See Chris of Apex Shark Expeditions setting up for the most amazing shot ever attempted in the “close encounter” files YIKES!!
Seal Island - Air JAWS
It’s just a few days to go for Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week and this year will be the 25th Anniversary.
Emmy nominated ULTIMATE AIR JAWS and AIR JAWS APOCALYPSE were both facilitated by Apex Shark Expeditions and will be kicking off Shark Week this year.
Also catch Chris Fallows on HOW JAWS CHANGED THE WORLD.
These humpbacks are so incredible. Here are a few images that we recorded that show these whales from some different points of view. I am afraid we just can not get enough of these beautiful creatures.
Battle Scars
NEW from Schiffer Publishing - August 2012
We are very pleased to announce the release of our first book, Wild Cape Cod, Free by Nature published by Schiffer Books, Atglen, PA – USA. It is available from the usual “on line” channels and if you live on or near Cape Cod, the book should be available in bookstores everywhere. If not please ask for it.
Pam and John will be donating profits from the sale of this work to charities that support the preservation and conservation of the wild world especially near our home on Cape Cod. We are very grateful to Tim Vorhees for allowing several of his wonderful aerial images of whales to be included and to Tracy Anderson whose creativity was critical to designing and compiling the final product.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are finally managing to secure some quality time offshore. Our friends the Gulf of Maine humpback whales are feeding voraciously in the waters off Chatham. It is also now wonderful to see mother and calf combinations with young whales that were likely born this year or last on the Silver Bank off the Dominican Republic.
This series was taken near the Monomoy shark alley area frequented by the areas white shark researchers.
Let the feast begin..
Lucky capture of a seal taking on the tough duty of devouring a skate. But the most interesting part of this image is that it was taken dead smack in the middle of shark alley about 1/4 mile offshore. We watched this lone seal making a ruckus and obviously not paying attention for a few minutes secretly hoping that certain elements higher up on the food chain might suddenly appear.
White Shark strike leaves this grey seal mortally wounded on North Beach Is
Hanging out on the edge of "Shark Cove" Monomoy
Wilson Storm Petrels ever alert for the spoils of war
Photo Credit: Cape Cod Times
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120801/NEWS/208010312
http://www.capecodsharkhunters.com/Shark-Sighting-Report.html
Massachusetts Shark expert Dr. Greg Skomal has confirmed that a body surfer was bitten by a white shark off the Ballston Beach in Truro while swimming on Monday. This is the first confirmed shark attack on a human in the state since 1936. It seems certain that there will be more since surfers, wind surfers and other thrill seekers are intent upon swimming in the presence of grey seals here.
Here is an image we took on Monday in Chatham of a grey seal that sustained similar injuries and is not likely to survive.
Grey Seal post likely shark attack. North Beach Island