Sunsets

Why do sunsets always give us such a good feeling?

As a photographer, it's a great time of day. The light is at its softest, shadows are darker and more dramatic and everyone loves a sunset photo, right? It can be a bit tricky though, the light from the sun will throw off the settings on your camera so sometimes all you see is the light from the setting sun and the details from other parts of the scene can be lost.

I've noticed that most new quick shoot cameras (those small one's that can fit in a shirt pocket or your small purse) have a sunset setting which will help with this issue. Or if you have a camera like mine that let's you configure your settings manually, you can play with the aperture and shutter to try and get different effects.

The pictures I'm including here are from the end of my day yesterday. There is a state park near me called Deception Pass Park. A large metal trestle bridge is the main focal point in this area, along with the amazing vistas. I drove through the park down to the beach area to get a shot from the shore. Fisherman (and one woman) were trying their best to catch the salmon that live in these waters. Though while I was there no one got lucky. What impressed me about this waterway is how fast the current runs, the water almost looks like a whirlpool in spots where current criss crosses itself. I wasn't brave enough to put my feet in at that point but I heard one small boy exclaim "that's cold!". I took his word for it.

There be Orcas!

Friday, September 4, 2009 was a good day. I got to spend it on an Orca Whale Watch out of Anacortes, WA (if you look for this on a map, find Seattle and look North West from there along the coast). It was a very good day.

About an hour into the cruise we came across a pod of 25 Orcas of all sizes; large males, females and three calves. One large male is known as “Ruffles” for the ruffled appearance of his dorsal fin. He was traveling with a female Orca named “Granny” who is actually his mother and she is estimated to be 98 years old! They have confirmed sightings of this particular Orca in these waters back to 1911. Can you imagine? Really, how cool is that? I wonder about their pod dynamics based on the fact that a 98 year old Orca was leading them. She seemed to be setting the pace, so (and this is totally my theory, no scientific backing here) maybe out of respect for her they let her set the speed knowing she might not be able to go as fast? I asked this question of the naturalist on board and she said she wasn’t sure but anything was possible with these complex mammals. As much as they know about Orcas, there is still more to learn.

What I learned was a lot. Orcas are part of the dolphin family and there are several types of Orcas. The ones we saw today stay in pods their entire lives and are known as “Resident Orcas” and researchers consider them a matriarchal society. At breeding times, they look to breed within other pods but then the calves stay with the mothers or their original pods their entire life. Female Orcas are pregnant for 18 months and the calves feed from them for 8 to 9 months before being able to eat independently. But what I found even more interesting is that there are “Transient Orcas”, one of the guides on the boat likened them to “wolf packs”. They are the aggressive ones you see in National Geographic specials tossing poor little seals around (and I would guess this is where the term “Killer Whale” started) vs. the ones I saw today that primarily eat the salmon and squid that live in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. The Transient Orcas will not attack their own kind but have been known to attack other whale types and smaller dolphins. Then there are the “Offshore Orcas”, not much is known about them because they live so deep out in the oceans they are hard to find and harder to study.

Bottom line, it was so much fun to see them within 100 yards of the boat and to hear their breath puff out over and over as they surfaced and dove, surfaced and dove. It was surprising too how quick and steady their pace is as they move through the water. I heard the ship’s Captain say they’ve used speed radar to measure the Orcas speed and they can go as fast as 30 to 40 mph.

I included a few pictures here but go to this link for the full gallery.

And if you are ever anywhere close to this area during Orca season--go on an Orca Watch!