Channel Islands National Park, CA
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Gastineau Channel is a channel between the mainland of the U.S. state of Alaska and Douglas Island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska. It separates Juneau on the mainland side from Douglas (now part of Juneau), on Douglas Island. The first European to sight the channel was Joseph Whidbey early in August 1794, first from the south and later from the west. It was probably named for John Gastineau, an English Civil Engineer and Surveyor.
The channel is navigable by large ships only from the southeast as far as the Douglas Bridge, approximately 9.7 miles (15.6 km). Between the bridge and Juneau International Airport, approximately 8.1 miles (13.0 km), it is navigable only by smaller craft and only at high tide.
The channel is becoming increasingly unnavigable due to shallow water depths. The two principal causes for this are:
Isostatic rebound following the retreat of glacial ice sheets
Sedimentation and infilling of the Gastineau Channel by silty sediment produced by the Mendenhall Glacier and Mendenhall River.
If current trends continue, Gastineau Channel may eventually become dry or unnavigable or both.
During isostatic rebound, the Earth’s lithosphere (crust) is slowly rising due to buoyant forces, following the removal of a large mass on the surface. This can be likened to an ice cube floating in a glass of water with a penny sitting on top. The weight of the penny makes the ice cube float lower, similar to the immense weight of a glacier on top of the lithosphere. When the penny (glacier) is removed, the ice cube (lithosphere) “rebounds” and floats slightly higher. In the geologic case, this scenario happens very slowly. Rates of isostatic rebound throughout SE Alaska vary from 0.1 to 1.5 inches/year depending on glacial history. The approximate rebound rate in the Juneau area is 0.25 to 0.5 inches/year.
Wikipedia
A long exposure, landscape image of waves crashing through the Whale's Moo near Portknockie in Morayshire, Scotland.
Old picture taken in 2013 on the Isle of Wight.
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Gannet - Morus Bassanus
Bempton Cliffs
The gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, having a wingspan of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft). The other two species occur in the temperate seas around southern Africa, southern Australia and New Zealand.
Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea from a height and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:
no external nostrils, they are located inside the mouth instead;
air sacs in the face and chest under the skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;
positioning of the eyes far enough forward on the face for binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.
Gannets can dive from a height of 30 metres (98 ft), achieving speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.
The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to gannet becoming a description of somebody with a voracious appetite.
Gannets are colonial breeders on islands and coasts, normally laying one chalky, blue egg. Gannets lack brood patches and they use their webbed feet to warm the eggs. It takes five years for gannets to reach maturity. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent sub-adult plumages show increasing amounts of white.
The most important nesting ground for northern gannets is the United Kingdom with about two thirds of the world's population. These live mainly in Scotland, including the Shetland Isles. The rest of the world's population is divided between Canada, Ireland, Faroe Islands and Iceland, with small numbers in France (they are often seen in the Bay of Biscay), the Channel Islands, Norway and a single colony in Germany on Heligoland. The biggest northern gannet colony is on Scotland's Bass Rock; in 2014, this colony contained some 75,000 pairs. Sulasgeir off the coast of the Isle of Lewis, St. Kilda, Grassholm in Pembrokeshire, Bempton Cliffs in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Sceilig Bheag, Ireland and Bonaventure Island, Quebec are also important northern gannet breeding sites.
Young gannets were historically used as a food source, a tradition still practised in Ness, Scotland, where they are called guga. Like examples of continued traditional whale harvesting, the modern day hunting of gannet chicks results in great controversies as to whether it should continue to be afforded exemption from the ordinary protection afforded to sea birds in UK and EU law". The Ness hunt is currently limited to 2,000 chicks per year, and dates back at least to the Iron Age. The hunt is considered to be sustainable, as between 1902 and 2003 Gannet numbers in Scotland increased dramatically from 30,000 to 180,000.
Population:
UK breeding:
220,000 nests
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One of the later sunset shots I took on this evening, one thing I had forgot to do was change my settings from shooting hand held during the day, to be honest I was rather late getting to this spot after being indecisive about where to shoot the sunset. However, I got some shots but had not noticed my ISO was still at 400 doh,I prefer to shoot at 100 or if I can get away with it 50 for the quality and latitude it gives me .
So this is one of a number of compositions I made before it got a bit too dark on our last night in Cornwall, more to come from Cornwall in due course .
So... After watching this little wagger for an hour at great distance, it took off and landed in the road behind me, the worst possible place for a proper ID shot, partly obscured by vegetation and pretty much into the sun. Anyway, I've scrubbed the idea of it being a Blue-headed wagtail (I did spend half an hour trying to convince myself it was a Sykes... In my dreams) and have now settled for it being a Channel. :@)
The Beagle Channel is located at the southernmost tip of South America. It is graced with beautiful blue waters and many different types of birds. The Upland Geese are a common sight at the park.
Winter grips Bedford Channel in Fort Langley as the Fraser Rivers mists glide along the perfectly calm water, mirroring the scene.
The well known big 4 sculpture (2007) outside the atrium of the Channel 4 TV Building, 124-126 Horseferry Road, Westminster, London. Richard Rogers, 1994. For those that can't get or don't watch Channel 4, you have to line up the sculpture framework to see the logo.
PS the C4 building became Grade II listed in March 2023.
El Matador State Beach, near Malibu, CA
Browsing through shots I took the evening I was able to visit this incredible--if crowded--beach, I came across one more I particularly like. I hope you enjoy it!
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I took this shot as we sailed down the Beagle Channel heading out to Antarctica across the dreaded Drake Passage.
I took the shot because the light and landscape looked so much like the Lake District fells back home.
This was quite late in the evening and I can remember thinking about what the next couple of days would bring as we started out on our adventure. I was hoping for a calm Drake crossing, but that never happened!
This 120 foot long historic bridge is a rare surviving example of a truss bridge in Michigan. Built in 1930, the design is distinguished by its massive steel members and Parker pony truss configuration.
Looking close, you can see the new bridge in the background slightly above and beyond the old bridge. These bridges are located on Highway 65 just downstream from the Five Channels Dam west of Oscoda, Michigan.
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