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Yes a Giant african snail in the Philippines, but not only, it's pretty wide spread now throughout the pacifique and asia.
It's latin name: Achatina fulica
Identification: Full grown Achatina fulica reach up to 20 cm in length and 12 cm in maximum diameter. The dark and light brown (sometimes more of a cream color) swirls wrap around its cone like shell. Its convex body allows for about 7 to 9 whorls. The outlines of the whorls fluctuate from narrow to broad even within the same colony. An adult Achatina Fulica’s lip opening is generally very thin and sharp. The shell itself is thick and strong if healthy (needs a high calcium diet). The rest of the body resembles a slug like appearance with a variance in color.
Original Distribution: Achatina fulica originates from coastal East Africa particularly Kenya and Tanzania. First sightings occurred before the 1800’s.
Current Distribution: Giant African Snails can be found in most southern hemisphere countries, eg. throughout Africa, Indian Ocean Islands, Australia, New Zealand, South America. In addition, these snails have been identified in Southern, Southeastern and Eastern Asia, Polynesia and other Pacific Islands, West Indies and the United States. Typically, Giant African Snails have been found along the coastline and in southern states of the USA. However, sightings have also occurred in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. These snails thrive in humid, tropical climates.
Site and Date of Introduction: As indicated in the map below, introduction of Giant African Snails dates back to the early 1800’s. These snails spread throughout East Africa into Ethiopa, Somalia, Mozambique, and Madagasar. Interestingly, they were not sighted in northern Africa until the late 1980’s.
The first occurrence of these snails outside of Africa was Bengal, India in 1847. Since then, the Giant African Snail has been transported mistakenly and purposefully throughout the countries listed in the above section.
Giant African Snails were first spotted in the US in the late 1940’s around San Pedro, California. Many of these snails were affixed to cargo imported to the US. Over 50 interceptions occurred within a ten year span (from 1948-1958) in the California ports.
In 1958, a young boy stashed Giant African Snails into his suitcase from his travels in Hawaii returning to California and driving to Arizona. Once the snails were discovered in his belongings, they family released them to the outdoors. Another very similar incident occurred in 1966, where another young boy visiting Hawaii decided to take a few Giant African Snails home to Miami, Florida to keep as pets and were released into the family’s garden. The Florida State eradication process took 10 years costing over one million dollars.
These snails continue to enter the US through illegal trade or in shipping containers and in plant shipments from the Hawaiian Islands, Guam and other Pacific Islands. Inspectors fairly easily identify these snails, intercept them and eradicate them.
Ecological Role: Achatina fulica forage on over 500 different plant species. During less favorable conditions (dry, cool), they nest in lose soil for during their period of hibernation. One may postulate that this behavior promotes health in the soil as the soil is churned and as matter from the snail settles into the soil. However, with over population, the snails destroy and pollute their surroundings, including the soil.
Benefit(s): Giant African Snails contribute to the degradation of animal matter. In addition, the Giant African Snail provides nutrients to the India glowworm Beetle; specifically to the larvae (male larvae consume 20 to 40 Achatinas; female larvae eat 40 to 60 Achatinas during their development). Other beetle species consume the Achatina fulica, such as the lampyriad and the coprine beetle.
The hermit crab is one of the most dangerous predators to the Achatina fulica and has been known to use the shell as its home. The coconut crab also views the Achatina fulica as a delicacy. The domesticated duck along with a vast variety of other bird species forage on Giant African Snails. Other mammals such as the wild pig prey on Achatina fulica.
Threat(s): The Giant African Snails’ greatest lethal threat to humans is eosinophilic meningitis. This condition is caused by the rat lungworm parasite, angiostrongylus cantonesnsis. Most often this parasite is transferred by eating the snail, as some humans consider snails a delicacy. In addition the Giant African Snail can carry the gram-negative bacterium, aeromonas hydrophila, causing a wide variety of symptoms, especially in persons with a weak immune system.
Giant African Snails cause great economic peril to farmers due to their propensity in consuming large amounts of crops/plants. Their diet consists of over 500 different plant species. A wide variety of horticulture and medicinal plants are known to be attacked by this snail. Not only does this decrease the income for agricultural producers, but it also impacts their living conditions (often requiring relocation) and decreases food and medical resources for humans, animals and other species.
The economic consequences persist in eradicating these creatures, sometimes costing millions of dollars. Another economic penalty involves the decrease in tourism. As noted earlier, Giant African Snails thrive in warm, tropical conditions – often tourist destinations.
Enjoying the views in Essaouira
Essaouira is protected by a natural bay partially shielded by wave action by the Iles Purpuraires. A broad sandy beach extends from the harbour south of Essaourira, at which point the Oued Ksob discharges to the ocean; south of the discharge lies the archaeological ruin, the Bordj El Berod.[1] The Canary Current is responsible for the generally southward movement of ocean circulation and has led to enhancement of the local fishery.[2] The village of Diabat lies about five kilometres south of Essaouira, immediately south of the Oued Ksob.
Essaouria connects to Safi to the north and to Agadir to the south via the N1 road and to Marrakech to the east via the R 207 road. There is a small airport some 7-8 km away from the town, which schedules several flights a week to Casablanca.
The Medina of Essaouira (formerly "Mogador") is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city, as an example of a late 18th century fortified town, as transferred to North Africa.
The fishing harbour, suffering from the competition of Agadir and Safi remains rather small, although the catches (sardines, conger eels) are surprisingly abundant due to the coastal upwelling generated by the powerful trade winds and the Canaries Current.
There are only a handful of modern purpose-built hotels within the walls of the old city. The medina is home to many small arts and crafts businesses, notably cabinet making and 'thuya' wood-carving (using roots of the Tetraclinis tree), both of which have been practised in Essaouira for centuries.
Essaouira is also renowned for its kitesurfing and windsurfing, with the powerful trade wind blowing almost constantly onto the protected, almost waveless, bay. Several world-class clubs rent top-notch material on a weekly basis.
Parasols tend to be used on the beach as a protection against the wind and the blowing sand. Camel excursions are available on the beach and into the desert band in the interior.
Essaouira is the site of an annual pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Chaim Pinto, whose home and synagogue are preserved as an historic and religious site, the Chaim Pinto Synagogue. The Simon Attias Synagogue is also still standing.
Pulsa L para ver con fondo negro // Press L for viewing in black
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Camara /Camera: Nikon D80
Objetivo / Lense: Tamron 18-200mm
Place / Lugar: Lago Enrol, Picos de Europa, Asturias, Spain
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Algunos derechos reservados // Some rights reserved
**Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
**Creative Commons Atribución-No Comercial - No Derivs
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If you wish to have a printed copy of this photo, please contact me.
Si te interesa obtener una copia impresa de esta foto, por favor contactad conmigo.
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A Frame within a frame composition of the iconic Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
Here is a blog I wrote about framing in photography
If you want to look at more of my photography you can check my website and social media links below:
Getty
Some of my Taj Mahal Images on Getty
www.instagram.com/geraint_rowland_photography/
A vastly important site within this featured array of artificial 'caves', and another example featured within the diagram linked below (second right).
The River Ebro 'highway' ebbs and changes direction just 5km away. Modestly moving on its long narrative of silting the Mediterranean sea with mountain grain. And as it turns from the north, the tight fluvial system provides a clean pointer and link with the Atlantic coast. Approaching the great river's source, the river simply holds a valley and hides its future with local modesty. The valley that confluences at the turning point is the (river) 'Arroyo Mardancho', the same river that flows under this monolithic church site. A sacred spring into the Arroyo Mardancho sits under this sites monolith, providing relentless fresh water to this day.
Both the Ebro and the Mardancho can easily and naturally link with the northern passage to the Rio Besaya and the Altlantic coast, and if the Ebro was once conceptualised as a great west/east, then the Mardancho would have been part of its raison d'etre. The Mardancho is also a key route to the Ebro from the CeltIberic hill fort of Mont Bernedo.
Seen by night this site hides its rarity, and some words are required to show that all is not as it first appears:
The tiled roof is a modern addition, and lifts above an outcrop of sandstone, in effect protecting the rock's surface for future generations. The rock outcrop that makes up the exoskeleton for the interior man-made space, is comprehensively covered with monolithic Sarcophage; many linked, some seeming to indicate a family unit, and some of the dimension of infants and children. A further and detached flat rock outcrop - behind this shot and up the slope, continues the theme, with another 20 or so examples of carved Sarcophage - some with trapezoid form, most andromorphic. Todays church is thus under the imprints of ancestors rather than over their memory, which tends to be the Christian tradition. Other examples of man-made spaces under monolithic necropolis do exist (see future posts), and this is not an example of idiosyncratic design, rather another local example from an upstream Ebro theme.
Organic and oblong openings have been sealed, and at times squared into shape, and the inside has lost much of its organic narrative after being 'modernised' with a tightening of edge and form - probably during a Moorish or Visigoth occupation period, so up to the 10th century.
The exterior shape of the monolith has also been walled up to afford it a clean set of lines. The illuminated Romanesque bell tower is built as a different building behind the outcrop, in the way that Italian bell towers can be separate, and in keeping with the site at Santos Justo y Pastor - just five straight km away (see below).
Socket marks show that a porch or lean-to once 'hid' the scale of the interior vaults. These marks and some other step and bench marks are worn in ways that show a use far beyond those of ideas of lone hermits.
AJM 09.11.20
Portrait of a girl approaching womanhood and carefully balancing outside experiences with her inner life. What I am doing here is searching for a person's 'essence' and combing this with a particular shooting technique (wide-open, contre-jour, reflector, through a perforated sheet of lead). Processed in Fujifilm's raw converter and macOS High Sierra photo editor.
Strone Hill is within a woodland area operated by the Forestry Comm. Scotland and lies a few miles east of the village of Dalmally, it’s a natural resting place for travellers and in the past, drovers watered their cattle here on the long walk to the cattle markets in the south. Today it's a peaceful spot to enjoy a walk or picnic by the river. A trail within the woodland allows you to stretch your legs alongside the riverbank which takes you to an impressive viewpoint overlooking this lovely waterfall of the River Lochy.
Scenes like this one inspire a deep (and sometimes much needed!) sense of quiet and peace within me. The Smokies seem to have that effect on me perhaps more than any place I've traveled to. No matter how many times I go back, I seem to stumble upon images like this that just draw me in.
This view is from one of my favorite spots to see sunsets in the Smokies: Bunches Bald Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (about 9.6 miles east of the intersection of 441 and the Blue Ridge Parkway).
Have a great holiday season,
Jeff
My Website ¦ Facebook ¦ My Blog ¦ Google+
PS: If you would like to see more of my images from the Smokies, check out the following link: www.firefallphotography.com/great-smokey-mountains/
Explored on Dec 24, 2013
Orang Utan Bukit Merah
Orang Utan Island is located within the exotic, eco-friendly getaway of Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, a 7,000 acre freshwater lakeside haven in Semanggol, Perak. The Orang Utan Island itself, which was formerly known as Pulau Panjang, comprises a vast 35 acre area, 5 acres of which has been set aside as a research centre for these endangered primates.
It was within the nurturing borders of this island that the Orang Utan Island Research and Development Programme was born in an effort to study, breed, monitor, train and rehabilitate the increasingly endangered orang utan.
The island also serves as a valuable educational tool for reaching out to people who may know nothing about the crisis the orang utans are facing, and how close they are to becoming extinct. Upon their visit to the island, visitors are exposed to all aspects of the orang utan’s existence, including how they behave, eat, breed and socialise, and the dangers they face.
Having started with just 3 orang utans in 1999, the island’s primate population has grown to 23, 12 of which were born on the island itself. The centre’s rehabilitation programme focuses on teaching the orang utans the essential skills they need to survive in the wild, such as foraging for food, nest building, tree climbing and socialising, in anticipation for their eventual release into their natural habitat.
The Bukit Merah Orang Utan Island Foundation is the driving force behind the island’s operations as well as its research centre’s main source of funding. The foundation’s main responsibilities include the setting up and maintenance of the island’s facilities, facilitating sponsorships and donations, organising orang utan infant relocation, displacement support, rehabilitation, and education programmes, in addition to collaborating with universities, government agencies, schools, charitable organisations and non-government organisations.
The foundation aims to:
Support and assist the Government via its agencies in carrying out orang utan research, education, development, conservation, breeding, and rehabilitation programmes, and drawing up protection policies;
Garner the support of individuals, corporations, private organisations, government agencies and societies, universities, schools, and non-government agencies via donations or assistance.
Serve as a comprehensive, national resource centre for information on orang utans, orang utan research, and link to collaborations with other related information centres worldwide.
Well Court (on the left) was built in 1886 for the owner of the "Scotsman" newspaper to "provide good quality housing for local people" . The architect included a mix of apartment sizes and a hall "to encourage social interaction and community spirit amongst the tenants."
Although Edinburgh has been identified as one of 14 tourist sites worldwide that have become overwhelmed with visitors, they were all over on the Royal Mile. This beautiful village on the edge of the downtown area, but within the city, was virtually deserted!
Situated within the Berchtesgaden Alps in the municipality of Schönau am Königsee, just south of Berchtesgaden and the Austrian city of Salzburg, the Königssee is Germany's third deepest lake. Located at a Jurassic rift, it was formed by glaciers during the last ice age. It stretches about 4.8 miles in a north-south direction and is about 1 mile across at its widest point. Except at its outlet, the Königsseer Ache at the village of Königssee, the lake is similar to a fjord, being surrounded by the steeply-rising flanks of mountains up to 8,900 feet, including the Watzmann massif in the west.
Thanks for taking a look. To see photos from the rest of the trip Click Here to see my Alps and More album.
"Within 10 years it will be impossible to travel to the North Pole by dog team. There will be too much open water." - Will Steger
The cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at 80 to 128 km/h (50 to 80 mph) with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being 93 and 98 km/h (58 and 61 mph), and as such has several adaptations for speed, including a light build, long thin legs and a long tail. It typically reaches 67–94 cm (26–37 in) at the shoulder, and the head-and-body length is between 1.1 and 1.5 m (3 ft 7 in and 4 ft 11 in). Adults weigh between 21 and 72 kg (46 and 159 lb). Its head is small and rounded, and has a short snout and black tear-like facial streaks. The coat is typically tawny to creamy white or pale buff and is mostly covered with evenly spaced, solid black spots. Four subspecies are recognised.
The cheetah lives in three main social groups: females and their cubs, male "coalitions", and solitary males. While females lead a nomadic life searching for prey in large home ranges, males are more sedentary and may instead establish much smaller territories in areas with plentiful prey and access to females. The cheetah is active mainly during the day, with peaks during dawn and dusk. It feeds on small- to medium-sized prey, mostly weighing under 40 kg (88 lb), and prefers medium-sized ungulates such as impala, springbok and Thomson's gazelles. The cheetah typically stalks its prey to within 60–70 m (200–230 ft), charges towards it, trips it during the chase and bites its throat to suffocate it to death. It breeds throughout the year. After a gestation of nearly three months, a litter of typically three or four cubs is born. Cheetah cubs are highly vulnerable to predation by other large carnivores such as hyenas and lions. They are weaned at around four months and are independent by around 20 months of age.
The cheetah occurs in a variety of habitats such as savannahs in the Serengeti, arid mountain ranges in the Sahara and hilly desert terrain in Iran. The cheetah is threatened by several factors such as habitat loss, conflict with humans, poaching and high susceptibility to diseases. Historically ranging throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and extending eastward into the Middle East and to central India, the cheetah is now distributed mainly in small, fragmented populations in central Iran and southern, eastern and northwestern Africa. In 2016, the global cheetah population was estimated at around 7,100 individuals in the wild; it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. In the past, cheetahs were tamed and trained for hunting ungulates. They have been widely depicted in art, literature, advertising, and animation.
Each of us has an inner dream that we can unfold if we will just have the courage to admit what it is. And the faith to trust our own admission. The admitting is often very difficult. Julia Cameron
*happy dreamy bokeh wednesday*
Sunday Feb 27th along the Canadian border and I'm within range of my U.S. cousins, barely a whisker from the three distinct shapely buttes of Montana's Sweet Grass Hills popping up in the distance. Today, it feels like we're breathing the same air. An exchange of sorts.
It's eerie quiet, I can hear my heart beating, a nearby gas compressor station reminding a sign of life. The Range/Township gravel roads are heavily drifted and deep in areas, caution always needed. The light is fading and slipping across the horizon, a vague sunset barely announcing the close of another day. The carpet of snow is crisp and supports a full body weight.
This ramshackle 20th century skeleton homestead house is THE Alberta prairie symbol, you'll find them many places, held together by sheer determination considering the area is notorious for winds.
"The Sweet Grass Hills are notoriously windy. The combination of lying on the east side of the Continental Divide and their elevation can really make them a very windy place. All the more so since there is absolutely nothing to block the wind except for the occasional barbed wire fence. During the winter, this area is also very cold - even without the wind chill."
To the left is a small wooden cross marking an undistinguished grave. I only leave my footsteps in the snow, nothing changed from the way I've found this icon. Yet somehow with each visit and adventure to these broad and flat prairies, my visual senses are forever expanded.....the metaphor of photography undeniably changes ME.
For another lovely backside perspective, visit.....
www.flickr.com/photos/susan_dmyterko/5497994661/
*Textures courtesy of Skeletal Mess and Cathairstudios
**Birds courtesy of GoldenRules2
***Please view LARGE for extra detail
Nestled in the hills of the Aravalli range is the Ranakpur Jain temple dedicated to the first tirthankara (supreme preacher) of Jainism, Adinath.
The temple is one of the largest Jain temples and considered one of the five holiest Jain shrines in India.
The temple is a white marble structure spread over 4,500 square meters with 1444 marble pillars, twenty-nine halls, eighty domes and 426 columns. There are a total of 84 bhonyra (underground chambers) for storage and protection of idols from then marauders.
I found this beauty in our garden.
Spring time is not the best time for this lampion flower, but even like this it's a beauty.
Perhaps no other shot that I have taken symbolizes the Spirit of the Navajo People better for me.
Please visit my website for this and more.
The roses has many hidden soul felt, depths to her beauty
As many a romantic soul realizes, love and gratitude are all rose's duty
A single rose expresses feelings in their uncomplicated, simplicity.
While a single rose in full bloom pronounces 'I love you' for eternity.
Though rose's delicate soft velvet petals display love, appreciation
Her huge palette of colours is her unique voice of symbolic conversation
"Within a Rose"
DAVID A. GAMBLE
Me at the opening of my new exhibition "homeland" in the bar of one of my best friends last sunday. My long-time colleague Rainer Lehmann took the picture for the local press. He said, I won't get any more beautiful ...
Due to Corona there are no people. But prints are selling well.
This is the original text from the local newspaper;
Freising - When the early morning light casts a golden yellow shimmer over the landscape in the Ampertal, photographer Siegfried Martin is out and about with his camera. In the glittering dew, leaves, bark structure forms of tree bark and old wood or the rippling waves that the wind lays on the surface of the oxbow lakes along the Amperauen are presented. The large-format photos that the artist is currently showing in the Q-Bar in the Upper Old Town appear almost three-dimensional. He has been “on new, exciting paths” in recent years, says Martin. He has not abandoned analog work with his Leica M or the Hasselblad medium format cameras. However, his love for photography has been revived in recent years with the new generation of Nikon cameras. He was inspired by the “focus shift” function, which automatically varies the distance setting on his Nikon Z7 and thus improves the depth of field. He is turning more and more to minimalist motifs “on the doorstep”. On walks or bike rides through moss and Amperauen around Zolling, he can discover the "abundance" of nature. Stopping and listening to the splash of water or the wind rubbing through the grass and leaves - that is what is ultimately just as important to him as pressing the shutter release button. “The motif finds me,” says Martin. “Suddenly I stand in front of something and know that it is.” On numerous photo trips through China and Tibet off the main tourist routes in the last few decades, the photographer recalls. "There were endlessly spectacular landscapes that you had dreamed of for years and suddenly you were standing in front of it". But he also finds the beauty of nature “on a small scale” in the Ampertal, within a radius of just ten kilometers from his home town of Zolling. He calls the exhibition “Homeland” because home has become more and more important in recent years, as Martin muses. “Maybe it also depends on how old you are,” he says and laughs. The love of photography is revived every day. The motifs in the cycle of nature are simply beautiful and harmonious. Regardless of whether in winter the last leaf on the tree above the water of the Amper lights up in the morning light or pussy willows draw a surreal picture like a vortex of dancers: The pictures are touching and fascinating. mam
Viewing fire damage.
The Valles Caldera (or Jemez Caldera) is a 13.7-mile-wide (22.0 km) volcanic caldera in the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico. Hot springs, streams, fumaroles, natural gas seeps, and volcanic domes dot the caldera landscape. The highest point in the caldera is Redondo Peak, an 11,254-foot (3,430 m) resurgent lava dome located entirely within the caldera and surrounded by moat-like flows of rhyolitic solidified lavas.
Wikipedia
Not everything breaks apart.
Some things reveal what was always there.
April theme challenge Anatomy ONLY
Unripe Toyon berries, and seeds within contain dangerous levels of a poisonous cyanide-forming compound, which if eaten can sicken or kill the consumer of the berries, whether human, bird, or other animals. … Eat a handful of ripe Toyon berries and you may get sick; eat a pound and you may die! Native Americans would cook the berries which neutralized the poisons and would make a beverage from them.
A piece from my adult daughter's long forgotten elementary school "jewelry" collection which works nicely for July 30: Trinkets and August 20: Multicolor.
Happy New Year to all!
Macro Mondays - Redux 2018 - 12/31/18
inside there is no escape until it is unleashed.
walking towards the unevitable means of life, until that second when it is all gone.
you stand, march, and continue.
it was pretty cold out last night.
strobist info: sb-900 1/2 power camera left. sb-600 camera right 1/2 power.
to see a before/after video click here
omg wow!! EXPLORE #2 thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
This was shot within 24 hours of Scotland's solar summer solstice.
For me, using my camera this time of year is highly unusual - in fact, I can look at the stats: unless I am on holiday somewhere at a lower latitude, May-August is the slowest time of year for producing images.
This is for a few reasons. One, summer used (*see below) to be my busiest time in my job, but not anymore. Two and certainly the most significant - I've avoided shooting from Spring Equinox to Autumn Equinox simply because the sun is so gosh dern high at 56 degrees north.
This year I was keen to change that, because, to be honest - I really need to get over it and get used to dealing with it better. My sleep is utterly awful around summer solstice and this year has been no different, but I am at least in control of how often I enjoy my favourite passtime, more recently on a cycle which my fatass needs to be on more often. We've been migrants here for 13 years and summer solstice simply can't continue to be something I wish away, especially when where we live is truly ridiculously beautiful.
If you've made it this far, thanks for reading. :) This is a 7 image full +/- 12mm lateral stitch resulting in a 13,400 pixel wide panoramic in a 21:9 cinematic ratio. Instagram is utterly pointless at this and I'm going to keep slagging it off until it changes, the habits of the global population changes, or I'm deid.
5DSR + TSE 24L II + Hoya CPL
*Not no mo'! For, I have physically and metaphorically passed that torch to a much more capable and excellent person than I who will maybe/possibly/hopefully be joining us on this walk of the Water of Life later this year.