One of the whales bumped the keel. The Navy 44s are awesome sailing craft - I enjoyed cruising in them with the Midshipmen.
Nature encounter stories
- Thread starter Hunter216
- Start date
I was mountain biking with a buddy near Vancouver when we heard a bunch of noise in the bush, Momma bear with cubs, no photos of that! Head down peddling trying to be faster than the other guyThe next morning at that same anchorage, I saw a small black bear walking along the opposite bank. It was a magic week.
Here are a few other shots from that same "South River" The last two are the shore where I saw the black bear but these shot was many hours later.
I was scuba diving on a reef at night in the Maldives with my wife and a guide so we could see all of the different sea life that comes out after dark. At one point I got this funny feeling like I was being watched, and I looked back over my right shoulder and almost within touching distance was a massive Humphead Wrasse. They can grow up to 6 feet and weight nearly 400 pounds. It was just curious what we were doing on its reef, and didn't bother us in the least, but that's pretty startling - especially at night.
When I started reading I thought for sure you were going to tell us about a visit from “big brother”
Not any less of a jolt to see one of these guys though!
The most common encounters I have with sea life here off southern are with sea lions. One sees them nearly everywhere it seems. Never had I encountered their relatives, the harbor seals, away from shore. I was powering along the south side of Anacapa Island in early morning calm. As I was clearing past the east end about 2 n.mi. distant I see two creatures “porpoising” toward me. I could see that they weren’t dolphins. A few moments later I could see that neither were they sea lions, but a pair of harbor seals! One leading the other by 15 ft or so. When they emerged their fore flippers were tightly appressed at the sides, the hind flippers closed-up tight like a two-blade folding prop. They porpoised, I’d estimate, 4 to 5 ft above the surface. They were heading right at my port beam so I could watch them approach on a collision bearing. When they arrived, they went down directly beneath the boat as I was motoring along! Came up off the starboard beam still porpoising along in tandem; not missing a beat, so to say. Trucking toward the SE. A remarkable sight and experience. Two cute, fat, little sausages porpoising their way to Mexico.
. A few moments later I could see that neither were they sea lions, but a pair of harbor seals! One leading the other by 15 ft or so. When they emerged their fore flippers were tightly appressed at the sides, the hind flippers closed-up tight like a two-blade folding prop. They porpoised, I’d estimate, 4 to 5 ft above the surface. They were heading right at my port beam so I could watch them approach on a collision bearing. When they arrived, they went down directly beneath the boat as I was motoring along! Came up off the starboard beam still porpoising along in tandem; not missing a beat, so to say. Trucking toward the SE. A remarkable sight and experience. Two cute, fat, little sausages porpoising their way to Mexico.
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Great story! Those harbour seals are turbo-charged when they decide to move
I don’t have to get off my couch to see those guys
Sea Lion Webcam - View sea lions live on the PIER 39 webcam
View the sea lion webcam at PIER 39, San Francisco with the option to change the view. See the San Francisco sea lions via live webcam on PIER 39's K-dock.
www.pier39.com
Santa Barbara Island (SBI) is the least of the California Channel Islands, situated about 44 n.mi. WSW of Los Angeles Harbor. It’s a remote rookery for seals, including elephant seals, and sea lions. We’ve anchored there in Landing Cove many times since our first time on Labor Day ‘04. I describe something seen several times. There are big sea lions at SBI. They bellow most of the day and virtually all of the night. But they also hunt at night. When the water is dense with luminescent plankton, as it often is in summer, sea lions swimming under water leave a luminescent “trail.” It’s fairly bright and lingers for a second or two after the animal passes through that water. So, standing on the bow at night in summer I can see the trails of sea lions “buzzing” the boat. Along side, underneath, approaching then veering off, etc. They move pretty fast. This may go on throughout the night but it is most evident to me in the darkness that follows soon after twilight. Apparently the boat is some kind of focal point for their activity.
Not to claim cause & effect, but when this sea lion activity is going on we get thudded repeatedly by large flying fish, California flying fish. Some end up on the deck, but most hit the topsides leaving “greasy” marks I can see the next day. Never actually counted, but a few to several. We’ve hypothesized that the sea lions use the boat to facilitate getting an evening meal of flying fish. That is why they buzz the boat. They scare ‘em up. The fish hit the boat, fall back in dazed, & the sea lion gets ‘em. The sea lions are relentless hunters. Just thankful that they are not hunting me!
Not to claim cause & effect, but when this sea lion activity is going on we get thudded repeatedly by large flying fish, California flying fish. Some end up on the deck, but most hit the topsides leaving “greasy” marks I can see the next day. Never actually counted, but a few to several. We’ve hypothesized that the sea lions use the boat to facilitate getting an evening meal of flying fish. That is why they buzz the boat. They scare ‘em up. The fish hit the boat, fall back in dazed, & the sea lion gets ‘em.
The sea lions are relentless hunters. Just thankful that they are not hunting me!
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Not to distract from the topic, but if you have ever read about Shackleton's Endurance expedition, There is a scary description of being attacked by a leopard seal. Relentless is a good adjective!The sea lions are relentless hunters. Just thankful that they are not hunting me!
I did read that book. A sailor being chased on the ice by a big leopard seal!
With the parallel thread of Greta Thunberg, I have this encounter to relate.
We were sailing out of Newport to Burmuda under much the same conditions as the crew of La Vagabonde, except warmer. It was a four day beat in big waves and lots of rain all the way. TS Andrew (1986?) was working up from the South. This was basically the maiden voyage of my father's new Shannon 50 , "Absolute", and we were heading to Europe. The crew was the Old Man, my mother, my wife of two years, a doctor friend heading home to Scotland, Dr Arbuckle, and myself. Feeling pretty sea sick, my wife and I were hanging out in the cockpit at about 23:00 while Dr. Arbuckle stood, legs braced, at watch, behind the helm.
Head-to-toe in fowlies, getting blasted by the weather, he was trying to learn the harmonica while Linda and I sat under the dodger and teased him about how bad he was at the harmonica. Intrepid in his efforts, he just smiled and kept at it.
Truth was, in that weather, we couldn't really even hear him.
That when a flying fish hit him right in the chest as he raised his harp to his lips once again.
I didn't miss a beat, "You see? Even the fish want you to stop." I said.
-Will (Dragonfly)
We were sailing out of Newport to Burmuda under much the same conditions as the crew of La Vagabonde, except warmer. It was a four day beat in big waves and lots of rain all the way. TS Andrew (1986?) was working up from the South. This was basically the maiden voyage of my father's new Shannon 50 , "Absolute", and we were heading to Europe. The crew was the Old Man, my mother, my wife of two years, a doctor friend heading home to Scotland, Dr Arbuckle, and myself. Feeling pretty sea sick, my wife and I were hanging out in the cockpit at about 23:00 while Dr. Arbuckle stood, legs braced, at watch, behind the helm.
Head-to-toe in fowlies, getting blasted by the weather, he was trying to learn the harmonica while Linda and I sat under the dodger and teased him about how bad he was at the harmonica. Intrepid in his efforts, he just smiled and kept at it.
Truth was, in that weather, we couldn't really even hear him.
That when a flying fish hit him right in the chest as he raised his harp to his lips once again.
I didn't miss a beat, "You see? Even the fish want you to stop." I said.
-Will (Dragonfly)
I wasn’t sure what these were so looked them up. One word descriptor would be “lunch”.
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Not so many whale spotting on the Hudson river. An occasional Stripped Bass breaks water in pursuit of a meal. My close encounter with nature was a Monarch butterfly that wouldn't leave my side.
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How about a budgie? We were about 10 miles from shore on Lake Ontario, off of Toronto, when a budgie circled a couple of times and landed on the binnacle! It was huffing and puffing, I'm not sure it would make it back to shore. It hopped a ride with us for a couple of hours, and when we neared shore it took off. Apparently there is a colony of them on Toronto Island that survive the winter.
Cheers
dj
Cheers
dj
I recall when I was quite young there seemed to be lots of monarch butterfly’s as the belief in the small community I grew up in was if you saw one you would have a good day.
My perception is that the frequency of sightings dropped quite dramatically; in my adult years it was rare that I saw one. The last few summers though I have seen a few.
Perhaps normal cycle with them but my guess is more along the lines of human action causing the decline and perhaps the resurgence.
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,159
Another possibility, you grew up and did not need as much "Good luck" as you did as a child. The butterfly's knew this and avoided showing up.
Interesting theory but what about all the kids that came along after I grew up?
It’s my understanding monarch butterfly larval stage requires they eat milkweed. When I was young there were lots of small farms with mixed agriculture. As I aged these small fields were converted to large acre single crop use and herbicide use. Roadsides also started getting mowed on a regular basis. So not a lot of opportunity for “weeds” to prosper. No milkweed no monarch. Currently a lot of those large fields are no longer in “production” and are returning to a more natural state. More milkweed “maybe” more monarchs.
I have come close (or them to my boat LOL) to whales, belugas, turtles, porpoises, and sharks. Flying fish and seagulls have landed on my boat several times, but the strangest encounter happened while crossing from Sept-Iles to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts on the lower St.Lawrence river, a 65 nm trip. About midway, a small, very tired land bird decided to get some rest on the boat. Got so familiar and confident of its safety that he (or she ?) visited inside, then got out again and perched on my shoulder. We fed him some cereals but he preferred pecking at the lines. He stayed with us until landfall several hours later, then flew to a nearby lawn at the marina, where we saw a big tomcat on the prowl. The next morning we discovered what looked like the remnants of the poor bird. Nature life is not easy !!!
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