Spiders know a thing or two about geometry, getting their lines and angles and circles perfectly organized to produce webs that are both practical and beautiful.
Posted for Becky’s Squares: Geometric. See more responses here.
Spider web
Category Archives: Animals
Humpback Whale encounter
Yesterday, driving into Lapakahi Historical Park to go snorkeling, my wife and I saw a Humpback Whale, close offshore, doing multiple tail slaps. After we parked the car and headed towards down to the shore, the whale was still slapping its tail. By the time we had our gear on and ready to swim, it looked like the whale was done and heading south.
But, as we got in the water, I saw the whale heading north. We swam out, without any thought of seeing the whale. Chances were it would dive and disappear, or move on, or turn around again. But once out toward the edge of the reef, we realized the whale was hanging around and even nudging towards the shore. By this time it was doing fin slaps.
We had never been this close to a whale in the water and the sight of the huge fin reaching up and then slapping the water with a loud thwack was impressive. As we watched, the fins got larger. I dipped my head underwater and could make out the hazy shape of the whale, the first time I’ve ever seen one in the water. Eventually, the whale came into full view and paralleled our course for a few minutes before it eased away, though it remained quite close to shore.
The whole encounter was deeply moving, an end of year gift for us and another swimmer who was there. During that swim, we also saw three reef sharks and later, a pod of dolphins. It says something that those encounters, normally the highlight of any swim, felt anticlimactic!
The Numbers Game #54
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 175. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
Looking back at 2024 – Part 1
Sunday Stills challenge theme this week and next week is ‘Your 2024 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. As usual, I’m going with a favorite photo from each month of 2024, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in. This week’s post is for January through June. See the rest of the year next week.
They’re back
The Humpback Whale season here has been underway for a few weeks, but I hadn’t seen many until a few days ago. Then, on one of my coast walks, I saw half a dozen or more.
This whale was in the company of another one, which had dived just before this. I like the curve of the tail and how the water drains off it, just before it’s full submerged.
The Numbers Game #53
The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 174. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.
No metal
This month’s Sunday Stills color challenge theme is ‘Metallic.’ See more responses here.
The top photo shows a Metallic Skink (Lampropholis delicata), which is also known as Delicate Skink, Garden Skink, Rainbow Skink, and less-flatteringly, Plague Skink. This one was crossing a road, luckily a lightly-traveled one.
The second photo is an orchid with the catchy name of Rhyncholaeliocattleya Shingfong Gold Gem ‘Golden Gem.’
The third photo is shoal of small, silvery fish, which I think are the aptly named Hawaiian Silversides.
Bees on a Tree Heliotrope
Bees explore the tiny flowers on a Tree Heliotrope at Puʻukoholā Heiau National Historic Site in Kawaihae.
Graham's Island 