Pete Thomas Outdoors

FMX rider Jeff Kargola dies after crash in Baja desert

A pall hovers over the freestyle motocross and off-road racing communities as news spreads that Jeff Kargola, a popular athlete from San Clemente, Calif., died Friday of injuries sustained during a crash on the second day of the Rip to the Tip adventure ride down the Baja California peninsula. Kargola was 27.

Witnesses said the crash, on a bumpy section of desert, did not appear to be serious. But Kargola, who had been wearing a helmet, was knocked unconscious for about 30 minutes and was said to have also suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung. The exact cause of death has not yet been determined.

Cody Stuart, friend of Kargola's who is part of the event's U.S.-based support team, said a helicopter film crew had been following Kargola and nearby participants in the early stages of the 1,500-mile ride from the border town of Tecate to Cabo San Lucas at Baja's tip. The incident occurred near Diablo Dry Lake, about 50 miles north of San Felipe.

The crew picked up Kargola and delivered him to a small San Felipe hospital. Plans were made to fly Kargola across the Mexico-U.S. border to a trauma center, but he perished before that process began.

Leah Steiger, executive director of the American Freestyle Motocross Assn., told ESPN: "I received a call at 8 a.m. and at that point he was unconscious and we were trying to coordinate a Medevac lift for him. But Medevac has to be able to stabilize you before they can even get you in the air. Unfortunately his injuries were just too great, and he passed at Buen Pastor hospital in San Felipe, Mexico. Now we're just trying to get him home."

Kargola, nicknamed "Ox" because of his large stature, was a member of the Metal Mulisha team of FMX riders, which in 2009 mourned the loss of another popular accident victim, Jeremy Lusk, who died of injuries sustained in a crash during a competition in Costa Rica.

Surfing champion Kelly Slater weighs in on royal wedding

Just about everyone has chimed in on the royal wedding, and this includes 10-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater, whose clever commentary before and during the ceremony dominated his Twitter feed.

As Prince William and Catherine Middleton were being united at Westminster Abbey, Slater, who is in a relationship that might ultimately lead to marriage, tweeted this observation: "How scary is a wedding even without all this hoopla! Imagine how stressed out you'd be to do something wrong in front of 2B."

As the world's most successful surfer and, thus, a celebrity in his own right, Slater clearly was disappointed not to have received an invitation to the royal spectacle. "I'd have worn a Luke Sweeney suit if I got the invite," he tweeted. "Would have walked right behind #Becks for the shot so mom could see me!"

On news that William has been known to ride waves, Slater, tweeting from Australia, extended an invitation of his own: "If he comes to Oz for honeymoon I'll take William surfing and skip trestles next week. Just throwing it out there." (Trestles, near San Clemente, Calif., is the site of a major surf competition to be held next week.)

Earlier Slater had tweeted, "Would be so funny if they just bailed and eloped. What would the world do!?"

That was preceded by the comment: "Who is this Kate they keep referring to?"

From both of those tweets sprang forth a sudden thought: "Am I tweeting myself right out of a potential future wedding?"

Probably not. It was, of course, all in good fun.

-- Image of Kelly Slater and girlfriend Kalani Miller is courtesy of © ASP 2011 Stefan Jose

Gray whale calf puts on spectacular show off Dana Point

Whale watchers aboard the Dana Pride on Wednesday were treated to a beautiful and unusual sight: that of a Pacific gray whale calf breaching with the scenic Orange County coast as a backdrop.

The Dana Pride operates out of Dana Wharf Whale Watching and the sighting was made off Salt Creek during the 2 p.m. run, with Capt. Tom White at the helm. Deckhand Zach Murray took the photograph of the whale, which was behaving as though it were still in a Baja California lagoon.

This has been a remarkable spring for marine mammal enthusiasts in that gray whale mothers and calves are staging a slightly later-than-usual northbound trek back to Arctic home waters, while blue whales, which typically begin showing off Southern California in mid- or late May, already have begun to appear.

Therefore, there is no  lapse and whale watchers throughout Southern California now stand a reasonable chance of seeing gray whales and blue whales. Blue whales, which can measure 100 feet and weigh more than 100 tons, are the largest creatures ever to inhabit the planet.

Dana Wharf Whale Watching logged its first blue whale sighting last Friday. Newport Landing, Harbor Breeze Cruises off Long Beach and the Condor Express out of Santa Barbara also have made blue whale sightings.

-- Image is courtesy of Zach Murray

Bald eagles of Virginia web-cam fame suffer tragic loss

Fans and supporters of a popular bald eagle web-cam observation project run by Virginia's Norfolk Botanical Gardens are bemoaning the loss of an adult female eagle that was struck and killed Tuesday by an airplane as it approached Norfolk International Airport.

Confirmation that the stricken bird was, in fact, one of two adult eagles raising three nestlings that hatched in mid-March was made Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Because the adult male eagle probably would not be able to care for the eaglets by himself, they were carefully gathered up and delivered to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

The eaglets, which had been admired by more than 5 million web-cam viewers, will be reared by rehabilitation specialists with the goal of releasing them back into the wild. Stephen Living, a state wildlife biologist, said that without intervention it'd be "all but certain that one or more of the eaglets would not survive the next three months."

Living added: "Pulling the birds and sending them to the Wildlife Center gives them their best chance. The birds are already old enough to know that they are eagles and to recognize their siblings. Maintaining them as a family unit and releasing them together when they are ready to go will certainly improve their survivor potential."

This has been the season of the Eagle Cam. A similar project in Decorah, Iowa, has garnered 50 million views over the past several months, with popularity soaring after three eggs hatched during the first week of April. Those eaglets are growing fast and so far have been well cared for by both parents.

The Decorah Eagle Cam is operated by the Raptor Resource Project, which on Wednesday posted this statement on its Facebook page: "RRP wishes to extend sympathy again to the eagle family in Norfolk, and those associated with that project."

The Norfolk Botanical Gardens Eagle Cam, which is hosted by WVEC 13 in Norfolk, had 5 million unique views during March alone. On Wednesday morning, as moderators answered questions about the plight of the eaglets, there were about 15,000 views at a given moment.

Julia Dixon, a spokeswoman for the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, said agency staff and fans from around the world have developed "a strong attachment" to the eagle family, but assured that the nestlings' immediate future remains bright.

Dixon also said that biologists expect the adult male to find another mate fairly quickly, and to utilize the same nest. Aside from being in the proximity of aircraft, she added, it's surrounded by wilderness that supports a bountiful supply of prey.

-- Image of adult female bald eagle before it was killed by an airplane strike is courtesy of Duane Noblick. Image of eagle chicks before they were removed from their nest is courtesy of Julian Finch

Lindsey Vonn's surprise call to young fan a video classic

One of the greatest thrills for a kid is to receive an autograph or perhaps a handshake from a major sports star, so when 11-year-old Kristina Wolff received a personal call from her longtime idol, world-class ski racer Lindsey Vonn, she was ... well, watch the video and witness for yourself the touching interaction between the two and the uncontainable joy and excitement spilling from the child:

 

This came about after Kristina's parents had phoned the Red Bull consumer affairs office to inquire about receiving a signed photograph from Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist and the most successful female ski racer in U.S. history.

Red Bull is one of Vonn's major sponsors and during one of the athlete's visits to company headquarters in Santa Monica, Calif., she graciously agreed to place the call and chat with to Kristina, a budding ski racer who lives in New Hampshire. Kristina's parents knew the call was coming but Kristina was told only that she should stay up a little longer because someone special might be calling.

Fortunately, Kristina's parents videotaped that end of the call with a cellphone. Red Bull, of course, videotaped Vonn making the call, and the result is a two-way conversation that went public Wednesday morning and is sure to tug at the heartstrings of viewers from around the world.

Kristina, of course, will cherish those moments for years.

Forecast promising for Saturday's Eastern Sierra trout opener

Sunny skies and cool temperatures are in the forecast for Saturday's opening of the Eastern Sierra general trout-fishing season. Anglers planning to participate might also be pleased to learn that fishing licenses will be readily available, after all.

Concern was raised when some bait-and-tackle stores within Inyo and Mono counties stopped selling licenses after the Department of Fish and Game launched its computerized Automated License Data System at the beginning of the year.

However, dozens of vendors have since come online, and to fill the void in Bishop -- where Culver's Sporting Goods, Mac's Sporting Goods and Brock's Fly Fishing Specialists are not selling licenses -- the DFG will be selling them Thursday through Saturday at the Chamber of Commerce on Main Street.

Fishing licenses, which are mandatory for anyone 16 or older, also are available online and at many larger sporting goods stores throughout California.
Anglers will have no excuses when DFG wardens make their customary checks throughout opening weekend and the remainder of the season.

The Bishop Chamber of Commerce is at 690 North Main St. The DFG will sell licenses Thursday from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.; Friday from 10-9, and Saturday from 8-noon. An annual license costs $43.46. A one day licenses sells for $14.04 and a two-day license sells for $21.86.

As for the fishing, most waters from Bishop to Bridgeport are well-stocked with rainbow trout. The mid-elevation lakes are free of ice, and five-fish limits ought to be fairly common.

To be sure, the only real drawback to this year's opener will be the painfully high gas prices. This might keep the crowds down but it will hurt area business that traditionally have relied on the economic boost provided by large opening-weekend crowds.

-- Image of Garrett Arman, one of the top anglers during the 2009 trout opener (at Gull Lake) is by Pete Thomas. Arman was 8 at the time and the rainbow trout weighed 5.4 pounds

Matthias Giraud's avalanche cliff jump 'best run of my life'

To experience the thrill of skiing down steep virgin powder and launching from a cliff with an avalanche in hot pursuit, watch the video.

You'll undoubtedly get a feel for what it was like for Matthias Giraud to have done just that, thanks to high-definition helmet cameras worn by him and his partner, Stefan Laude, during a carefully planned stunt recently in the French Alps.

 

Giraud, on his website, explains that he and Laude -- both expert skiers and skydivers -- wore avalanche location devices and had a helicopter rescue team on standby. Laude was parachuting and filming from overhead as Giraud skied the ridge line leading to the cliff. He deployed his chute as snow spilled from the ledge to his right.

The video production has gone viral, and while it there is a strong commercial aspect to the production, it should not diminish the remarkable nature of the stunt itself. On the contrary, because of improving technology and the increasing use of helmet cameras by extreme athletes, viewers are able to get more of a vicarious feel.

Said Giraud, "It was probably the best run of my life."

X Games to include rally racing on downtown L.A. streets

The evolution of the X Games into a largely motorized action sports festival will continue this summer with the addition of Enduro X and the expansion of rally car racing to include a competition circuit on the streets of downtown Los Angeles.

ESPN announced Monday that X Games 17 will be held July 28-31 at Staples Center and other downtown venues. It'll mark the ninth summer the extravaganza has been staged in Los Angeles.

Enduro X will feature men's and women's motorcycle competitions on an all-terrain obstacle course, with mud, sand, logs and boulders thrown into the mix. It'll be one of eight Moto X competitions inside Staples Center.

Rally car racing will for the first time include competition on a more expansive street course and the change -- there also is a RallyCross competition -- apparently is popular among athletes.

"Having RallyCross at last year's X Games was a huge step for the sport, but racing through city streets is how motorsport began," Tanner Foust, a three-time X Games rally gold medalist, told ESPN. "Being in the car, ripping through streets, cranking the handbrake through intersections while door-to-door and jumping next to buildings is going to be truly epic!"

Tickets for X Games 17 will be available June 23 via Ticketmaster locations and at the Staples Center box office.

-- Image showing Tanner Foust ahead of the Rally Car Racing pack at X Games 16 is courtesy of Lars Gange/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Early blue whale sightings made off Southern California

Blue whales, the largest creatures ever to inhabit the planet, appear to be making an early arrival into Southern California waters.

Last week the Condor Express out of Santa Barbara logged its first blue whale sighting of the season. On Sunday the Christopher out of Harbor Breeze Cruises in Long Beach logged its first blue whale sighting, and on Monday afternoon Dana Wharf Whale Watching logged its first sighting.

Sunday's sighting was made 2 1/2 miles off Crystal Cove in Orange County -- the Christopher had been searching for northbound gray whales.

"Everybody on the boat was excited because it was the first of the year for us, and many of the people had never even seen any kind of whale," said Chris Batts, captain of the Christopher. "The whale came to us and it put on a pretty good show."

Blue whales, which can measure 100 feet and weigh more than 100 tons, typically begin to arrive off California from wintering grounds off Central America in mid- to late May, and stay well into the summer.

Last year was unusual because dozens of blue whales gathered to feed on krill in the busy shipping area off San Pedro, and extremely close to shore beyond the Palos Verdes Peninsula and South Bay beaches. It was undoubtedly the most memorable blue whale season on record in the Los Angeles area.

It remains unclear whether that phenomenon will repeat itself, but Southern California marine mammal enthusiasts can expect to encounter blue whales sporadically over the next few months off Orange County, Long Beach and Santa Barbara.

To be sure, for year-round whale-watching operations, the season has already begun.

-- Image of the Christopher with a blue whale (from last season) is courtesy of Harbor Breeze Cruises

Prized swordfish deliver big-game thrills off Cabo San Lucas

An unusually large influx of swordfish into the southern Sea of Cortez has Cabo San Lucas and East Cape anglers on the hunt for the highly-prized and famously elusive billfish.

Narciso Agundez, the former governor of Baja California Sur, was among the few to have landed a mighty broadbill during the past two weeks. He caught a 250-pounder after an hour-long fight during a trip with his sons aboard the popular yacht, Fisherman.

The hookup occurred in late-afternoon between San Jose del Cabo and the East Cape, after the anglers had spotted the swordfish sunning lazily at the surface.

They had run out of live bait but obtained a few small mackerel from the crew of a passing boat.
The swordfish seemed only mildly interested after repeated casts but took a bait after 15 minutes.

The next day on the same boat, Daniel Fisher, a renowned Cabo San Lucas angler, landed a 348-pound swordfish after a 2 1/2-hour fight as darkness fell.

Steve Lassley caught two swordfish recently aboard Bad Company.

Mark Rayor, a longtime resident of the East Cape north of Cabo San Lucas, and owner of the sportfisher Jen Wren, said he could not recall a season in which so many swordfish sightings have been logged. "Can't wait for our chance," he said via email.

Pisces Sportfishing, which shared the news about Agundez and Fisher, also reports an upswing in striped marlin activity in the same area, with some boats returning to port flying multiple release flags. Pisces anglers logged 25 marlin catches -- all but two were released -- during the past week.

-- Photo: Narcisco Agundez (right) and sons Christian and Narciso Jr. (left and left center, respectively) pose with a 250-pound swordfish caught recently north of Cabo San Lucas. Image is courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing