Pete Thomas Outdoors

Use of drones to videotape whales, dolphins is catching on

When Dana Wharf Whale Watching last month posted aerial footage of a 70-foot fin whale, captured via a GoPro camera attached to a small quadcopter drone, we reported that this concept will catch on locally.

It affords a unique perspective of the gargantuan mammals, and the videos are a means for whale-watching businesses to bring attention to themselves.

Sure enough, Capt. Dave’s Dolphin and Whale Safari, a rival to Dana Wharf, has entered the dronosphere. On Monday the company uploaded a 5-minute video showing spectacular aerial views of an enormous pod of dolphins, migrating gray whales, and humpback whales.

 

The dolphin and gray whale footage was captured locally, off Dana Point and San Clemente, respectively. The humpback footage was captured off Maui, Hawaii.

Said Capt. Dave Anderson: "This is the most beautiful and compelling five-minute video I have ever put together. I learned so much about these whales and dolphins from this drone footage that it feels like I have entered a new dimension! Drones are going to change how we view the animal world. Wow!"

It’s worth noting that these quadcopter drones are about the size of model helicopters and weigh only a few pounds. They’re battery-operated and make less noise than the boats they're launched from.

NOAA has not published guidelines specific to drones, but cautions that whales and dolphins are protected animals and it’s illegal to do anything that could be perceived as harassment.

Said Anderson: "There is debate in many states right now about making use of these drones illegal. People are justifiably concerned about invasion of privacy. But it would be a shame to have this new window into a whale's world taken away."

–Pete Thomas

–Photos show a humpback whale and her calf off Maui (top), and three migrating gray whales off San Clemente, Calif. Credit: Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari

Giant Pacific octopus tangles with diver over expensive camera in Monterey Bay

 

The giant Pacific octopus is shy and elusive, so it stands to reason that the mysterious sea creatures do not appreciate being photographed with flashing strobes.

The accompanying footage, captured recently off Carmel in Central California, shows an octopus estimated to measure 20 feet across leaving its rock and wrapping its slithery tentacles around an expensive camera unit operated by Warren Murray.

David Malvestuto, Murray’s diving companion, videotaped the brief wrestling match at a depth of 80 feet in Bluefish Cove off Point Lobos, just south of Monterey.

Murray, not wanting to lose his gear, held firmly and backed away, while continuing to shoot photographs. (The video footage shows some of the still images retrieved from Murray’s camera.)

Finally, the octopus released its grip, swam slowly toward the bottom and blended perfectly into the rocky habitat.

This extraordinary encounter involved a creature that is a master of camouflage, capable of changing colors to match its surroundings.

“My fellow divers are jealous and envious,” Murray told KSBW. “My non-diving friends asked, ‘Weren’t you scared?’ For me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Giant Pacific octopuses can measure nearly 30 feet across and weigh to about 600 pounds. They do not possess bones, so they can squeeze into tiny crevices.

Their eight arms are lined with powerful suction cups, and their sharp beak is used for crushing the shells of prey items, such as crabs and clams.

The animals are considered to be intelligent and captive specimens can open jars and solve other puzzles used as enrichment tools.

According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the giant Pacific octopus is a solitary creature that saves its energy for one chance at mating near the end of its 3-year life cycle.

As for Murray and Malvestuto, they’re just glad to have footage to back up their incredible story.

Said Murray: “In the diving community we have a mantra: If you don’t have a picture, it didn’t happen.”

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

–Photos: Top image is a video screen grab. Second image is from Warren Murray's camera, before the octopus wrapped its arms around the gear

Congrats to Wisdom the albatross! World's oldest known wild bird is rearing another chick

The world’s oldest known wild bird continues to astonish researchers at the remote Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge.

That's in part because of her longevity—the Laysan albatross is at least 63 years old, and probably much older—but mostly because the albatross is still rearing babies.

Her recently hatched chick was first spotted this week by the refuge’s visitor services manager, Ann Bell. Wisdom was dutifully doting for the furry brown baby, keeping it warm and safe.

It’s remarkable considering that Wisdom, who spends the non-nesting season foraging over a vast parcel of the Pacific, was first banded as an adult in 1956.

“As the world’s oldest known bird in the wild, Wisdom is an iconic symbol of inspiration and hope for all seabird species,” Dan Clark, refuge manager, stated in a news release. “She provides to the world valuable information about the longevity of these beautiful creatures.

"In the case of Wisdom, she has logged literally millions of miles over the Pacific Ocean in her lifetime to find enough fish eggs and squid to feed herself and multiple chicks, allowing us to measure the health of our oceans which sustain albatross as well as ourselves.”

To be sure, Wisdom is a wise old albatross. She has survived year after year despite a horrible ocean pollution problem that has killed thousands of the sea birds, young and old.

The adults will ingest plastic products and other items they mistake as food, and inadvertently feed them to their young. (It’s estimated that as many as five tons of plastic are accidentally fed to albatross chicks each year.)

Said refuge biologist Pete Leary: “It is a poignant and overwhelming reality that plastics discarded at sea float, from toothbrushes to millions of bottle caps, and are used as a substrate for flying fish to attack their eggs, a food highly prized by foraging albatross and ultimately regurgitated into the chick’s mouth.”

Leary added that a chick’s survival is solely dependent on the health of its mother and her mate, which combine to provide food and protection. Midway boasts the world’s largest population of Laysan albatross, soaring surface feeders with six-foot wingspans.

About 71% of the world’s population nests at the atoll, which is most famous for the Battle of Midway and the atoll’s pivotal role during World War II.

When the birds are not nesting, they soar in wind currents for thousands of miles while foraging.

They do this for five months before returning to the same nesting sites, year after year. During the nesting season, the female and male albatross take turns foraging while the other cares for the chick.

An albatross will lay only one egg per year, and its believed that Wisdom has raised at least 30 to 35 chicks, possibly many more.

That's one busy bird!

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

–Top two images are courtesy of Ann Bell/USFWS. Bottom image showing nesting birds is courtesy of David Patte/USFWS

Large, mysterious sea jelly washes ashore in Australia

The ocean is full of surprises, and a great big, gooey surprise washed ashore recently in Australia, and turned out to be species of jellyfish yet to be scientifically classified.

The giant, mysterious jellyfish, about five feet in diameter, was discovered on a beach in Tasmania by Josie Lim and her family.

“She and her children took this amazing photo that just boggles the mind,” Dr. Lisa-ann Gershwin, of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, told BBC News. Scientists had been aware of the species, but it’s so rare that it was never classified.

Gershwin said it’s one of three new species in the lion’s mane group of sea jellies found off Tasmania. (Sea jellies are commonly referred to as jellyfish, even though they're not fish.)

“We’re very eager to know more about it,” Gershwin said. The world’s largest jellyfish shares the same genus–Cyanea–as the lion's mane. Cyanea capillata is found in the North Atlantic and Arctic. It’s bell can span eight feet and its tentacles can can grow to about 100 feet.

According to a species profile on the Monterey Bay Aquarium website, “A Cyanea sea jelly was the murder weapon in a Sherlock Holmes mystery called 'The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane.' “Although the lion’s mane’s sting can be potentially fatal, most swimmers who encounter this gentle beast survive to tell the story."

The sea jelly found by the Lims was collected for study.

–Pete Thomas, via GrindTv Outdoor

Shaun White withdraws from snowboard slopestyle at Sochi Olympics; does he deserve the criticism?

News item: Shaun White will miss the Olympics debut of snowboard slopestyle at the Sochi Games in Russia. White, 27, withdrew from the event Wednesday, a day after falling and jamming his wrist on a practice run. Many have criticized the course as being too dangerous and White implied on his Facebook page that he doesn’t want to risk his chance of winning a third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe competition. (No American man has won the same event at three consecutive Winter Olympics.)

Reaction: This is an unpopular decision, but it’s Shaun White’s decision and one he obviously thought out carefully. It’s unfortunate because it diminishes the event, especially after so much hype, leaving it without snowboarding’s biggest star, and seemingly providing Canada’s Mark McMorris with a much easier path to victory.

White on Wedesday morning was being bashed on social media by other snowboarders and fans. Example (since deleted from Twitter), from snowboarder Sebastien Toutant: "Mr. White... It's easy to find excuses to pull out of a contest when you think you can't win..."

Is the criticism warranted? Probably to an extent. When an athlete commits to something of this magnitude, he or she should stay committed. Other snowboarders would have loved to have been in White's boots.

However, this course has fallen under criticism and White, who arrived in Sochi with plenty of dings, clearly is not comfortable trying to negotiate its daunting layout. If an athlete is not confident on a fast course with monstrous kickers, that’s a recipe for disaster. (See a POV run-through on the course, posted below.)

However, if White is pulling out just because he thinks he can't make the podium, he ought to be criticized for being selfish at the very least.

Veteran X Games commentator Sal Masekela tweeted, “Not surprised that Shaun White has dropped from Slopestyle. In my opinion, a successful 3rd gold medal in pipe cements his legacy.”

It will cement his legacy, but pulling out without a perfectly good reason–and only he knows the real reason–gives Shaun White critics more reason to dislike him.

To be sure, in hindsight, it would have been better for everyone if White had just skipped slopestyle in the first place.

–Top image shows part of a slopestyle course that has been criticized by some snowboarders as being too dangerous. Credit: FIS Freestyle Skiing. Video is a POV showing a run-through on the slopestyle course

Video shows Torstein Horgmo's crash on controversial Olympic slopestyle course at Sochi, Russia

Torstein Horgmo will sit out the Sochi Winter Games with a broken collarbone as snowboard slopestyle makes its Olympics debut later this week. But his training crash on Monday figures to get significant air time between now and the end of the men’s final on Saturday.

Video footage of the crash, on the rail section of a challenging and controversial course at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park, surfaced Tuesday on YouTube.

It was captured via cellphone camera and viewers can not only see but hear the slam as the Norwegian star missed his landing on a rail feature and fell hard on his shoulder and side.

Many have been critical of the course, while others have said it’s not as dangerous as some are saying.

On Tuesday, after some alterations, Shaun White fell after going errant after a steep jump. The two-time Olympic half pipe gold medalist jammed his wrist but is otherwise OK.

After that, Finnish snowboarder Marika Enne fell hard and suffered a concussion.

To be sure, the injuries and the headlines they have generated have set the sage for what promises to be very exciting finals.

The women's final is scheduled for Friday.

–Pete Thomas

It's man overboard as sailfish jumps onto boat (video)

Hooked billfish rarely leap onto boats, but when they do it can be extremely dangerous.

So when a fairly large sailfish jumped aboard the stern deck of a small cruiser in the Pacific off Costa Rica recently, the two anglers—possibly the first mate and a client—decided that the best course of action was to abandon ship.

The accompanying footage, uploaded by Crocodile Bay Lodge, shows a sailfish leaping and trying to shake the hook as it's being reeled toward the stern. In most cases sailfish will sound or try to avoid boats, but this fish was coming in fast and did not seem to realize a boat was in its way.

 

The captain, who presumably was videotaping the catch, can be heard yelling, “Careful! Careful!,” as the man holding the fishing rod shoved himself into the other man, sending both over the stern rail.

Reads one of the comments on the resort's Facebook page: "Nice takedown by the mate ... lol."

According to the video description, the sailfish was ultimately released alive.

Todd Staley, the resort’s director of fishing operations, said that this had not happened in the resort’s 15-year history until this day—when it happened twice!

Crocodile Bay Resort is located at the edge of the rain forest on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, which is famous for its rich ecological biodiversity.

Beyond the bay is a seasonal feeding area for sailfish, and anglers sometimes raise a dozen or more sailfish per day.

The resort frowns upon keeping sailfish, and hopes that many years pass before another jumps into one of its boats.

–Pete Thomas