John & Anne Wiley

2016/06/17

Doom Cloud

Filed under: Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:26

This cloud of smoke hanging over SB in late afternoon seemed to portend doom tonight, once the winds pick up and blast the Sherpa Fire out of control again.

7309 Smoke Eye

7309 Smoke Eye

The sun is reduced to an ominous red eye, and this wider view adds a smoke mouth making into some grotesque dirty white whale.

7312 Smoke Mouth

7312 Smoke Mouth

We were captivated enough to go across the “Bridge To Nowhere” aka Salvar Bridge that crosses Hwy.154 and the scene there was beyond words and pictures, so here’s a video. 194129 Wind, Fire, Drums//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

2016/05/18

Whaling

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 19:08

As I kid I knew someone with a “Magic 8 Ball” toy. She’d ask it a question, flip it over, and like some hybrid fortune teller / magician, the answer would rise into view out of the dark depths. This experience reminds me of that somewhat.

6150 Rising Fortunes

6150 Rising Fortunes

Like some sign of rising fortunes, I glimpsed a dim shape beneath the water just offshore. Circling back and looking again moments later I could tell it was a whale, so we grabbed cameras and got views like these. Soon we realized it was probably that same group of two mothers with their calves making leisurely passes along the shallows, scooping up mud and filtering out meals.

6104 Less Mud

6104 Less Mud

Unlike before, we saw almost no mud coming from the mouths of the calves. Apparently they’ve either honed their technique with tutoring from moms, or can hold their breath longer so the mud is ejected before they near the surface. On one turn, a mom surfaced and her blow caught the sun in this magical rainbow.

6141 Whale Rainbow

6141 Whale Rainbow

Seeing them again bodes well for more “whaling” on our next local flight. If they stick around we might get to watch the youngsters continue to grow and learn.

2016/05/12

2 Tops & Bottom

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 22:33

Comments on an Edhat submission I sent in today got me wondering about this rooftop construction. Is it a jacuzzi, sculpture, or something completely different?

5780 UnJacuzzi

5780 UnJacuzzi

Could this actually be a jacuzzi? If you have ideas, please post a comment on the Edhat item. As you can see in the Edhat pic there’s a roof above with a patio that has things on it, so in case you were curious like me:

5782 Bottom Up

5782 Bottom Up

It’s two dead plants and disused tables. Probably an interesting story in itself, but I’m also curious about the bottom of that wall where they’re digging down for something presumably related to the steel beam construction at the bottom-left. The bottom referenced in my title for this post though, is about this pic of the ocean bottom in front of the popular More Mesa open space.

5501 More Mesa Bottom

5501 More Mesa Bottom

Do you share my fascination with how the colors and shapes combine there?

2016/05/01

Boat to Anacapa

We’ve seen East Anacapa Island from “both sides now” as the old song goes. Just a week after our flight out there, we got a round-trip afternoon ride on the boat from Ventura that picks up people who got to go ashore from the morning boat. It was so fun to get closer views of some fav spots. We saw dolphins close up, as they surfed the bow wave.

4978 Surfin' Cetaceans

4978 Surfin’ Cetaceans

I was thrilled to get much closer views of the cool rock arch off the East end of the island, and noticed more sea caves in it.

5389 Rock Arch

5389 Rock Arch

Going around the tip to look from North and South we also got a better look at the nearby small arch in another of the rocks, and closer looks at the rock spires and the “blade” rock.

5305 Fun With Rocks

5305 Fun With Rocks

It was so easy to get better pix of the Anacapa Lighthouse too!

5156 Anacapa Lighthouse

5156 Anacapa Lighthouse

We had many other spectacular views and fun experiences, met some interesting people, and on the way back were saluted by this dolphin frolicking alongside.

5421 Dolphin Salute

5421 Dolphin Salute

2016/04/28

Anacapa Light

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 23:28

The light out at Anacapa Island is often too harsh for our cameras to handle in flight, because we can’t use modern tricks like “HDR” at the high speeds required. So I was pleased to capture at least an impression of the range between shaded dark rock cliffs and the brilliant white on the bird rock arch offshore.

4421 White, Dark & Light

4421 White, Dark & Light

Notice how different the water surface looks between the right and left, due to the ubiquitous wind out there. Wind and waves would make it challenging but I’d love to kayak around the small rock spire, “blade” and arch.

4424 Small Spire, Blade & Arch

4424 Small Spire, Blade & Arch

The larger rock arch is even more fascinating to me, including the small sea cave you can see in the above pic. In this next one you get a sense of how the waves and currents would be affected not just by winds, waves and currents, but the varying depth.

4426 Anacapa Arch

4426 Anacapa Arch

The trusty old Anacapa Lighthouse adds an illusion of safety in these waters that can transform in minutes, from an expansive bucolic calm to a foggy maelstrom or hailing hurricane. update: I found the “MANIC1” weather station online and verified the coordinates as near the light (probably atop that adjacent square tower), so I’ve posted the link for future reference.

4430 Anacapa Lighthouse

4430 Anacapa Lighthouse

That first pic showing all of the arches and rocks plus some smaller rocks off the point, amply demonstrates the good reasons a lighthouse was built there.

 

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