Sea turtle nesting grounds

It has been some time since anything has been posted to the blog. Since it is summer in the northern hemisphere a search for sea turtle beaches might be a worth while highlight to a summer vacation. First up let me tell you that sea turtle eggs hatch in the warm sands of only a few of the beaches in the world. Here is a list of some of them:

• the Brunswick Islands  North Carolina
• south west Florida coast
• north coast of Australia
• South Pardre Island - Texas

Almost all of them are located next to warm shallow ocean areas.

Watching sea turtles hatch is a night time activity. Conservation groups like to educate and help the general public learn and observe the nightly hatching events that take place a few months each year. You can view a video of sea turtles hatching in North Carolina at this website.

Generally no added light is allowed in the area of the hatching so keep your flashlights at home. A good idea would be to choose a night when the moon is bright enough to allow viewing of the event under natural night time light.

Enjoy the summer and remember to not harm the coastal wildlife. Take photos and memories with you and leave everything else alone.

Getting close to the sea

So you really love the ocean. The sea, the waves and the tide pools call to you. You want to live near the ocean (or already do) and have a career that involves working either on, in or next to the ocean. How many careers can you think of? Here is what I can think of:

• Marine biologist
• Fisherman
• Tour guide
• Captain or crew of a ship
• Underwater welder
• Worker on an oil rig
• Pro Surfer
• Teacher - lessons in swimming, surfing, boating, fishing ect
• Entrepreneur (para-sailing, helicopter rides, charter boat ect)
• Scuba diver 
• Navy personnel
• Hotel owner
• Resort owner or worker

I bet you can think of at least a dozen more. My husband actually pursued a career as an underwater welder. He became a certified welder first using all kinds of welding equipment then when he got to the part of training for the underwater part he ran out of finances to get the scuba equipment. Unfortunately the school required him to buy his own equipment, they did not rent it out. So he ended his quest for underwater welding but stayed on land and was a welder for many many years.

Beach house

Today we have a guest blogger

Contribution by Stevie Kirby

My husband and I recently bought a beach house. We are almost to the point of retirement, and we have been discussing over the last several years where we would like to spend our golden years. We have two children, both of whom have married and live on opposite sides of the country. We have moved several times due to my husband’s job, spending the last four years in New York. We would like to move permanently to our beach house after my husband retires. He is roughly eight months from that point now. I have always loved the beach, and our family vacationed there often when our children were young. We spent many summers on the beaches of southern Virginia. We have thought about trying to use a fixed-rate for our home energy as we have done with our home in New York, which we found through Http://NEWYORKenergyrates.com. However, we will have to wait and see if that makes the most sense financially. I know that my husband is looking forward to fishing and relaxing in the sand. He has worked very hard over the years in the business world, and we are finally going to be able to sit back and relax.

Riding on the beach

I must admit that one of my favorite dreams was riding a horse at a full gallop on a beach. Since I do know how to ride and have ridden horses since I was very young, I know that it is a dangerous dream.

You see the sand on the beach can hold dangers for any animal running. You know how hard it is to walk on the beach when you sink too deep in the sand. The horse would end up injured if ridden in the wrong part of the beach at a gait faster than a walk. The high beach is too deep and the break water area can have soft spots where a horse's leg could sink during a gallop and cause the horse to break a leg.

Those dangers does not seem to deter those people who do gallop horses on the beach during times when I know the sand is treacherous. One day I saw some english horse tack half buried in the sand. I found out later that a horse got injured and the tack had to be cut off of the horse before he could be lead off the beach. I have no idea if the horse survived the injury.

If you like riding on the beach and would like to keep enjoying that activity, then walk your horse and go no faster. 

Tsunami trash due to hit West Coast of the USA by Christmas

If you ever wanted to go to the beach just to pick up trash then your day is almost here. The floating trash that is from the huge tsunami that hit Japan after their earthquake is due to start washing up on the west coast before Christmas gets here.

Just think of all the plastic that will be washing up on our shores. Everything from toys to cable covers will be embedded in our sand and wedging in between our rocky beaches.Couldn't someone think about putting up a net to isolate this stuff before it started to travel across the Pacific ocean?

The surf can be loud

I was visiting a friend at their ocean front condo just before a storm came onshore. We were watching a movie and had the french doors slightly open when it started to rain. The speakers home theater system were getting drowned out by the sound of wind and the crashing waves.

Waves when  pushed by winds can get quite large and noisy. As the storm slowly came ashore, we shut the doors and watched the ocean churn and the rain come down sideways. We rarely get lightning storms on the coast but we were treated to a brief show of thunder bolts that appeared offshore.

Baby dolphins dying

Are the baby dolphins that are washing up on the Gulf Coast shorelines the result of the BP oil spill or is something else going on? That is the question that is currently circulating through the news wires. On the NBC nightly news, the reporter claimed that the oil was the possible cause due to the contaminated fish that the mother dolphins were eating while pregnant. Since the gestation period for a dolphin is close to a year long, it would be almost impossible to determine if the mother dolphin was in the oil spill area for that entire time or even part of the time.

What we have to wait for is the toxicity results of the autopsies of the baby dolphins to be completed and that will take a few more weeks. Knowing that us humans also use the rivers that flow into the gulf waters as sewer lines, I would not be surprised to find that other factors would be in the report.

Antibiotics, those nasty best weight loss pills, household cleaners and all sorts of other chemicals could have contributed to the deaths. We also have no idea what is going on in Mexico and the other countries that also border the Gulf.

A fasinating way to relax

I was just cruising the information highway when I came across this:

I thought that it would be a great place to relax and type up my research papers while enjoying the ocean surf. I also found this outdoor piece of furniture which they called a daybed:

It has got to be the most interesting daybed I have ever seen. I wonder what kind of daybed covers it would take since it is round?

They both look very relaxing. Just perfect for that seaside residence. You just have to keep the seagulls off of them.

The intertide area

The area between the high tide and the low tide is called the intertidal zone. There are numerous species of wildlife that can only exist in that zone or area. You can see why something as dangerous as an oil spill or chemical spill can drastically affect the animals that live there.

Exploring the intertidal area is fascinating. I have traveled to many of them that were accessible by steep trails. Yet the one I enjoyed the most was across some sand dunes that we rode ATV's to. We carried our equipment in the ATV Accessories rack to the zone.

I have video of that fun trip but like I said in my previous post, I need to get it off of the VHS format to upload it to this blog.

Storms bring beach trash

Winter storms bring more than high waves and erosion to the shore line, they also deposit trash on the beaches. When you think of trash you are probably thinking about bottles and cans with the regular human picnic trash. Winter storm trash is much larger than that. There have been instances of sunken ships and boats washing up on beaches along with their cargo. These are not old ships and boats but modern ones. Their cargo could be anything from cars to mattresses and all of that can become beach trash.

Winter is here

The Pacific Northwest is now getting its first major snow storm of the season. Wind, heavy rain and high swells on the seas. Time to put away those julbo sunglasses until sunny weather arrives next spring. While it is rare to have snow on the beach, we do have lots of snow in the coastal mountain range. I have already witnessed local flooding in the Willamette Valley. I expect to see lots more in the next few days.

Whales beaching themselves

Most people think that whales never intentionally beach themselves, this is not true. Killer whales often beach themselves to grab a seal from off of the beach. Other whales such as the Humpback often visit very shallow bays and inlets that have stones as the bed instead of sand. The whales will rub against the stones to rid their bodies of barnacles, almost like a body acne treatment for whale skin.

While the smaller whales are use to being close to land and using the shoreline to their hunting advantage, they are not immune to rip tides or extreme under currents of the sea. We, as humans, would worry about drowning but the whales have to watch out for being stranded or land locked in a shallow sea.

Shoreline trash

Have you been to the beach lately? Was it pristine and clean? I am betting not. Put aside the oil washing up on the Gulf coast beaches and what other bits of human trash do you see? I think I have come across more can and bottles than anything else. A close second is used diapers and broken up Styrofoam coolers. I thought that Styrofoam was being outlawed? The most unusual item I saw in the last few months was a king size mattress that someone tried to set on fire and only burnt part of it. The mattress could have come from an off shore ship wreak or brought to the beach to be dumped. You guess is as good as mine for that one.

The one burning question I have always had: If people come to the beach to enjoy its beauty, then why do they trash it?

Marine mining

When you think of gold and diamond mining I bet you think of dark long tunnels or strip mining. Would it surprise you that marine mining, mining for minerals in the ocean is being done by large corporations? Yes marine mining is being done and those companies are looking for diamonds and gold. The main areas of exploration are off the coast of west Africa. The De Beers company, known the world over for their TV commercials for loose diamonds with the phrase "a diamond is forever", is a major marine mining company.

Marine mining is not simple and most smaller companies and hobbyists are just salvaging old ship wrecks and call it mining. The true marine mining vessels are huge ships. like this one:

This is the De Beers diamond recovery vessel PEACE IN AFRICA (former Dock Express 20)

Water proofing your camera

We now live in an age of paperless photos. Where we don't have to bother with film, film developing nor printing them those photos out is we don't want to, that's what digital frames are for. But what about making sure your camera is functioning in surroundings like the beach, on a boat or near a body of water. Sure, you say that you won't get the camera wet or drop it in the water, but what about air born moisture?

People that live close to the ocean will tell you that their electronic devices will corrode after being exposed to salt laden ocean air. If you only go to the ocean once in a great while your camera should be fine but if you live or visit the coast on a weekly basis then I would look into getting a camera that was more resistant to moisture and even better if it was designed for use near or in salt water.

My true feelings about the oil spill in the Gulf

Warning: this post may offend some of you

Ok, I have heard just about enough news on the TV about the oil spill in the Gulf and I am pissed. What I am pissed off about is the fact that almost all of the coverage is about how people are affected by the spill. The TV news is covering how people are losing their businesses and work. Well boo who. People can move, find other lines of work, start other businesses. Damn it, what about the sea life that can't move, are having their homes destroyed and some of them will not live through this disaster to continue their species. Instead of the TV news continually covering the economic part of the disaster just to sell commercial air time to viagra and sleep aids, why don't they cover what the Sierra Club, The National Wildlife Federation and other conservation clubs are doing.

I am sorry if I offended some of you but I just had to say that.

Weddings at the beach

Romance at the beach. Walking on the beach hand in hand with your loved one. Sounds romantic doesn't it? Have you ever witnessed a beach wedding? Believe me they are not always the most romantic of settings. The wedding favors often get blown all over the place and the wedding dress gets soaked. Of course I love the beach but I think I will skip the weddings on them.

People that live too close to the ocean

What you are looking at in the photo above is the city of destin florida. This is a city that is literately built on the beach. Those buildings in the forefront of the photo are large mega hotels so it gives you an idea of what the rest of the buildings are. Being that this is in Florida, didn't anyone think about the hurricane season? Sure, it might be a few years between the major ones but within a span of 20-25 years a major one will strike and will kill or ruin family lives forever.

With the added bonus of global warming I wonder how long those buildings will be above the water level? That is a little unreal, isn't it?

Whole countries are disappearing under water

Low lying countries are now on the verge of disappearing altogether, watch the video below for a very graphic look at the rising sea water.

Misidentified sea monsters

Mammals and sea life are often misidentified when they are washed up on shorelines. Take for example the many strange lifeforms that have been found washed up along the shoreline of New York. One of the more well known ones was called the Montauk Monster (pictured below)


What at first appears to be a four legged creature with a beak like mouth is in reality a decomposing land mammal. There is evidence of fur on one of the legs. The creature also has teeth and not a beak. The animal has hand like paws which resemble a raccoon and not a dog as many people originally thought. The face had been either eaten away or got caught in something which may or may not have resulted in the animals death.

The bottom line is.... a picture is not always the best way to identify an unidentified creature. An autopsy or DNA test should be done to determine the what the creature truly is.