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Ocean Wild Things

Ocean fireworks in a sand-rose sea anemone

July 4, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 3 Comments

For some brilliant color, ocean sparkle and pop, look no further than the sand-rose sea anemone or Urticina columbiana. This beauty lights up the sandy ocean floor in depths of 40 to 150 feet and lives as far north as British Columbia to as far south as Baja California. The diameter of a sand-rose anemone’s… [read more]

Filed Under: Sea jellies and anemones Tagged With: sea anemone, sea jellies

Lazy summer days

July 2, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

This photo pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling lately. What is it about summer that makes you just want to lay in the grass, close your eyes and soak in the sun? My blog calls me, dust collects on my bookshelves, my social media posts are outdated, the mail pile grows, but I… [read more]

Filed Under: Earth musings, Seals, sea lions

Let’s explore the ocean

June 28, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 3 Comments

This is a great image featuring fascinating ocean facts. A friend shared it with me and I thought everyone should see it. My only note to add is that sperm whales can actually dive up to 10,000 feet, although most dives are less than 6,500 feet. Other than that, enjoy! And a thanks to mastersdegree.net… [read more]

Filed Under: Oceanography

Contents of a sperm whale’s stomach: squid parts and plastic

June 23, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 2 Comments

After I wrote about the sperm whale that died from eating 100 plastic bags, Dr. Alexandros Frantzis, Scientific Director at the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute in Greece sent me another photo of a sperm whale’s stomach contents. This photo shows the new normal for a sperm whale’s diet in the eastern Mediterranean Sea as described… [read more]

Filed Under: Ocean pollution, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, marine debris, ocean trash, whale watching

Easy crab, watch those elbows!

June 19, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

One of the most common phrases I heard growing up was, “No elbows on the table!” Well, this crab would have been in big trouble at my family’s dinner table…the sandflat elbow crab or Heterocrypta occidentalis. As you can see from the photo, this crab has disproportionately large claws ending in tiny pincers, making it… [read more]

Filed Under: Lobster, shrimp, crab(s) Tagged With: crab, crustacean

Humpback whale on a mission

June 12, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 2 Comments

I love this photo! It was taken off the coast of Alaska by Michael Daniel Ho, who graciously allowed me to share it here. When I first saw this photo on Facebook, it just grabbed me. This whole story popped into my head about how this humpback whale was late to a meeting and was… [read more]

Filed Under: Photography, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, humpback whale, nature photography, whale, whale watching, wildlife photography

Happy World Oceans Day!

June 8, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft Leave a Comment

Happy World Oceans Day everyone! Take time to celebrate our oceans today in some way. After writing my last two posts, I have to recommend celebrating by not using plastic bags the entire month of June. If that seems too difficult, than at least try not using plastic bags today. To get into the World… [read more]

Filed Under: Ocean events

Sperm whale: death by 100 plastic bags

June 7, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 48 Comments

Since my celebratory post last week on the City of Los Angeles plastic bag ban, this gruesome photo came to my attention. For those of you out there who still aren’t convinced that banning plastic bags is a good idea, then you must take a really good look at this photo of 100 plastic bags… [read more]

Filed Under: Front, Ocean pollution, Whales Tagged With: cetacean, marine debris, ocean trash, plastic, sperm whale, whale, whaling

Way to ban plastic bags LA!

May 31, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

On Wednesday, May 23rd, Los Angeles became the largest U.S. city to pass a plastic bag ban with a 13 to 1 vote by the Los Angeles City Council. As a Los Angeles resident and ocean enthusiast, I was thrilled! When plastic shopping bags were first introduced in 1977, no one had an inkling of… [read more]

Filed Under: Ocean pollution Tagged With: gray whale, marine debris, ocean trash, plastic, pollution

Remember the blue whale

May 29, 2012 by Carolyn Kraft 1 Comment

On May 18th, Endangered Species Day, I had every intention of writing a post about the blue whale, but there is only so much time in the day and that opportunity came and went. (By the way, for those of you who don’t know, the third Friday in May is Endangered Species Day, so get… [read more]

Filed Under: Whales Tagged With: baleen, blue whale, cetacean, endangered, whale, whale watching, whaling

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