Sunday, August 16, 2009

Orca killing a harbor porpoise

My class at OIMB went whale and bird watching offshore one last time. We saw a transient group of orcas--two females and one male. They were swimming in circles with what looked like an orca calf. Then one of the females charged out of the water, tossing this harbor porpoise. My classmate, J. Goodell, happened to turn her camera on at the right moment and got this shot. I don't think that I will see anything like this again.

Notes on orcas:
There are two resident populations of killer whales in the Pacific Nortwest: Northern (Vancouver, BC to Alaska) whales and Southern (Puget Sound to S. Vancouver island) whales. Residents normally eat fish like salmon. Transient killer whales normally eat marine mammals. When they catch mammalian prey they toss it around for awhile, much like a cat tends to toss around a mouse before eating it. Not much is known about the reasons for this behavior. Perhaps they are teaching their young how to hunt. Another hypothesis is that they jolt the blubber free of the rest of the carcass while tossing prey (thus making it easier to bite off the best part of the animal:fat). Maybe it's fun to do.
Also, killer whales are opportunists. They will eat bottom fish, whale carcasses, seals and sea lions, and less commonly polar bears and moose. Orcas in Patagonia are known to strand themselves on the shore in order to catch a meal. If I had to choose between swimming in orca territory or shark territory, I would choose sharks.

If you click on the photo, it should get larger. It's amazing that we even got to see it, so I am happy with a grainy photo.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Life's a Beach.

Today Ralph took Bella down to the jetty for some fetch in the water. I met them after school got out. She is like a maniac with the waves. We can't get her to stop biting at them when they roll in. Anyway, a little boy at the beach really wanted to throw the stick for her so we stayed out a little longer than we should have. She got really pooped and drank a ton of salt water. At home she put herself to bed and was shivering like crazy so we tucked her in. She would run herself to death if we let her.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Ihasahotdog

dog
see more dog and puppy pictures

Another funny picture b/c I haven't posted in ages.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Bella's New Look

After two swimming scares, we decided to get Bella a lifejacket. She tends to overestimate her skills and gets swept out by the tide. We also made a sailing friend and this will be useful on the boat. I think that she's worth 33dollars. It has a handle on the back so you can use a boat hook to grab the dog and lift out of the water. I don't know anyone who could lift her out, but I think it will be a good feature when there are other dogs around or if we see a seal and she wants to jump for it. The orange color is nice, too. There was a green one at mini pet mart that wasn't as visible. we bought it last night. I'll let you know if she sinks or floats.

PS We live in Charleston, OR now for those of you who didn't hear.

Why we don't invite the neighbors over for dinner:

Me and Ralph made some delicious BBQ ribs recently. The first time we made them I thought: Oh we have so many, we should invite one of our neighbors over to help eat them. Luckily I didn't follow through with this thought. We get smeared with BBQ sauce every time. This was the second time we made them.

Boil the ribs for 20-30min
BBQ for 6min each side--you can also broil in the oven if you want less carcinogens on your carcinogens.
Add BBQ sauce and eat
Don't invite the neighbors

Monday, June 22, 2009

Unveiling...

I can't think of anything to write to go with this.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Richard Simmons

I had a dream about Richard Simmons last night. He visited me at my parents house and I gushed to him about his work in "Sweatin to the Oldies". I was so star-struck that I had to pee. So he waited on the couch while I peed and looked for my camera. When I went back to the living room he was talking politics with Kermit the Frog. Then I got really excited and asked if I could take a picture of them together. They obliged. Then I really wanted their autographs so I went to get a pen and then I woke up. I really need to lay off the Zyrtec.


Shake that butt--and move those thighs!!