Papakolea Beach

My son and I made the trek to Papakolea Beach today. This beach has sparkling green sand because the surrounding rock contains olivine. It was an hour-long drive from our place in Kailua-Kona down to South Point, followed by a walk along the coast. The walk was three miles over uneven terrain, and it was hot, extremely windy, and dusty/dry because it's a desert, right along the Pacific Ocean coast. And because it's a desert, there was only dry grass, no trees, no shade. My son and I sunburn easily; we repeatedly applied sunscreen and he still came away with sunburned arms. I fared better.

This is a small beach

Red Boulder in Green Sand

Green/Brown Sand

This shot shows the whole beach

From a distance, the sand looks brown. Up close, it's absolutely a sparkling green. There were lots of people on the trail, and a few trucks driven by locals who charged tourists for the ride to/from the beach. So, long walk, uncomfortable conditions, cool, unique beach, and it was worth the trip.

Nene

Last year on Maui my son and I hiked through the Haleakala crater. It was miles of arid, desolate landscape, walking on loose cinders. Eventually the footing became more solid in the part of the crater that gets much more rain. We reached a grassy area with a park service hut, which campers can rent. As we rested, a pair of Hawaiian geese, or nenes, to use the Hawaiian word for the birds, walked up to us. A third joined shortly thereafter, only to be shooed off by the first two. I left my heavy DSLR behind for this long hike and only had my phone to photograph them. Ever since that encounter, I've wanted to photograph them properly.

Well, on this trip to the big island, I've had my chance. While visiting Punalu'u beach, I saw several nenes along the side of the road by a golf course. I stopped the car, got my camera, and spent several minutes with them.

Nene

 When I first saw them years ago (during yet another Hawaiian trip), I thought they looked like the Canada Goose. I think I've read that the two species are related, with the theory that the nene is a divergent species after vagrants landed in and stayed in the islands. Their feet are only partially-webbed because they no longer need to swim. And those bands on their necks are unique.

Distinctive Neck Pattern

In fact, I made a point of trying to capture some neck detail in some of the photos. The bill also seems shorter than that of the Canadian goose.

Banded Legs

As with just about every endemic animal on Hawaii, the population crashed with the arrival of Europeans, and these animals are protected by law. The active conservation program includes capture and banding, which has obviously happened to this bird. In fact, every nene I've seen had banded legs, except for the one shown in the first photo above.

The nenes that I saw on Maui, and these on the big island, seemed to have no fear of humans, so it was easy to get quite close to them (but not too close, because that would be harassment, which is illegal). The birds on Maui approached to within a few feet of my son and me as we sat on a bench. These on the road by the golf course were also curious, looking at me and even approaching me as i photographed them.

Green Sea Turtles

I'm on a trip to Hawaii's Big Island. I've been here before, but was disappointed by my bad luck finding the famous Green Sea Turtles. I'm having much better luck this time. Punalu'u Beach, famous for its black sand, is a spot for frequent turtle basking. We stopped for a side trip while driving past. When we arrived, there were dozens of people on the nearby beach, standing near a pair of turtles.

Basking on Punalu'u Beach

There's not a lot of action when they're basking. I spent a few minutes photographing and watching and moved along, happy to have finally seen them.

Later during this trip I visited a beach near Kailua-Kona. There were four turtles swimming in tidal pools. Their shells were easy to spot in the shallow water. Occasionally one of them would raise a head to breathe. But it wasn't possible to get good photographs because all I'd see was a bit of the shell. I wish I had brought a polarizing filter. Farther along on the sandy beach, I found a pair of turtles on the sand.

Basking on the beach at Kaloko-Honokohau National Historic Park

One of the turtles had the number 14 painted on its shell; there was no number on the other one. Again, not much action, other than the man in a ridiculously colorful and tight Speedo who came hustling up to us as my son and I approached the turtles. I think he was about to berate us for turtle harassment until he realized that we were keeping a respectful distance from the turtles. He stood there silently, pretending to watch the turtles when in fact he was watching us, and finally after a few minutes he went back the way he had come, having never said a word to us. Maybe we disappointed him by giving him no reason to scold us.

Green Sea Turtle

My son and I sat on the sand about 20 feet away from the turtles and just enjoyed the setting sun and the breeze. The turtles would occasionally move their heads and flippers and eyelids. One of them finally opened its eyes long enough for me to get a shot.

Eyeing Us

There are warning signs on every sandy beach that I've visited here informing people of the requirement to stay away from these large, endangered animals. I was able to get some very tight shots of them using my 300mm lens from a respectful distance.

On the Rocks

I returned to the same beach near Kailua-Kona for a total of three sunset visits. I saw turtle number 14 on all three trips. Each time, there were several turtles in shallow water, in pools in the lava rock. On my last trip, the tide was out, revealing much more rock and much more sand. There were at least six turtles swimming in the shallow pools, including number 89 and number 101, as well as several that were not numbered.

Green Shell? Or Green Slime on the Shell?

They mostly just rested motionless, with only occasional eyelid opening or head movements. Even in the water there wasn't much movement, just slow movement looking for and eating plants. I could see them feeding in the clear water in the shallow pools.

Fleeting Eye Openings

 This turtle below was resting on the rocks, unlike all the previous times when I'd seen turtles on the sand. This was also a cloudy evening; they weren't soaking any heat in.

On the Rocks

Green Sea Turtles ingest a lot of salt water. Their bodies have the ability to remove the excess salt through glands near their eyes. When they've been out of the seawater for a while, the salt dries and cakes below their eyes, making for a messy mixture of salt and sand on their faces.

Salty Sandy Face

Occoquan River Rowing

My son's last race of the season was on a beautiful Fall day. I think I've finally gotten the hang of this:

1. Get to a spot where the boat will pass close by.
2. Select that spot to have the rowers front-lit, or at least not back-lit.
3. Catch them as they go by to the starting line. They're warming up, and in a good mood as they BS with each other.
4. During the race get a few shots as they approach, but that's not the main event.
5. Fire away when they pass. You'll get their faces in the shot.
6. Time the shots for the catch, when the paddle hits the water. Flying water and grimaces of effort make for great shots. Don't fill that buffer!

Warming Up

Fall Colors

Getting Closer

Close Pass

Pulling Hard

Conowingo Dam

If it's November, it's time for Conowingo Dam eagles.

Unfortunately the weather has been relatively warm and wet, which means the lakes aren't freezing yet, which means the northern eagles aren't migrating yet. The wet weather means the Susquehanna River is really high. The water is moving very swiftly as the dam spillways are open. This is not good for photography.

Nevertheless, I visited the dam, and managed a few keepers. The first sequence here is a juvenile, probably 1st year, given the feather colors, and it caught a fish in the morning gloom and perched in a tree very close by my position, so close in fact that it was possible to fill the frame. It would have been great, except it was so dark and back-lit.

Juvenile Bald Eagle Eating a Fish

Slimy Beak after Eating

Fluffy

This eagle above perched in first one, then another nearby tree all morning. Dozens of photographers shot what must have been thousands of photographs of it just sitting there. He/she is responsible for lots of consumed storage.

All day long, there were flyovers of a pair of eagles taking sticks to a nest on one of the electrical towers. This seems WAY early to be nest building, but there they were.

One on the Rail and One on the Nest

And the last sequence was far away, near the island, as an adult attempted to snatch something from the water. I missed photographing the first part of the sequence, but watched as it seemed to crash into the water. It then floated along in the swift current until it managed to fly away. I've seen this happen only a couple of times where the bird winds up floating/swimming. The shots kind of suck because I had neglected to change my exposure settings as the sun got really bright, so I washed the whites out. And it was quite far away. But here's the sequence.

Splashed Down

Floating Along

Finally Got the Wings Out

And Liftoff

So overall it was a very disappointing day with very little activity. Even the cormorants and gulls were scarce. I only go when the forecast is for sunny weather. I think I'll also start checking for the river water level and go only when the level is low.

GoPro on a Cruise Ship

A GoPro is really a selfie camera, right? Well I don't use mine that way. I like to use it to record a journey. I set it up in timelapse mode and let it fire away for a while. Then I make a movie from the photos.

On my cruise, I wanted to make timelapses from my balcony. With some experimentation, I settled on 1/2 second intervals, wide angle, turned slightly forward so that the side of the ship was just barely in view.

The hardest part was the mount. I found photos of my class of cabin online and I checked the balcony: a glass barrier with a faux wood rail. The glass has a blue tint, so no shooting through it. The rail is too big for a clamp and has no metal for a magnet, I'd have to use the suction cup. I needed extensions that I could bend around the rail, and I needed a pivoting head so I could turn the camera slightly forward. And I wanted most of the weight to be inboard so if the suction cup came loose, the whole thing would just fall on the balcony floor.

Taking Time Lapses Over the Side

I found some extensions to buy, wrapped them in rubber bands to damp the ships vibrations down when resting on the rail, and added a pivoting head to the top.

Next, the battery life isn't great. I needed an external battery, which I connected via the USB port. I got a wire long enough to safely place the battery on the balcony table. The rubber bands that dampened vibrations also held the charging wire.

It turned out to be pretty easy to mount the camera, turn it on, check the composition, then walk away for a while.

I set up for port arrivals and departures. And I even got a time lapse of the airport departure in showery weather. Enjoy. Time lapse on YouTube

Ports and Life Aboard

During my recent European cruise, I made a point of paying attention to the other ships during our port visits. I've never spent much time in ports, and I wanted to see how these large vessels maneuver, and I wanted to see how ports operate.

One of the first things I noticed was just how much smoke the ships all seem to be belching into the atmosphere at all times. Even tied up at a dock or riding at anchor, they smoke. I presume they're running generators instead of relying on shore power. They also continuously pump bilge water overboard.

Smoky Ferry

We boarded the cruise ship (Crown Princess) in Piraeus, and there was a lot of ferry activity. Several large ships came and went as we waited for our own departure. Here in the US there aren't a lot of ocean-going ferries. Most of this kind of activity is for service to islands near New England and the Canadian coast, or along the Pacific Northwest. But it makes perfect sense that there are many ferries around the Mediterranean.

Piraeus with the Acropolis in the Distance

Our first port call was Santorini. There's no cruise ship dock, so we used tenders to get ashore. A small flotilla was busy all day.

Crown Princess at Santorini

There were a few other cruise ships there during the same day.

Cruise Ship at Santorini

Cruise Ship at Santorini

I spent a lot of time looking at other ships, checking out the various features. I'm amazed at how many people fit in those lifeboats. We also tendered in Kotor, but docked at all other ports. The crew of our ship launched boats even when we were docked. They used the boats to service/maintain the ship and once there was even a man overboard drill with several boats launched.

Tender/Lifeboat

I also had the opportunity to observe several pilots coming aboard or getting off. The pilot boats mostly look the same. They're small, with powerful engines, and lots of handholds.

Pilot Boat

During arrivals, the pilots met us out of the harbor by coming alongside and then stepping off the pilot boat and onto the ship through a door in our ship that was located near the waterline. Reverse the process for the departures. The pilot boat would stay alongside as we exited the harbor; the boat would come alongside to take the pilot off. Often these trips were VERY short, with the pilot working for less than a mile.

Pilot Boat about to come Alongside to Take the Pilot Off

During one such exchange, I happened to be atop the bridge, so I was able to actually watch the pilot coming aboard.

Coming Aboard

Most of the time the pilots didn't even wear life vests. You would think they were going out to the store, or some casual lunch given the way they were dressed. This one was dressed more professionally than most.

Sometimes I saw lines stretched like this, and I wondered how they managed to get those lines stretched so far from the ship. The answer: a small motorboat would come alongside and grab the lines and take them out to the mooring.

Lines Stretched Out

I watched this ferry arrive in port. It came in bow first, used thrusters to pirouette, dropped anchor well away from the wharf, then reversed until the stern was close to the wharf, playing more anchor chain out as it went. Then a motorboat came along, grabbed the lines that were played out from the huge winches, and towed the lines to shore, where workers grabbed them and dropped them on the bollards. Then the deck hands used the winches to take the slack up in the lines, drawing the ship closer to the wharf. Then they pulled the anchor chain tight, and finally dropped the ramp to allow vehicles off/on. That was quite a lot of work to get tied up. But the benefit of all this work is that the ship is already in position for an easy departure: pull the lines in, pull the anchor up, and forward thrust.

An Ugly Ferry with its Stern Backed Up to the Wharf

Naples is a container port. There were lots of cranes, with Vesuvius looming not far away. The light was awful so this photo kind of sucks. I'm showing it anyway because there are so many cranes and hauled-out boats, and of course, the famous volcano. It also shows the balcony rail for my cabin and the extended bridge. Passengers were allowed on top of the bridge when the weather was good.

Port of Naples and Vesuvius

Naples was the only place I remember seeing tugboats. Most ships seem to have thrusters these days. No need for tugboats to help them maneuver.

A Rare Tugboat

Barcelona was by far the most interesting port. There were tankers, container ships, and cruise ships coming and going.  We were tied up directly across from a ship that was actively discharging containers.

Discharging Cargo

There was a Costa cruise ship tied up astern from us. That profile looks so familiar; the Concordia looked just like this because they are the same class.

Costa Fascinosa in Barcelona

Container Cranes in Barcelona

In just about every port, I saw baby tankers. They would pull alongside large ships and tie up. They stayed for several hours at a time, pumping fuel to the larger ship.

Oiler

Here's a natural gas tanker.

Tanker in the Bay of Gibraltar

I got to see quite the variety of ships and maneuvers. It's amazing how well these large ships can maneuver in the small harbors. Our own ship was huge, but surprisingly graceful. Only rarely did I sense any rolling motions, and I never saw any pitching action.

As for life aboard ship as a passenger, it was comfortable. There was too much to eat, and there was always noise. Days at sea were kind of boring, but relaxing. The pools were always packed, but that's OK, I'm not a pool person. I spent a lot of time reading, napping, and walking the promenade deck.

Promenade Deck with Lifeboats Hanging Above

The dining room vibrated a lot. Evening meals were above some machinery that made a rhythmic boom. The first day aboard, the air conditioning wasn't working on our deck. It seems the ship mostly works OK, but it's showing lots of signs of wear.

Typical Corridor Aboard

Breakfast and lunch were in the food court, where there was a buffet. The food was good. The carpets and tables and chairs were worn. One table had a persistent drip from something in the ceiling. It never rained during the cruise; the water must have come from a pipe or overhead machinery.

Food Court

Most of the cabins that had balconies had some overhead cover. But not the balconies on my deck: deck 9, aka the Dolphin deck. There was no overhead cover at all. Passengers above could easily see my balcony. And when the sun was on that side of the ship, the balcony was hot and unusable. I wouldn't book a cabin on that deck again.

No Overhead Cover on the Lowest Balconies

Days in port were hectic. We usually docked early in the day, and we would make sure we were among the first off the ship. The cities were crowded and hot. We saw a lot of sights, and usually returned to the ship early in the day to beat the heat and to relax without worrying about being late for the next departure.

In summary, I'd say that it was a mix of go-go-go and relax-relax-relax. I had a lot of fun, but I'm glad to be back home.