Two Humpback Whales Almost Eat Snorkelers

This is amazing footage of a couple of snorkelers, a bunch of seal, seagulls, a large school of fish, and two large humpback whales.  Shot using a GoPro Hero camera, I think the snorkelers should have moved to the boat when they felt the krill bumping the video camera as they were trying to run from the whales.

I would have loved to be on that float line.  Even better, I wish I had scuba gear on, and was down below the water watching the whole thing.

Humpback Whale

What do you think? How would you have responded?

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
seaotter.com

About a year after we started scuba diving, we heard rumors of this tiny fish called the Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker (PSL). Everyone talked about these magical, adorable fish with such affection and wonder, we decided we had to find them.  

We spent dive after dive searching for this mythical fish, but no matter where we dove, and not matter how much we searched, we could never find even a single PSL.

Sometimes it's easier to find something underwater when you know exactly what it looks like, and where it likes to hang out.  One Saturday morning, we decided to take a tour of the fish tanks at the Highline Community College Marine Science and Technology (MaST) Center at Redondo Beach in DesMoines, Washington.  We heard that they might have one of these mysterious PSL's, and even though we weren't underwater, we were excited that we were finally going to see this tiny fish. Unfortunately, luck was not with us.  MaST is a wonderful place to visit, and the staff there knows their stuff, so the visit was nice but we did not see a PSL. 

We know they are real.  There is plenty of literature out there that describes these cute fish.  The Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker fish has an almost spherical head and body.  This fish has no scales.  Their entire body is covered with spiny lumps called tubercles.  They also have a "specialized fringed sucker disk on their stomach" in place of pelvic fins which allows them to literally suction-cup themselves to objects such as eel grass.  If you look closely at the PSL in the image above, you can see that their fins are translucent.  This fish is celebrated in Asia, and is often the highlight of parades, and trips to the aquarium..

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
http://www.aquariumofpacific.org

Eventually, we gave up looking for them.  There are so many wonderful things to see underwater, it was only a small disappointment.  When students asked, we sent them to this YouTube video.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker - Victoria High School

One day, I joined a couple of friends taking some specialized training with the Handicapped Scuba Association (HSA).  We were learning exactly what it takes to scuba with people with disabilities.  You talk about challenging!  In order for us to truly understand what would be required of us if we chose to dive with an HSA certified diver, we did several dives in the pool  simulating the experience, first as the diver with a disability, and then as a dive assistant guiding a diver with a disability.  Once we convinced our instructor that we had mastered these activities, it was time to put them to the real test out in the cold waters of the Puget Sound.  We were all excited and scared to death to finish up our training in the cold water.  We finished the first round of dives where three of our masks were completely blacked out, and three other divers gave us a tour.  It was an interesting experience being guided around, limiting the experience to what the guide chose to place in my hands.  Still, the water is a tranquil place, a time to relax completely, listen to your own breathing, and float weightlessly.

Here's where things get funny.  The first dive was short, so we didn't need to change our tanks, we just had to swap masks.  It was my turn to guide my "blind" student through the water.  Things were going well for the first half of the dive, until I spotted my first lumpsucker.  I was so excited, I let my divers hand go, and swam off to get a better look of this adorable swimming fish the size of a quarter.  I generally don't touch things underwater, but taking a blind diver underwater means that you get to touch things, and place them in the diver’s hands.  Remembering my blind diver, I scooped the PSL up and swam back taking care not to squish the fish.  I carefully placed the fish in my diver's hands.  Moments later I carefully returned my new found treasure to his home in the eel grass, and then finished the dive leading my blind diver out of the water.

Once we were all out of the water, we talked about the whole experience.  My blind diver was able to figure out everything I put in his hands, guessing that the PSL was a fish, and super excited to find out the he actually got to hold one.  

Since that dive, I've been lucky enough to spot a few more of these beautiful little fish. Hope you are lucky enough to spot one someday.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker
http://pugetsound.wikia.com

You can read more about this adorable fish in "It’s Not a Party Without a Lumpsucker!"  One final adorable photo of the PSL...because they are just so cute.

Pacific Spiny Lumpsuckers
On Balloons

Have You Been Looking For A Rug?

What a coincidence...we have a few rugs for sale.

Back in 1997, my parents went shopping.  They purchased sixteen rugs from The Golden Horn, in Seattle, WA.  Half of their townhome was unfinished, and they were hoping to use several of these rugs once they completed the work on the townhome.  As usual, life happens...

Long story short, they have six beautiful rugs that were purchased, set aside, and then never used, not even once.  I have volunteered to help them sell the rugs.  I've listed them on Craigslist a few times with no success.  I'm very hesitant about putting them on eBay because of the fees both eBay and PayPal charge, so I'm going to try listing them here.  If you see something you like, drop me a line, ask me a question, or make me an offer.  I'm willing to mail the rug(s), at cost, and if you are local, you can simply pick them up.

Item #	Description	Size	Sale Price
#1.	Iran Kol	5 x 9	$600.00
#2.	Turkey Kilim	4.7 x 6.4	$350.00
#3.	Turkey Malatya	3.4 x 6.4	$375.00
#4.	Iran S	3.75 x 5.1	$650.00
#5.	Turkey Kilim	5.1 x 7.9	$200.00
#6.	Turkey Kilim	6 x 10.1	$400.00

#1 Iran Kohl 5 x 9

#1 Iran Kohl 5 x 9

The coin in the photo's was added to help give you an idea of the size of the detail on the rug.

#2 Turkey Kilim 4.7 x 6.4

#2 Turkey Kilim 4.7 x 6.4

#3 Turkey Malatya 3.4 x 6.4

#3 Turkey Malatya 3.4 x 6.4

#4 Iran S 3.75 x 5.1

#4 Iran S 3.75 x 5.1

#5 Turkey Kilim 5.1 x 7.9

This is my favorite rug.

#6 Turkey Kilim 6 x 10.1

#6 Turkey Kilim 6 x 10.1

You can pay with cash, Google Checkout, or PayPal.

All's Well That Ends Well

Olympia PD

This morning didn't go quite as I had planned it.  I was supposed to be up by 6:00 am, picking blackberries by 7:00 am, and then cleaned up to spend the rest of the day with my parents.

My cat woke me up long before my alarm went off.  Instead of getting up and getting going, I picked up my phone and started browsing Facebook, Pinterest, and got caught up with the news on the BBC app, and the King 5 app.

Plans changed again when I realized I might not want to work out at the end of the day, so I dressed for the gym...ha ha.  I got downstairs, and once again, I was waylaid by my ADHD and the laundry.  Instead of getting an early start, I was running late.  I grabbed a bowl and a bucket, changed into appropriate clothes, and headed out to pick blackberries.  

I was supposed to take exit 101, but out of pure habit, I took exit 103.  No big deal, I just continued down the road.    As I drove through the intersection of Little Rock Road and Trosper, I noticed a few too many law enforcement vehicles in the vicinity with their lights on.  I'm not a look-e-loo, so I just kept driving. Then, off to my right, I saw something I couldn't just ignore.  Crouching beside his vehicle was an Olympia PD law enforcement officer with his assault rifle a the ready.  

Turns out there was a man holding his ex-girlfriend hostage inside the USA Gastation. According to an article published by the King 5 news crew, "after an all-day standoff with police and SWAT team members, the 50-year-old suspect was taken into police custody shortly after 6:30 p.m. The hostage was released without harm." 

If I had stuck to my original plan, I would have missed all of the action.  Everything happens for a reason, and I'm super happy the standoff ended well.

Social Networking Compliments

TripAdvisor Badge

Last month my daughter and I traveled to Libby, Montana to spend a week at a working cattle ranch. We loved it so much, we decided it would be nice to give back to the ranch with a well-deserved positive review. Eventually, we plan on posting a few short video clips of our adventure along with a daily journal style recap of the trip.  For now, get to know McGinnis Meadows Cattle and Guest Ranch, and check out the review on TripAdvisor.

Orange Is The New Black..and a Great Show Too...

Orange Is The New Black

I just watched the first four episodes of the new Netflix original, Orange Is The New Black, a comedy-drama series.  I can't quite put my finger on the right word to describe this show. 

The first episode was highly inappropriate, but like a horrible accident, I could not look away, and I could not turn it off.  Turns out, if you can get past the inappropriate parts, the show is pretty good.

Piper Chapman, played by Taylor Schilling, does a great job keeping a straight face through some pretty funny stuff.  I couldn't do it.  I would bust out laughing at almost everything.  In an earlier phase of her life, Piper made some bad choices, and ten years later she is found guilt of her crime, and finds herself serving time in prison.

The producers do a good job developing the characters, and their background stories, and balance each episode with just the right amount of prison time and flashbacks. I don't even have a favorite character because they are all interesting.  Well, everyone except Alex, played by Laura Prepon.  They haven't done much with her character yet, and what little they ave done is strange, superficial, and pretentious.  

Give the show a try.  You'll fall in love with most of the characters.  Of course, you have to have Netflix to watch the show.

Orange Is The New Black

Last month was a little hectic for us with two kids graduating from high school, one finishing up two years of college, our oldest son and his family moving back to Washington and moving in with us, packing for two different vacations, and then of course being gone for our vacations.  I let a few things fall behind, but this news story is so crazy, I decided I just had to share it.  Even crazier were some of the comments left by readers.

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Seat belt infractions may cost Battle Ground man $1,240

Ten of the 17 people in vehicle were unbuckled children

By Patty Hastings
Columbian staff writer

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

A Battle Ground man received 10 tickets totaling $1,240 Sunday afternoon for packing his nine-seat Suburban with 17 people, nine of whom were children not wearing seat belts.

The 37-year-old driver said he was en route to Rocky’s Pizza, 1901 W. Main St., when a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped him on Highway 502 in Dollars Corner. The trooper noticed the driver wasn’t wearing his seat belt and that the unbuckled passengers were all children, said Trooper Will Finn, spokesman for the patrol.

The vehicle, a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, legally carries nine people. A woman sat in the front passenger’s seat with a child next to her — both buckled — and fourteen kids were packed into the remaining six seats.

Had the vehicle rolled or been involved in a collision, the children could have moved about the cabin and been hurt, Finn said. Troopers occasionally run into motorists carrying an extra passenger, but eight extra people?

“That’s a lot,” Finn said. “The trooper averted a potential tragedy.”

---

Eventually, other adults arrived and drove away with each of the kids in seat belts.  What do you think?  Crazy story right?  If you think the story is crazy, what do you think about these comments?

James Edmondson ·  Top Commenter

So dumb. How did humans survive for thousands of years riding on horseback, wagons and chariots, and for over a half a century riding in cars, without seat belts? When those old cars spontaneously flipped over, I'll bet all the passengers just instantly exploded. This trooper saved no lives and everyone knows it. They would've peacefully driven to the pizza shop and gone home, no big deal.  But now the driver and the kids, boy, they know who's the boss. Their family might go hungry paying the tickets off, but that just means they can wrap that belt tighter over their empty tummies.

Reply · 3 · Like · Follow Post · June 12 at 9:45am

How can anyone LIKE James' comments?  People that think like this perpetuate a victim environment, never accepting responsibility for their choices, and always blaming other people or circumstances for their problems.

Troy Maxcy ·  Top Commenter

What about individual liberty and freedom? Shouldn't this man be able to do as he wishes, in a vehicle that he owns? Mandating the use of seat belts is no more or no less than mandating health care, right Robert? Big Government intruding in the lives of Patriot Americans. Your rhetoric seems left leaning, looking for the government to take care of us, Communism or maybe Socialism? No, hypocrite.

Reply · 1 · Like · June 12 at 6:50am

Sometimes I think people write comments like these to illicit a reaction, keep the conversation going, or draw attention to themselves.  Whatever their motive, the driver, other adults in the van, and these comments are ridiculous.  Seat belts save lives. 

You can read the original article and additional comments here.

Zazu Takes A Bath

Flash & Zazu

I would like to introduce you to my daughter's parakeet, Zazu.  He is a constant source of entertainment.  He makes the most wonderful sounds, sings while he's asleep, and talks to us when he wants something. He also prances and dances, clucking, clicking, and then singing, and when he is super happy, he does the happy bird dance.  

Zazu's Happy Dance

I've read that the happy bird dance is something that all parakeets do, but people have a lot of different ideas on the reason for the dance.  

Zazu grabs a bar on his playground, and holding on tightly, he rapidly flaps his wings.  He looks like he's trying to lift his playground to carry it away.  Some people say they do this when they are bored, or when they want attention, but a lot of people believe they do this when they are really happy.  After a year of watching him, I'm pretty sure he does this when he's happy, so we call it the happy dance.

Curious Zazu

Zazu used to live in a cage, but he quickly became part of the family, and we don't keep family in a cage, so for more than a year, Zazu has had free reign of the house.  He's got a playground upstairs and downstairs, and voluntarily stays on these.  Once in a while he ventures out, forages for food, or explores a new room, but most of the time, he's happy to hang out on his stand.  

One day, he was sitting on my shoulder just chattering away and nibbling on my necklace.  I grabbed a large tumbler and filled it with water.  As I raised it to my mouth to take a drink, Zazu flew from my shoulder to the lip of the cup.  I set the cup on the counter and watched Zazu dive in and out, sometimes drinking the water, and sometimes swimming in the water.  He looked like he was having so much fun.  When he was finished, he jumped down, shivered, and then flew back to his playground.

These days, we've figured out when he wants his cup bath, and every bath is still very entertaining.  We used our GoPro and put together a short movie of Zazu's cup bath.  Isn't he adorable!

When Octopus Attack...

I've been trying to write these stories for six years, and now that I'm not diving I have a little bit of free time to catch up on things.  First things first...octopus don't attack.  We've seen octopus on hundreds of dives, and we have some great stories. This is a little bit about octopus, spotting them, and a story about one of our encounters with a sleepy Giant Pacific Octopus (GPO).  

We dive a lot of locations up and down the Puget Sound, but our favorite dive sites are Redondo Beach in

Red Octopus

DesMoines, WA, and Alki in Seattle, WA.  In these two dive sites, I can guarantee an octopus sighting on every single dive, and have shared these sightings with many PADI Open Water students.  What a great way to finish your training and start your life as a recreational scuba diver.  

The Red Octopus, the smaller of the two can be found out in the open during the day and at night, you just have to know what you are looking for.  They do a great job of hiding as you approach and then pass over them, so the easiest way to spot them is to move slowly, and then casually sweep your flashlight side to side over the ground you just passed over.  Once you spot your first red octopus, the rest will become easier to spot.  

The Red Octopus in the photo above was taken at Redondo Beach during the day, and was about the size of a football.  We spotted this one in around twenty feet of water.

Squid Eggs
Photo by Maynee Desandies

Here's another trick.  If you dive any site and come across squid eggs, you can be sure that the squid parents are somewhere close.  Continue to scuba beyond the eggs until you look back and can barely see the eggs.  Find something to do to stay warm while you wait for the squid to return.  Fifteen to thirty seconds later, the parents will reappear, and then you can slowly move back to get a better look at the family.

As long as you approach slowly, keeping you lights pointed in the direction of the eggs, you won't spook the parents, and they will regale you with some beautiful displays of color changes and water dances.  They are brave creatures, and seem to be mesmerized by a diver's lights.

Giant Pacific Octopus

Getting back to the octopus story...The second type of octopus you'll find in the Puget Sound is the Giant Pacific Octopus.  The photos on the right were taken at around 7:00 am on a dive at Redondo Beach.  This GPO can be found under a boat that rests in about 40 to 60 feet of water, depending on the tide.  Can you see the slightly open eye in the photo on the right?

We've seen this octopus hundreds of times, but always under the small boat where she has dug out a large den to rest when she's not out gathering her meals.  Steve and I really wanted to see this octopus out in the open.  According to National Geographic, GPO's unt primarily at night, so we started a several month adventure to try to find her out in the open.  

We started diving every Friday night at different hours of the night and eventually every hour of the morning on Saturday's.  There were several dives where we found her den empty, but we were never able to spot her out in the open, so I had to settle for under the boat photos.  

You can clearly see how long her tentacles are, and how large her suckers are.  She is a calm, gentle octopus, and seems to handle annoying divers and their flashlights well.  

Giant Pacific Octopus

On this particular dive, we were excited because it looked like she had just returned to her den.  She was hanging out near the opening, close enough for us to reach out and touch her if we decided to be dumb enough to do that.  Instead, I backed up a bit and started taking these photos.  She was extremely active, moving every tentacle non-stop.  

Suddenly, and lighting fast, she reached out and grabbed my camera, almost pulling it out of my hand.  I wasn't too worried about it, the camera housing was too large to be dragged under the boat, and my left hand was covering the housing latch.  However, a moment later I could see I was in for an unexpected treat.  Still holding my camera with one tentacle, she had flanked me on my right with another tentacle.  I felt something on my face and could see her tentacle checking me out.  I bit down hard on my regulator, and grabbed my mask with my right hand.

What seemed like five minutes was over seconds later.  After showing me she was the boss, she retreated into her den to settle in for the day.  I've taken dozens of photos of her, but the photos I took on this dive were by far the most memorable.

Oklahoma Tornado...Help If You Can...Share If You Can't

Oklahoma Tornado

If you're watching the news today, you've probably seen the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma where a giant tornado, reportedly more than a mile wide, killed more than four dozen people as it tore through the large Oklahoma city suburb Monday afternoon.  The tornado flattened homes, tossed cars through the air and crushed at least two schools full of children.  These numbers are expected to grow as rescuers continue to search for all of the children and teachers in the schools and communities.

There are plenty of news stations where you can read or watch to get up to the minute information about the storm and its impact.  After listening to our local radio station, KISS 106.1 FM in Seattle, asking everyone for donations, and asking everyone to spread the word, I decided to take this opportunity to do my part.  

If you can help, please donate what you can to help the Moore, Oklahoma community.  If you can't donate, please share this.  Let's all do our part to spread the word to get these families the help they need.

Donate To The Salvation	Donate To The Red Cross

You can also text RedCross to 90999, to donate $10.00 to the American Red Cross.

Saying Goodbye...

Anyone that knows us will tell you that we love scuba diving, and we love love love teaching people to scuba. It's great to see someone's face when they walk out of the water and describe what they just saw underwater to their non-diving friends or family. Hundreds of shrimp, a giant pacific octopus, nudibranches, squid, ling cod, and so much more. So why did it have to end so abruptly? 

There are several reasons, but I'm only going to share one. I've always had a problem staying warm, in and out of the water. Even when I was living in Hawaii, California, and Florida, ten minutes in pool water and I would start shivering. With all of the advancements in fiber technologies, I've been able to solve most of my problems out of the water with smart wool and thinsulate. Unfortunately, things weren't going quiet as well underwater.

In early 2009 I started experiencing shooting pains in my left arm.  I was also noticing pain in my feet and my hands during and after dives.  I was diving in a dry suit with attached gloves, so the only thing actually exposed to the water was my head.  On most dives, my body was warm, but my hands and feet were almost always cold.  It didn't really matter to me, it was temporary, and I wasn't going to let a little thing like cold hands and feet stop me from diving and teaching in cold water.  

Pop.  That's the sound that woke me up early one Saturday morning.  I was shifting positions in bed when I heard a loud pop and felt lightning shoot through my right arm.  A few hours later, I was diving with a couple of students when I noticed the pain in my right arm and shoulder increasing.  After cleaning and putting all of my scuba gear away, I talked to Steve about the pain in my shoulder.  It felt like my shoulder was being torn apart.  By 1:00 am I was in more pain than I could handle, and decided it was time to see a doctor.

Herniated disks.  After more than ten hours in the hospital, Dr. Peter Brown tells us that my 5th, 6th, and 7th thoracic disks were herniated, pinching the nerves that ran down both of my arms causing shooting pains, numbness, and tingling.  In May 2009 Dr. Brown performed a discectomy, and successfully resolved the shooting pain issue.  Six weeks later I was back in the water.  However, the surgery did not end the numbness or tingling in my hands and feet.

My Hand With Raynaud’s Disease

During my last few months of diving, things were getting worse.  I felt like I was walking on blocks of wood.  I started leaving my gloves on until everyone was gone so no one would see how bad my fingers were, or dipping them in hot water until the color returned.  

I was working with a doctor to try to find a way to deal with the problem so I could continue diving.  Unfortunately, nothing worked, and some of the solutions made things worse.  The doctor says this is Raynaud’s disease.  On recent dives, I noticed my feet sometimes turning blue and purple, and the throbbing and pain lasting four hours after a dive.  

After a recent sports physical, my doctor and I talked about the risks of diving in cold water with this worsening condition.  With more than half my life ahead of me, I decided it's time to start taking better care of myself.  It took me a couple of months to make a final decision, and it has been tough saying goodbye to such a wonderful part of our lives, but no more cold water diving, for fun or teaching.

Now we are looking forward to our next warm water vacation...

Star Trek Into Darkness On The IMAX Screen In 3D

No Spoilers

Star Trek Into Darkness

I can't believe its been four years since the last Star Trek movie.  If someone asked me what's changed, I would have to say nothing and everything.  Star Trek Into Darkness is an explosive action thriller with twists and turns, staying true to their original 2009 format.

I am definitely a fan of the IMAX screen.  The point of the IMAX screen is to fill your field of vision, giving you a feeling of full immersion in the movie as if you are part of the film.  Add 3D, and the movie comes right out of the screen and taps you on the shoulder.  I think movie tickets are over-priced, especially when you add any concessions, and a family of five plus a friend or two, so I save these formats for the special movies that deserve it.  Star Trek Into Darkness is one of those films that deserves a few extra dollars.

On Friday, I drove my daughter and her best friend to Portland so they could see Marianas Trench in concert at the Hawthorne Theater.  When I asked them why they couldn't go to the concert in Seattle, they reminded me it was the same time as Prom.  Just after arriving in Portland, I got a text from my husband telling me that he and Taylor were going to see Star Trek at 11:30 pm.  I dropped the girls off at the concert and used the Poynt app to locate theaters near the Hawthorne Theater.  By 5:15, I was sitting in a mostly empty theater, completely unprepared for the twists in this twelfth Star Trek film.

This movie is all about the details.  Good art grabs your attention and then takes your eyes and your mind on a ride, never letting you get stuck in one place.  Star Trek Into Darkness grabs your attention the moment it begins, and fills the screen with details that keep your eyes moving and your mind trying to keep up with the action.  They also flooded the theater with the sounds of this fifty year old cult classic, adding to the feeling of being part of the action.  At some point during the movie, someone a couple rows in front of me stood up.  I was struck by the fact that he looked like he was part of the movie, appearing to stand between objects in the movie.  The IMAX and 3D format are definitely my favorite.

Star Trek App

Download the App and be the first to experience Star Trek Into Darkness!!  Join Starfleet for your chance to rise in the ranks, unlock exclusive content, & win prizes!!  Gain access to all exclusive materials, videos & content first and stay up-to-date on the latest Star Trek Into Darkness news!