A brief visit to California's Central Coast
Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
Risso’s dolphins (Grampus griseus) cruising
possible mating behavior in this Risso’s pod
monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) congregating on eucalyptus at Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove
black-footed albatross (Phoebastria nigripes)
three southbound gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus)
southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis)
Menzies' wallflower (Erysimum menziesii)
Debbie Downers are exhausting, yet I can't help but express dismay at the level of trampling by humans and their dogs in sensitive areas that are clearly marked with signs asking us to stick to the trails. I'd never seen it this bad at Asilomar in years past. Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve at home has become a free-for-all as well with rock formations cracked by our hooves and the flowers of threatened species that need to sow their seeds thrown to the sides of the trails. Plant blindness is a thing and one that’s detrimental to our own survival as a species.
Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) grove at sunset
The next six photographs document a predation event by a Steller sea lion on a bat ray.
This was another Steller sighting of a young bull in the company of California sea lions and cormorants near Moss Landing.
Note the massive difference in size between the California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) and the juvenile Steller male (Myliobatis californica) at right.