Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Water

I haven’t done much with these photo challenges lately. I do really enjoy them. Looking at what everyone else is doing and trying to come up with something to fit the theme.

This one is from Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. Here’s the link in case you want to get in on it… http://ceenphotography.com/2014/05/27/cees-fun-foto-challenge-water/

This one is easy for me. Water. It should be easy for me. I have so many photos of water in all its various forms, it’s really hard for me to pick out a few real good ones. 🙂

But, I did manage. Here you go…

out on the water

out on the water

no waves on this beach!

no waves on this beach!

water makes patterns in the sand

water makes patterns in the sand

water sprays in Singapore

water sprays in Singapore

 

 

waterways

beautiful beach Riviera Maya

beautiful beach Riviera Maya

water from the air

water from the air

 

water (vapor-c;louds) in the air

water- 3 kinds- clouds, rainbow, ocean

water- 3 kinds- clouds, rainbow, ocean

Those were a few of my favorites. I hope you like them too. 🙂

This Dumbo Octopus Video Will Melt Your Heart

This Dumbo Octopus Video Will Melt Your Heart – gCaptain Maritime & Offshore News.

I got this in an email from Gcaptain.com. I subscribe to their emails and they always have something interesting to share. I really enjoyed this video of the Dumbo Octopus.

Dumbo octopus

Dumbo octopus

I actually watched quite a few videos of them before, I thought they were really cute. 🙂

I was trying to find some information on this other creature I saw on the ROV video feed while I was working last hitch. The ROV crew called it a ‘heart’ or ‘sea heart’ or ‘heart of the sea’. Nobody knew what they were really called or what kind of creature they were.

I looked and looked all over the internet. I found all sorts of really weird stuff, but nothing I could say for sure was the same creature we were seeing from our ship.

It looked a little bit like some of the online pictures of the Dumbo octopus.

The closest thing I could say would have to be a vampire squid, which also looks a lot like some of the pictures of the Dumbo octopus.

vampire squid

vampire squid

But it turns out, it was really some sort of swimming sea cucumber. I’ll do some more posts about these creatures, but for now here’s a photo of one type of swimming sea cucumber (there are many different types).

enypniastes-transparent-swimming-sea-cucumber

enypniastes-transparent-swimming-sea-cucumber

I’ll try to get back on track for Wild Wednesday and post some more about it by then. I have some video from the ship I can post. 🙂

Incheon Quickie

This is the first day here that I’ve been able to use my own computer. So it’s the first time I’ve been able to do a lot of things online.

I’ve been wandering all over and taking tons of pictures, so I thought I’d do a preview of some of the things I’ve seen so far. I haven’t had time yet to edit my photos, so all of these are straight from the camera. Enjoy. 😉

Korean Chinatown

Korean Chinatown

This was the beginning of my first day out in Incheon. I wanted to see Chinatown. I heard it was the only one in Korea. It was very quiet through the afternoon. I left before seeing if it got any busier at night.

Wolmi Island

Wolmi Island

This was one of the ones I took at Wolmi Island. It’s kind of a playground for kids and adults. There’s an amusement park, a couple of museums, a maritime school, tons of seafood restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc.

Sunset at Wolmi Island, Incheon

Sunset at Wolmi Island, Incheon

I went to Jayu Park and wandered around downtown for awhile.The trees and flowers were all in bloom and the blossoms were falling all around in the breeze. The petals were covering the ground like snow.  I finally figured out I was not going to be able to walk to the fish market, so I put it off for another day.

The next day I went to the fish market. Wow! What a huge place. It was crowded with all kinds of people from the smallest babies to the oldest grandmothers. Whole families were out shopping together. There was every kind of seafood imaginable (and some that I have never imagined at all).

Fresh, frozen, dried, still alive and squirming. It doesn’t matter, you can pick it out and they’ll wrap it up for you to take home, or you can bring it over to have them cook it up for you in the little kitchens in the back. There are also food stalls all around outside in case you want something other than seafood (or you can have more seafood!).

 

I found out those little pancakes are called something that sounds like “hotdogs” and they’re really pretty good. They’re stuffed with something kind of sweet, I think maybe bean paste. Then they add nuts. I like them. 🙂

After I got tired of wandering around the fish market, I made my way down the street to the Marine Square where some of the fishing boats and ferries dock. It was pretty quiet and I just watched the local people hang out. A bunch of kids were playing with the seagulls. They were pretty entertaining. 🙂

fishing fleet, Incheon Korea

fishing fleet, Incheon Korea

I was about ready to call it a day, but I was kind-of hungry so I spent a little time wandering around near my hotel in search of something for dinner that was not too spicy. I wound up going to a place that I thought had a picture menu (it didn’t). I wound up having chicken soup. It was interesting watching the Koreans cook their dinners at the table.

 

That was the end of my night and going to be it for me tonight too. I’ve got another busy day planned tomorrow! 🙂

More: Bike and Blues Fest 2013

I’m glad I had most of these photos uploaded before I came out here this hitch. I really haven’t had the time to get online much and the computer situation is not the best here. I’m kind of limited in what I can do til I get back home.

So, I figured since I already had the pictures on here, I might as well add a little bit more flavor to my earlier post about the Summertime Bikes and Blues Fest.

I was actually there last summer. They usually have this event the last weekend in August. I try to go if I’m home. I usually see a few friends, it’s neat to check out all the cool bikes, and I really love the music. It’s out in the open, spread out around the old downtown area of Freeport. I like that it’s that way, it doesn’t feel very crowded. The food is good too. 🙂

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2013 Summertime Bike and Blues Fest

I’ve been wanting to get this post done for a while. Something always comes up. I went to the Summertime Bike and Blues Fest last summer and it’s taken me this long to get around to posting these photos.

I went down there with my friend D. They’ve been having this festival in old downtown Freeport for a few years now. It’s kind of neat wandering around down there with all the old buildings, right in the middle of everything.

We had a good time checking out the bikes, listening to the music, trying out the food, running into friends. I always like to go to these things. 🙂

Here are a few photos to get started. I’ll have more later. 😉

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A Sailors Sad Choice

I was just really missing my job. Yeah, I know that must sound really weird. Crazy even. But I’m not crazy! Really!!

I don’t miss the work I do NOW, right at this moment. I DO miss the work I’m still sometimes able to find. Those few jobs that allow me to do what I’ve trained all my life to do. To sail the seas AS A SAILOR.

I went to sea for the FREEDOM it afforded. Freedom to just do my job (no worries), and enjoy life at sea with an occasional port call (with enough time to go ashore). Not much paperwork, no one really bothered us. We literally were in our own little world out there. Our own community. We all did our jobs yet worked together as a team.

OMG have things changed!!! (NOT for the better)

It seems like it’s almost impossible to find that sort of employment any more. You’ll take a job that’s totally confining, one almost as bad as if you were working on the beach. Paperwork out the ying-yang. Do a JSEA before you even get out of your bed (seriously, on one boat they actually wanted us to do that!). The only advantage is you don’t have to commute every day.

They micromanage every tiny little detail of your life, even to the point of telling you how to dress yourself every day.

WTF??? They hire us to run a multi-million dollar vessel with hundreds of peoples lives in our hands, but they think we’re too stupid to know how to dress ourselves? What’s UP with that?

At least the money’s decent. Not enough for the BS they put us through, but decent.

The other option is to find an interesting job. An enjoyable job. A job that actually lets you use the skills and knowledge you’ve worked so hard to gain. One that might actually GO somewhere INTERESTING at least every once in a while.

But it seems that every one of THOSE types of jobs entail working for people who think that their company is just SO wonderful that we’d just all love to work there for free and they don’t even want to come up with the minimum wage! 🙁

I’m still looking to find that happy medium. A job that lets me be a sailor that actually pays the bills at the same time! 🙂

Those tuna boats were close, I really enjoyed my time there. Take a look at these pictures and tell me you don’t understand my craving for adventure, don’t get it just a little bit, don’t wish you could be doing something like this instead of wasting hours in traffic everyday to get to a ‘regular’ job?

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Surfside Beach St Patricks Day Parade

I stuck around as long as I could stand it. At least I got to see a lot of old friends and catch up on the news down at the beach. Too bad the weather just SUCKED!

I hate it when the rain gets all over my glasses and I can’t see!

People down there work and plan all year to make this event a success and the cold and rainy weather put a damper on it once more. 🙁

I think only the regulars showed up down there to start with, and only the real die hards stuck around til the parade started.

I wound up leaving right before they started the parade. For some strange reason, I didn’t really feel like hanging around drinking all day (the bars were PACKED with people trying to dry off).

At least I got a few decent pictures. I got to try out my new Olympus Tough camera. It’s waterproof! 🙂

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Bermuda Triangle

Loved this photo. Thanks to SFox for posting it again on his blog.

A Word A Week Challenge: Undulate

I’ve been busy with the Zero to Hero Challenge lately so I haven’t had much time to do any other posts, but today I didn’t post anything for the Zero to Hero challenge.

I just did the assignment, which was to visit other participants (and comment) in the event I joined on Day 22.

So today I am posting a few photos for the Word a Week Challenge from A Word In Your Ear’s blog. The word of the week is ‘undulate’. Here’s the definition:

1. to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement: The flag undulates in the breeze.
2. to have a wavy form or surface; bend with successive curves in alternate directions.
3. (of a sound) to rise and fall in pitch: the wail of a siren undulating in the distance.
verb (used with object), un·du·lat·ed, un·du·lat·ing.                 4. to cause to move in waves.
5. to give a wavy form to.

I really like this one, so I am going to add some pictures for a couple of the definitions…

The flowing, wavelike forms of these flowers.

The sinuous movements of the octopus and anemone.

The intricate, fluid movements and undulating music of the Balinese dancers.

These stunning, sunning, sinuous snakes.

Snaky scenery by the sea shore. 😉

And (last one) the flag rippling in the breeze.

Zero to Hero- Day 21: Let the World Know

Gallery

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to ‘publish a post inspired by your post from Day 19, and publicize it on one or more of your social networks.” I actually did 2 posts for the challenge for … Continue reading

Zero to Hero- Day 20: Pass on the Pages

Gallery

This gallery contains 12 photos.

Todays assignment for the Zero to Hero Challenge is to add a new page. Since I just added one a couple of days ago and it took me a loooong time to put it all together, I think I’ll take … Continue reading

Zero to Hero Challenge- Day 12: Inspired by the Fourchon Shuffle

The assignment for day 12 of the Zero to Hero Challenge builds on the one from the day before. The one for day 11 was to leave comments on 3 blogs you’ve never commented on before. Today’s is to build a post out of one of those comments.

I made a comment on the New England Watermans’ blog yesterday. I really liked his post with the video of Port Fourchon. Here’s the link to my comment again.

His video was a time lapse of his work over the last year. Both offshore and in the port of Fourchon, La.

I liked it because it reminded me of a lot of the same things I see all the time at work. He also mentioned the Global Orion which is one of the vessels I used to work on.

Global Orion

Global Orion

I’ve been in and out of Fourchon more times than I can count. It’s NOT my favorite place! It’s the largest port in the USA for the oil and gas industry and it is VERY busy! Usually it’s a huge pain in the ass to go to Fourchon.

We call it the Fourchon Shuffle. Bring your boat to the dock so you can unload your deck cargo. Oh, your halfway done but there’s another boat that has a higher priority. So, MOVE.

OK, so you go to another dock to get some fuel. Wait, there’s no space there. So, you wait. Wait some more. It’s not like parking a car, you can’t just put a boat in park and walk away (tho some DPOs might think so).

Oh, now they’re calling you back to finish unloading. No time to spare, you have to get back offshore again ASAP.

Oh yeah, you still need fuel so go back over there. This time you can get to the dock. Now you need to go to another dock to load up more deck cargo. You’ve got priority so you make 2 other boats move out of the way for you….

That’s just a short verse, the Fourchon Shuffle goes on and on. They’ve improved it slightly with some additional dock space but it’s still far from ideal.

No one in Fourchon ever gets any peace at the dock. I always just wanted to get the hell out of there and back offshore as soon as possible. At least be able to get some rest again.

Here are a few photos I took in Fourchon recently…

 

Luckily, I don’t spend too much time driving around Fourchon anymore. Lately I’ve been working on a lot of large vessels like drillships and they don’t usually go into port. I only go to Fourchon to fly in or out to the rig. 🙂

 

PS- the orange boats are the ones belonging to the Cajun Navy 😉

Corso Zundert

Corso Zundert – Welcome at the website of Corso Zundert!.

A friend sent me an email about this event the other day. I’ve been to the Netherlands (Amsterdam) a couple of times and always had a great time.

me and a friend in Amsterdam

I’ve always wanted to go during the spring to see all the flowers bloom. This event takes place in September, in a town called Zundert. So now you can see the flowers all summer and into fall!

I never even heard of this event (Bloemencorso) until my friend sent me the email (thanks S.!). It’s kind of like our Rose Parade out in California, but they make the floats out of dalias.

cid:16.1392976078@web181101.mail.ne1.yahoo.com

Take a look at the link to the website (they do have a flag you can click to get it in English), they’ve done a fantastic job!

cid:11.1392976078@web181101.mail.ne1.yahoo.com

Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light- Celebrate

I took all of these at the JAGA (Jamaica-Galveston) Festival in Galveston last Spring. I actually had a decent camera with me (but still no tripod). Glad they turned out OK.

These are for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light. You can see the other entries and enter at…

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/photo-challenge-lights

Weekly Photo Challenge: Let There Be Light- Singapore

Here are some photos I took the last time I was in Singapore. The first 3 are at Clarke Quay. It’s a nice area near the Singapore River with lots of bars and restaurants. The kids love to play in the fountains all lit up in different colors. It’s really quite beautiful at night. The next 2 are from the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown. The last one is of the Singapore River near Clarke Quay. I took all these photos with a point and shoot camera. I usually only have a pocket camera with me when I’m working. I had just got off the ship and stayed a few days to sight-see before I had to go home.

These are for the Weekly Photo Challenge, this weeks theme is ‘Light’. I thought some of the other people who posted had some really nice shots. If you want to see them, or enter the Challenge, here’s the link

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/photo-challenge-lights/#more-61860

A Word A Week Challenge: Lines (natural)

Here are some photos for the Word a Week Challenge, if you want to see some of what others have done, or enter something yourself, here’s the link…

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/a-word-a-week-challenge-lines/

A Word A Week Challenge: Lines (man made)

haul in those lines!

haul in those lines!

boats! all in a line ;-)

boats! all in a line 😉

lines on a boat

lines on the way to the beach

lines on the way to the beach

beautiful lines on a car!

beautiful lines on a car!

building with lines

city sky lines

city sky lines

Here are some photos for the Word a Week Challenge, if you want to see some of what others have done, or enter something yourself, here’s the link…

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/a-word-a-week-challenge-lines/

Best Autumn Photographs from the Last Ten Years of Photo Contests

Best Autumn Photographs from the Last Ten Years of Photo Contests| Smithsonian Magazine.

These are some really beautiful photographs. I wouldn’t expect any less from the Smithsonian. Hard to compare between them and National Geographic. I try to look and learn something about what makes a good photo, at the same time just enjoying the beauty. 🙂

Daily Prompt: Food for the Soul (and Stomach)- postscript

Now that we’ve had appetizers, drinks and dinner… it’s time for some dessert! Ice cream! Yummy! 🙂

chocolate ice cream with fancy chocolate and berries

chocolate ice cream with fancy chocolate and berries

More ice cream, YES!!

more ice cream (gelato really)

more ice cream (gelato really)

Checking out the bakery….OMG!!!

such delights at the local bakery

such delights at the local bakery

Cooookiiiesss…. where’s Cookie Monster, he’d have a blast! 🙂

DSC02638

I do LOVE my sweets. 🙂

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/daily-prompt-food/

This Year’s Best Photographs Taken Through the Lens of a Microscope

This Year’s Best Photographs Taken Through the Lens of a Microscope | Smithsonian Magazine.

These are just some absolutely stunning photographs. These are some of the top 20 entered into the Nikons annual Small World Competition. These are the winners from 2013. I’ll be looking forward to this for 2014!

A Word A Week Challenge: Two

two ships I’m learning how to do this, instead of posting my photos separately, I’m putting them all in this one post this time. That first shot is one I took while I was sailing as captain of a tuna boat. We were in port, in Tarawa (Kiribati). It’s a photo of a couple of reefer ships waiting to fill up with our catch of tuna and bring it to buyers, in someplace like Bangkok or Tokyo.

This is my entry into the Word A Week Challenge for this week. The challenge comes from this website, check it out : http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/a-word-a-week-challenge-two/ The word of the week is: TWO.

So, my photos all have 2 of something.

2 boats

2 boats- I took this while searching for the boat builders on Sulawesi Indonesia, the seaweed harvest was going on, everyone was out helping

2 chickens

2 chickens- during the seaweed harvest, Sulawesi Indonesia

2 buffalos

2 buffalos- on the roadside on the way to look for the boat builders, Sulawesi Indonesia

2 dancers

2 dancers- at a dance exhibition, Ubud Bali

2 cooks

2 cooks- at a night market, Singapore

2 girls

2 girls- getting ready for temple, Bali

2 bugs

2 bugs

2 pansies blooming

2 pansies blooming

2 butterflies

2 butterflies

I had a ton of fun taking these pictures, looking back at them makes me want to take off again and go somewhere exciting, but for now I’m stuck at home and back to work in only one more day. 🙁

I sure hope the new year brings me more adventures! 😉

How the Shipping Industry is the Secret Force Driving the World Economy

How the Shipping Industry is the Secret Force Driving the World Economy | Ideas & Innovations | Smithsonian Magazine.

I thought this was pretty good, despite the reservations I have from only seeing this article. It’s an interview with author Rose George about her latest book: Ninety Percent of Everything. She somehow arranged to spend some time sailing around on the container ship Maersk Kendal. I’m going to have to find a copy of this book to read. 🙂

a container ship underway

a container ship underway

She makes a lot of good points. That people who aren’t personally involved with shipping are totally unaware of the industry. That those of us living in ‘first world’ countries don’t know any seafarers personally any more. That the ports have been moved so far away from the cities that most people don’t have any awareness of them anymore. That people on the beach have absolutely no idea what it’s like to be a seafarer.

I do think she got a lot of that correct. She sees how isolating it is out here now. She mentions the lack of communication and that the ships don’t provide internet or phone access to their crews (because of the expense). I do agree that it is an expense. I do not agree that it is an ‘extra’ expense. I don’t think it’s very much to pay a couple of thousand dollars a month when that would be something like 1% of expenses on most ships (if that). Isn’t it worth that for such a HUGE increase in crew morale?

a tank ship underway

a tank ship underway

I don’t really know if she’s right in her assessment of how much or how little sailors have a ‘sense of romanticism’. She mentions that she thinks the captain has more of it then he lets on, that he still secretly loves the sea.

She seems to think that most sailors are only out here for the money. I might agree that most sailors from the poorer parts of the world go to sea for the money. They probably went to sea because it paid better than anything they could find at home.

I would agree that the great majority of seafarers are not in a great position at sea. Some of the conditions sailors work under are just horrible. A lot of shipowners do flag foreign just so they can cut expenses.

They all say that the cost of the crew is their largest expense so they cut it any way they can. They cut the crew size, they lengthen the hitch (2 YEARS or more), they skimp on groceries, they skimp on medical care, they refuse to pay for visas so the crew can’t leave the ship in port, etc.

That’s not even to start on the issue of crew abandonment. Rose George seems to think the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) will help. I’ve seen in the news there have already been 3 ships detained, but I have serious doubts it will actually help the crews.

In spite of conditions like that, I believe most seafarers do still enjoy sailing (at least sometimes). 😉

romanticism of life at sea

romanticism of life at sea

I know I still do. Most of the time. 😉

From Big Foot To Bluto, Gulf Of Mexico Set For Record Oil Supply Surge

From Big Foot To Bluto, Gulf Of Mexico Set For Record Oil Supply Surge | gCaptain

Good news for the Gulf of Mexico. At least that looks like the consensus at the moment. Somehow it seems the predictions never pan out. We go through booms and busts for reasons we never seem to figure out until after the fact.

From my perspective, the GOM does seem to be gearing up for a boom. I see more rigs heading this way, more boats being built, etc. (Check out the photos of the Olympus rig under tow in the link.) I also see more roadblocks for people who want to get into the industry which can’t help since nothing can get done without the trained workers to do the job.

I don’t see the hiring process matching any definition of the reality out here. There are lots of people looking for ways to get into the industry but the companies seem to be intent on isolating themselves behind online applications and never answered phone calls.

One other thing, the price of oil has been dropping lately. I’ve noticed the price for light crude has dropped from around $110/bbl to around $96/bbl in the last couple of months. It’s up slightly now but if it starts dropping off, so will the drilling and so once more the boom will bust.

I’m trying my best to work as much as possible now. 🙂

Photography 101: A Primer on Color Photography, Part II

This is a continuation from the last post. This one is on hue, saturation, lightness and contrast. She uses some fantastic photos to illustrate. 🙂

Photography 101: A Primer on Color Photography, Part I

I thought this was a very good post, lots of good information on how different lighting effects your photography. She uses beautiful photos to illustrate. 🙂

New Orleans

Since I’m spending some time in New Orleans and my hotel is right on Bourbon Street, I thought this might be a good time to post these cute little signs. I didn’t take these pictures, a friend of mine sent them to me a while back. I haven’t really spent much time out on Bourbon street (yet), tho I did wander through a couple of times already. I was invited to a few good private parties the first couple of nights I was here. Today I went on a plantation tour and was just too tired to go out and deal with the crowds. I’ll have to see how I feel tomorrow. There’s SO much to do here, its hard to decide what to do when. 🙂

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New Orleans (Workboat Show 2012)

House of Blues

House of Blues

OK, so sorry to all my faithful followers 😉 I’ve been SO busy! Since I got off work I’ve been going non-stop. I made it to the beach clean up (fantastic turnout there)! I managed to get some work of one of my rental houses done . I FINALLY got my taxes for 2012 turned in to my accountants (still was not really finished but there was no way to get all the information to them before time was up so I just had to drop off what I had). And now, I’m in New Orleans for the Workboat Show!

Yeah, its way early this year. Its usually the first week of December. That’s nice since the weather is cool and everything is all decorated for Christmas. It’s different this year, I didn’t think about it, but they’re already decorating for Halloween, so that’s pretty cool too.

I’m staying over a couple extra days to do some tourist stuff. I’m going on a plantation tour tomorrow and a 3-in-1 combo ‘witches brew’ tour Sunday night. I have not managed to get any pictures on the computer yet since I’ve been home, but just to whet your whistle, here are a few from last years show here.

Pat O'Brians, New Orleans

Hurricanes at Pat O’Brians, New Orleans

Preservation Hall, New Orleans P1010914 P1010923 P1010950

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Voodoo Bar Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

Street musician, Bourbon Street New Orleans

Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb.

Chinese cockroach farmers are making a bundle selling pulverized bugs for $89 per lb. – Quartz.

OK, I have to admit, I REALLY don’t like cockroaches. Especially these big ones. Or the ones we get down South near the water where I live. We call ’em Palmetto bugs. I’ll never forget the night I was just falling asleep. It was a hot muggy night (so no covers) and one of those huge suckers flew across the room and started crawling up my leg. I must have woken up half the block with my screams!

So, the idea of people actually FARMING these things just gives me the creeps. Maybe its just me? The Chinese people seem to think there’s some real good medicine in these things. I just remembered this exhibit I saw at the Chinatown Heritage Center in Singapore last year.

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

Sign at the Chinatown Heritage Center, Singapore

I guess if you grind it up and add enough other stuff to it, you might not even notice it going down? I do try and taste different foods when I’m off traveling, but so far, the only bugs I’ve managed to try were some ants -chocolate covered- that helps 😉 – and some kind of grub they had at the ‘tasting kitchen’ at the New Orleans Insectarium (http://www.auduboninstitute.org/visit/insectarium). Those tasted almost exactly like that Honey Nut Crunch cereal. They did have other flavors, but I was OK with just trying that one 🙂

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Tasting room at the Insectarium in New Orleans

Trying out some of the taste 'treats' at the New Orleans Insectarium

Trying out some of the taste ‘treats’ at the New Orleans Insectarium

I do see plenty of people in Thailand and Indonesia snacking on grasshoppers, water beetles, grubs, etc at the bars I go to. I always figured they must just be drunk. I never managed to work up the nerve to try any of those larger samples. Maybe next time…

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Learn how to prepare your pests for tasty treats!

Or maybe not. I did read something recently where the scientists were recommending that we should ALL start eating insects. It would go a long way towards helping to feed all the starving people around the planet. Yeah, they are a great source of protein. Yeah, they cost a lot less to produce, they don’t cause as much damage as cattle, they’re easy to raise… yada, yada, yada. Personally, I would prefer people start using birth control before we’re all reduced to eating bugs for breakfast 😉

Monterey Bay Megapod – Humpbacks, Dolphins, & Sea Lions, Oh My!

Monterey Bay Megapod – Humpbacks, Dolphins, & Sea Lions, Oh My! | Old Salt Blog – a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea.

I just got this in this morning from the old salts blog. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves ships and the sea. It’s at www.oldsaltblog.com. I subscribe to it and they send me emails with what they’ve recently published, (just like if you sign up to follow ME 🙂  –  hint, hint). There’s a link in the article to the Monterey Bay Whale Watch website. There are lots of interesting photos and videos there. I’d love to take a trip out there and go see all those whales and dolphins. I love to see all those beautiful sea creatures :-).

I’ve seen plenty of dolphins up close and I always love it when I do get to see them. They always seem so happy and carefree. They love to play in the bow wave of the ships. But I’ve only seen whales a few times in all my years at sea and never up close while I’ve been working.

The only time I’ve been on a trip specifically to see whales/dolphins was down in Argentina a couple of years ago. My gravatar is a picture of some dolphins I took on that trip. We (me and my friend B. who is also a chief mate- probably master by now) went out in those little zodiacs to hunt down some dolphins, locally they call them toninas or “pandas of the sea”. Commerson’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) is the more common name for them. It was really great! Hard as heck to get any decent pictures cause those dolphins were fast as all hell! Plus the boat was very crowded. Here’s a closer look at some…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ja8ZSY-_n4E

We also took a trip out to the Valdes Peninsula to watch the whales. Humpback whales. They gather there to give birth and fatten up before heading off for distant waters. That was a great trip too. You walk down the broad, brown beach to climb aboard the boats they have pulled up in trailers for the night. They push you down the beach into the water and you’re off. Here’s a picture of us getting ready to go.

On the beach getting ready for a wild whale watching ride

On the beach getting ready for a wild whale watching ride

There were a lot of whales around so we found a few different ones to get up close to. A couple of them had babies with them. It was really wonderful to watch the babies. They were so cute 🙂 Even tho they were just about as big as the boat we were on. Here’s a picture of the mother and baby…

mother whale with baby