Capturing the Moment

  Here we are at the end of another incredible year. It has been filled with big travels, adventures, guiding, meet ups with family in foreign countries, and cool wildlife encounters above and below the water. Click through the different links for a look back at different posts and highlights from all the adventures. All the best pictures can be found at www.daimartamarack.com .    The year started out for me running exclusive guiding trips aboard the Safari Explorer in the Hawaiian Islands. The second half of January provided some ample off time for an incredible scuba diving trip to Indonesia with Heidi. We spent some quality time muck diving around the shipwreck of the UST Liberty in Tulamben on the island of Bali and out on Nusa Lembongan , a small island just off the coast. I was overjoyed to be joined by Ed and Jamie all the way from Savannah. Then Heidi and I flew a couple of islands east to catch a liveaboard dive boat called 'Amalia' for a weeklong underwat...

The Whales are Back     Cruising through Alaska's Inside Passage on a small cruise ship gives me a wonderful opportunity to photograph whales. The usual suspects of the whale watching world up here at Humpbacks, Orca, and Dall's porpoise. Every once in a while a minke whale joins in the feeding frenzy but they are quite rare to see. We are coming into the thick of whale season here in the Northern feeding grounds. Nearly 22 hours of light provide almost unlimited growing potential to the phytoplankton that start the marine food web. As the phytoplankton photosynthesizes and grows in number, the zooplankton (like krill) are able to sustain a huge population, which in turns feeds the humpbacks. They have to eat enough to sustain themselves only off of their food stores in their blubber once they head back south to the tropical breeding grounds.    Orca Tail Slap    The orca and porpoise rely less on the season, and are able to stay here...

Exit Glacier Exit Glacier Exit Glacier is a quickly retreating glacier on the Seward side of the Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska. It is also one of the easiest to access. There is camping nearby, a visitor center, and about a mile long trail that loops through the forest to a couple of overlooks where you can see the glacier in all of its fading glory. Sign post that dot the drive in tell you where the terminus of the glacier was at certain years in the past. It is pretty remarkable to see how far the glacier has retreated. Standing on a Glacier  Heidi and I walked the trail to the last overlook which is located on the hillside next to the valley carved away by the glacier. You can see up the glacier into the massive Harding ice field which is the driving force for all of the glaciers on the peninsula. Exit glacier was so-named because it provided an easy exit for intrepid adventurers exploring the ice field above. Glacial Melt   While we stood admir...

Whale Shark heading my way   When the call came in that a whale shark had been spotted by some fishermen friends way offshore of Kona, Hawaii I didn't hesitate to make the call to head in that direction. If there was even a small chance of the shark still being there I wanted to see it. Since Jan. 2011 I have only seen 2 other whale sharks out here in Hawaiian waters, both being in Molokini Crater, Maui. As we raced out almost four miles offshore I crossed my fingers and hoped that this would be my third.   When we arrived at the FAD, or fish aggregating device, we saw multiple fishing boats milling about the area...a good sign. We all kept our eyes on the water for a dark shadow. I was the first to spot it. As we all watch the shark rise towards the surface its detailed spot pattern came into view. Researchers use these spots to identify individual whale sharks. Tail End of a Whale Shark  As everyone else watched the whale shark calmly swimming around the boa...

Forsyth Park Fountain   I spent the first 18 years of my life growing up in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, Savannah, Georgia. Although it took me moving away and traveling all over to realize what a gem Savannah truly is. I only had a short time for a quick visit with family and friends, but I managed to squeeze in a morning of playing tourist in Savannah's historic downtown district. These are some of my favorite pictures from that walk. Lafayette Square and St. John's Cathedral   I started with a relaxing cup of coffee at the Sentient Bean overlooking Forsyth Park. Afterwards I meandered into Forsyth Park, admiring all of the huge live oak trees covered in Spanish moss. I made sure to stop at the Forsyth Park fountain to take a few pictures. I tried for a while to wait until no people would be in the picture but finally gave up and took photos anyway. I actually like the photos even more with all the people relaxing on the park benc...