Capturing the Moment

The Chum Salmon heading upstream Lining the River   Here we go! I've been looking and looking for salmon to start showing up in numbers in all the Southeast Alaska streams. It only took a closer look in Juneau to find my first salmon run! And it actually turned out to be two different runs, the chum and the sockeye! Eagles Eagles Everywhere   The first was at Lemon Creek. The fact that hundreds of bald eagles were surrounding the creek was a great tip off that something was up. A closer look at the creek showed that is was packed with chum salmon. They fought their way upstream in the creek that was only inches deep. Still they fought on. It seemed that some had either already spawned and passed on or perhaps just ran out of energy. There were salmon carcasses all around. Feasting on fresh salmon "This is my meal."    Quite a few of the carcasses could be chocked up to the hungry eagles. I got up close and personal with one juvenile bald eag...

This beautiful red-margin spanish dancer nudibranch ( Hexabranchus pulchellus) put on a show in this shallow tide pool. Named after a flamenco dancer's skirt, these 'nudies' whirl and undulate as they swim through the water. This spanish dancer swam near the surface sometimes touching its own reflection.    Even though this nudibranch looks like it might be very toxic with its bright coloration it only has slight toxin in its tissues. They are able to absorb some of the toxin from sponges that it eats. It certainly does not rely on camouflage to remain hidden from site. Instead spanish dancer nudibranchs are nocturnal, coming out at night when visibility is low. The egg masses of a spanish dancer look like velvet roses attached to rocks around the reef. The egg mass is protected from predation since the adult passes on the toxins to the mass.   While most nudibranchs are very small, this one can someday grow to an amazing 15 inches! Our tidepool find happened t...