You can learn a lot about the birds and the bees — not to
mention the bears and a whole lot of other creatures — by watching
a live telecast among hundreds of webcams fixed on wildlife in
every corner of the globe.
Each location has its own story and its own history, but many
existing webcams are coming under the support and networking of
Explore.org, an
educational program funded by the Annenberg Foundation, with
special attention from Charles
Annenberg Weingarten.
One live cam is situated near an osprey nest on Hog Island
(first video), an educational nature camp in Maine that has been
associated
with Audubon since 1936. Today, Hog Island Audubon Camp is
operated by Project Puffin, which is part of National Audubon
Society’s Science Division.
Nearly 10,000 photos were entered into this year’s National
Geographic Photo Contest, and I’m sure that it was difficult for
the judges to choose. To feature some great water-related images, I
picked three of my favorites from the finalists.
“Moonlight,” a photo of the
famous Wanapa Tree in New Zealand. (Click to enlarge.)
Photo: Mo Wu, Taichung, Taiwan
The first photo, titled “Moonlight,” focuses on the Wanapa Tree,
which photographer Mo Wu of Taichung, Taiwan, called the most
famous tree in New Zealand. Wu waited until the moon was over the
tree to capture the reflection and moon shadow in Wanapa Lake. The
photo was entered into the Places category.
The second photo, titled “emBEARassed,” shows a brown bear
slipping and taking a brief tumble while fishing at Brooks Falls in
Alaska.
“EmBEARassed,” a photo of a
brown bear taking a tumble at Brooks Falls, Alaska.
Photo: Taylor Thomas Albright, Yuma,
Ariz.
“Anxious, aggressive and hoping to get a better angle at the
leaping salmon, this bear reached out a bit too far and lost his
footing,” explained photographer Taylor Thomas Albright of Yuma,
Ariz. “Splashing into the pool below unharmed, he eventually
climbed back into his spot to wait for the next chance at a
salmon.”
A National Geographic producer, David Y. Lee, commented,
“Fantastic moment you documented here, Taylor. I usually see images
of the bears at Brooks Falls just standing and waiting, maybe a
salmon or two jumping up in the air. So I love seeing something
different. Yes, this is a #bearblooper. I love the way the other
bear is looking at the falling one, like ‘What are you doing?’ or
‘Are you OK?’ Great job being ready to make this frame when it
happened. Well done.”
“Surfers in Bali,” taken at
sunrise in Indonesia.
Photo: Carsten Schertzer, Oxnard,
Calif.
The third photo, titled “Surfers in Bali,” was taken at sunrise
in Indonesia, according to photographer Carsten Schertzer of
Oxnard, Calif. It was entered in the Place category.
“I first saw the gate earlier in the morning, knowing this would
be a perfect place for an image,” he said. “I only needed a subject
to walk within the frame, so I sat and waited, locked in my
composition and waited until the surfers walked into my frame.”
Kimberly Coates, a photographer for NatGeo’s “Your Shot”
program, noted, “You captured this shot at the perfect moment! I
love the symmetry of the structure in front and how it frames the
surfers. The sky is also such a lovely shade of purple! Thanks for
sharing, Carsten!”
“Unreal” shows thousands of
Volkswagen and Audi cars lined up in the desert. Click for a slide
show of winning photos in the National Geographic contest.
Photo: Jassen Todorov, San Francisco
The fourth photo is the Grand Prize winner of the photo contest,
with photographer Jassen Todorov of San Francisco claiming a $5,000
prize. The picture shows thousands of Volkswagen and Audi cars
lined up in the middle of California’s Mojave Desert, the result of
a recall after Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions
controls.
Click on the photo to call up a slide show of all 12 winning
photos, or go directly to the
“Wallpapers: Winners” page. You can review all the finalists by
category or look a those that made the judges’ cuts over a
five-week period. The pictures can be downloaded and used as
wallpaper for your computer, tablet or cellphone.
Entries for next year’s contest may be submitted in October.
Updated rules are expected to be posted later, but general
information can be found on the
Rules webpage.
In plain view of one live camera, a bear waits patiently as
leaping salmon fly all around. The bear is content to wait for for
a big fish to leap into his paws or his mouth.
In front of another live camera, a group of bears forage
downstream in the river, going underwater to get their salmon meal.
One chews vigorously while standing upright in chest-deep
water.
These are a couple of the scenes I’ve been watching this morning
at the Brooks Falls overlook in Katmai National Park. I have never
been to the national park, but I have enjoyed these live video
feeds for years. It seems incredible that we can observe brown
bears doing what they do naturally while remaining out of sight and
hearing of the bears.
All four bear cams can be viewed at once from the
Explore website. Scroll down the page to read comments from the
camera operators and other folks watching remotely.
Park officials estimate that more than 100 bears use this
mile-long stretch of Brooks River to feast on what they say is the
largest sockeye salmon run in the world. These bears are part of a
population of 2,200 that live in the park. It is said that bears
outnumber people on the Alaska Peninsula.
Another
group of live webcams are poised to capture the movements of
Northern Resident killer whales in Blackney Pass, one of the
primary travel routes for the whales during the summer months.
Again, scroll down to view comments. The cameras are coordinated by
OrcaLab, Paul Spong’s research
station on Hanson Island in British Columbia’s Johnstone
Strait.
Millions of people watched and waited online for April the
giraffe to give birth at Animal Adventure Park near Harpursville,
N.Y. — although I am not sure how many were viewing live at the
moment of birth. Of course, it is now recorded on YouTube for
anyone to see.
As of yesterday, zoo officials announced on
Facebook that a new camera will be installed to allow
occasional viewing at times to be announced. For a $5 subscription,
you can sign up for text alerts about the baby. This has become a
real money-maker for the zoo. Frankly, I’m amazed at the level of
interest, but it will probably decline now that the baby has
arrived.
Each spring, I post an Amusing Monday piece showing where to
find some of the best critter cams around the world. I’m pleased to
report an ever-expanding number of cameras, not only those in zoos
and aquariums but also those in outdoor locations where wildlife
experts can study animals without disturbing them. Because of the
Internet, we are able to essentially look over the shoulders of
researchers and even watch the animals when official observers are
not around.
Explore.org, a division of the
Annenberg Foundation, is becoming the go-to website for connecting
people live with animals via webcams. As I write this, the number
of live video feeds listed on the website totals 65, although the
number changes frequently as a result of shifts in animal activity
as well as technical issues. Scroll down below the video player for
text messaging related to each camera for interactions between
video operators and online observers.
Brown bears are still actively fishing at Brooks Falls in
Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. I wish I had more time
to sit and watch them, as there is almost always something going on
at this time of year — although the salmon run is expected to
decline soon. See live video from three cameras on
Explore.com.
The looping video on this page was captured from one of the live
cameras by national park staff, who posted the action with this
note: “Wow, fishing gets intense! Bear brawl!”
For this and other live wildlife cams from across the country,
check out my “Amusing Monday” blog post in
Water Ways from June 29.
The beautiful and powerful brown bears have arrived at Brooks
Falls in Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska, and everyone
in the world can enjoy the convenience of watching these giant
bears and other amazing wildlife live from the comfort and safety
of their home.
Lots of people have been going out to falls this year to watch
the bears from nearby viewing platforms, but I get the feeling that
far more people have been watching them from home via the
live webcams. I say that because of the number of
comments generated on the website. More than a few commenters
seem to know the area well and even call the bears by their
nicknames. (Park biologists use a numbering system, identifying
each bear by coat and claw colors, scars, body size and shape, ear
size and shape, sex, facial features and disposition.)
Brooks Falls is one of the first streams in the region where the
bears have easy access to bright salmon soon after they leave the
saltwater and before spawning. The falls provide a partial barrier
to their travels, making fishing easier for the bears. By sometime
in August, the fish runs will dwindle and the bears will be
gone.
Operators of the multiple live webcams do a good job of zooming
in when something interesting happens. Occasionally, so much is
going on that they don’t know what to show. Other times, we wait
and watch the beautiful scenery, which is especially dramatic at
sunrise and sunset.
When the bears are actively fishing for salmon, I find it hard
to break away and get back to daily life. One video trick I’ve
learned: If you don’t see anything interesting in the live view,
you can use your cursor to scan across the timeline to see what has
happened for the past few hours and watch that instead.
Park officials have identified the various fishing methods used
by the bears in an interesting
Q&A section on the national park’s website.
Birds and marine mammal cams
Besides watching bears, it’s a good time of year to watch other
wildlife as well via live webcam. Birds are typically active on
their nests, raising their young.
Chesapeake Conservancy is featuring the osprey couple,
Tom and Audrey, who perennially nest on Kent Island in
Maryland. Audrey has taken up with a new “Tom” this year and
produced three babies. They also received two foster chicks from
nearby Poplar Island, according to information on the website.
Another good osprey cam was installed this year in Belwood Lake
Conservation Area near the Great Lakes in Ontario, Canada. Three
eggs reportedly hatched, but I see only two chicks in the nest.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also has an osprey
cam that updates still photos every 12 seconds.
A puffin
cam at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine shows a
fuzzy chick tucked into a burrow where its mother comes and goes to
feed her baby. Other views shows puffins on a ledge where they
often hang out. Wildlife biologists are trying to establish a new
colony at this location after hunters wiped out the puffins in the
1800s.
If you would like to see a colony
of walruses, (also in video player below) check out the live
camera installed on Round Island, Alaska. Sometimes only a few of
the large mammals can be seen. Other times, like this morning,
large numbers were pushing and shoving each other for space. The
comments are often entertaining.
