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… and now I want to go to New Zealand! And do underwater photography!
This talk’s an almost perfect blend of insightful commentary, beautiful photography and chilling reality. (Eleni, this one’s for you!)
Watch out for the bit on Blue Fin tuna — I had no idea that FISH (not sharks, not whales) could weigh a ton. A ton tuna would be about two or three times the size of the tuna in the above photo, by the way… about five meters in length…
Eleni
Jun 10, 2010
Thanks
That was a really great talk. So many beautiful pictures, plus great anecdotes and examples to tell the story he wanted to tell. I LOVE that photo of the ray jumping out of the water towards the beginning. Flying ray! Just like on Dantooine in KotOR.
Baby harp seals are just about one of the cutest things in the world. The shark photos were cool. Sea otters off of California are much like the fish he described who eat the sea urchins. Without them, the kelp forests die, so they’re considered a “keystone” species. There were some pretty sad images, like the shark getting its fin cut off, and the bottom trawling bycatch (I wish I didn’t love shrimp so much). The note of hope, though, at the end was very nice.
Another reason to go to New Zealand in addition to, well, because Lord of the Rings was filmed there! I want to go too!
Arina
Jun 10, 2010
I bookmarked the talk. BUT AS FOR THE TUNA.
I totally saw a tuna that size on Hell’s Kitchen in the latest episode of season 7 and OMG I didn’t know they could be that big EITHER. Crazy. Frolic in the ignorance will me, why don’t ya?
missyummyface
Jun 10, 2010
I am really glad I can’t see the pictures from work…big fish freak me out. Not whales, sharks or dolphins…just big fish.
Charissa
Jun 11, 2010
I was amazed at how effective his calm demeanor was in getting his point across. I tend to shut down if someone is in my face about things, whether it’s environmentalism, diet, religion, exercise, how much they love toast (that was a customer on the phone at work the other day) etc. I was listening to every word he said and actually took the time to think about what he was saying instead of going “lalala, can’t hear you!!!”
sebastian
Jun 12, 2010
Well, if I make it to New Zealand, we’ll probably be as close as we’ll ever get, Eleni! You can just… hop on down! Can you even fly from Hawaii to anywhere other than USA? Singapore maybe?
The flying ray was my favourite photo too! Or the video footage of the huge whale of course!
Arina — scary thing is… work out how many tins of tuna you get from a single fish! It must be in the hundreds, for a large fish. Also, I wonder if people actually CATCH tuna, you know, with a line and lure… I guess not
Yummy (you need a more sensible name, you know that right?) is it because they’re… slippery?
sebastian
Jun 12, 2010
Charissa! That’s the kind of… distanced passion that photographers get. I don’t think many photographers jump up and down like lunatics.
There’s quite a well-known phenomenon from looking through a camera. You’re not quite there. At least that’s what war/famine/disaster photographers say (and how they cope with it).
I often leave my camera in the hotel when I travel, just for a day or two, to make sure I ‘take it in’