Don’t feed the sharks
Living by the beach, you see all manner of things washed ashore with the incoming tide. Some are lovely tresures, others quite dangerous, bringing unwanted visitors with them. During this summer, unfortunate humpbacks seemed to find our shores, with sharks of all descriptions gorging themselves silly.
The latest one was directly behind our home, an 8 metre humpback lodged on an inaccessible reef platform. This meant the constant drone of circling helicopters overhead went on for days, trying to drive the sharks away from the popular beach. Of course the beach was closed, but some body boarders are a fearless lot, and still braved the shark infested waters. Some beach goers got in for a real close-up look, but I don’t know they stood the stench.
The big Pacific Gull below was making the most of the feast - more about him later.
Above picture courtesy Commuity News
Finally, a specially trained team of marine specialists broke up the carcass with high pressure water before pumping it to a truck for transport to the rubbish tip. This is the graveyard for most of the whales, I remember seeing the bizarre sight of a large truck driving down the road with a gigantic whale tale poking out the back.
Above picture courtesy Community News
Whilst I was taking photos with my nose firmly pinched closed, two Pacific Gulls (much bigger than the ubiquitous Silver Gull) were wheeling about overhead, then diving low and fast to glide just above the surface of the waves.
DIP and……
…and SPLASH….
….and it’s fish for dinner!
I think they must have been well and truly sick of whale by now.
I feel so lucky to have this stretch of coastline by my shoulder on my walk, with some of the most beautiful ocean sunsets you’ll ever drink in.
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Cindy, what fantastic action shots of the gull. Thanks so much for sharing this interesting story, it’s quite something to see your pictures and hear your perspective.
Great set of pictures, and very interesting. I enjoyed your story.
Thanks for stopping by Brenda and Sharon.
Always so much to see along the coast - today I just stood and gazed upwards at a beautiful pair of Sea Eagles just “hanging” in the air hoping to spy an easy brekkie. They glided around in huge sweeping circles, never beating their wings once. Just magic.
Cindy, I live along the St. John River Valley and get to watch Bald Eagles do the same just outside my loft window
They are breathtaking and I never stop being riveted by their flight.
Thank you for your encouraging words on my blog post and I pray you get good news concerning your Mum…waiting makes time drag.
Thanks Brenda, much appreciated.
You are so lucky Cindy to live in such a gorgeous spot - I would definitely be staying in Perth!!! What a sad sight is that poor humpback, but I guess that is nature taking it’s course. Your photos and commentary are always fascinating!!!
Wow, great photos. The poor whale…
Fabulous shots of the gull feeding. What settings did you use ? I love the one with the water droplets visible. It must be nice to live so close to the ocean. I didn’t think Perth was on the ocean but Fremantle was??
Hi Karen and Diane
Karen, yes it is sad about the whales, you never know if they’ve been hit by a boat or such like (this one was a teenager). We’re lucky that everything in nature has a “Clean Up” team, even if they’re sharks! Unfortunately the “Man Made” clean up team had to take over in this case.
Diane, my camera was on Full Auto as the light was fading fast, I was about 80m away and they were moving FAST! They are not as clear and crisp as I would have liked them to be, but I was just happy to have captured something.
Freo is at the mouth of the Swan River, where it meets the Indian Ocean. Perth City CBD is about 15 kms up river and east of Freo. The rest of Perth spreads north, south and east 40kms each direction. As with any capital city, it hugs the coast line all the way up and down - we’re north of the CBD (Northern Beaches).
Winter by the Beach can be FIERCE!
Hi Evelyn, thanks for stopping by.
Yes, it’s always sad to have such majestic creatures forlornly washed up by the tide.
An artist and a fantastic photographer, too! The photos of the Pacifiic gulls are amazing. I have tried and tried to take similar photos and I am so impressed wth your dead on focus and beautiful stop motion shots! Your artwork is stunning, too.
Hi Michele, great to see you here.
Are youusing manual or auto focus on the gulls? I find it almost impossible to capture fast moving critters on Manual. Also, using the “Burst” mode on the camera helps enormously!
Have visited your blog - gorgeous work you do!
Wonderful capture and what a lovely place to live ……the gull capture is a great sequence…