Wildlife, landscape and weather photography
Meet “E192”, one of the big boys we saw at this sea lion haulout in Kenai Fjords National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
The colony was hanging out on some rocks, enjoying the sun and a relatively mild day. You’ll notice a few pups around him as well.
Sea lions are sometimes branded, as this guy was when he was a pup in 2010. This allows scientists to track them without intrusive instruments, easily spotting them instead with binoculars.
By far my ‘photo excursion of the year’. We headed north to our nation’s 49th state and spent two weeks exploring this amazing place.
The sheer size of Alaska and our desire to not rush through things meant we limited our travels but that didn’t limit the photographic opportunities. We focused on three main areas: Denali National Park, Seward with Kenai Fjords National Park and Homer with Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Through them all, the scenery was stunning, the wildlife just amazing. It was the trip of a lifetime and one I will treasure forever. Here is a look at my favorite pics from our trip to the northern frontier.
There is nothing worse than someone putting their face up to yours and them having a severe case of halitosis. 😉
These two Steller sea lions were having a bit of a disagreement on the rocks of Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. This was a fun stop as we visited a haulout where there was a colony of about two dozen of these cool creatures.
I think the thing that struck me most about the visit was the noise. These guys are very, very vocal to each other – their non-stop cacophony of barking was quite striking.
Many of the sea lions were also quite large. Females average seven feet long and weigh 600 pounds. Males are a good bit larger at nine feet long and average 1500 pounds with the big boys going up to 2400 pounds!
The Aleuts call them “seevitchie” and Russians call them “sivuch”. Both translate to “seawolf.” The name we call them comes from a naturalist aboard the 1741 Vitus Bering expeditions, George Wilhelm Steller.
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