POP: Sea.

SORT OPTIONS

	69 Images.

		Sunset at Paekakariki. Shadows getting longer fast now, they willl be climbing walls very soon.
Paekakariki Beach. 5:10 pm, Sat 22nd Aug, 2009

		Seal Island. White with birds droppings, this Island is clearly a home for an assortment of birds. Dotted along the tops you can see the silhouette of Shags and there were numerous Gulls of various types. It was also a daytime haunt for touristic ventures, including a group of people who were diving close to the 'Seal creche'.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:12 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Serene Look. What a wonderful look this Fur Seal has on its face, it might be taking a power nap maybe? Also perhaps it might be on lookout duty and is watching us from his half closed eye ;)
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:07 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Looks Just Like Morocco! I never really realised how big the mountains round Kaikoura actually are! This was really the first time I had stopped and had a look around the place. Here where the Mountains have got small enough to have no snow on the tops reminds me very much of the Ketama Mountains in the North of Morocco.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:59 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Feeding Frenzy. Gary our skipper eventually removed the plastic netting from the lump of food and there was no holding back after that! There are 5 Wandering Albatrosses and 2 Skuas' joining in here, but the Mollymawks' (none visible here) and the little Birds are still not really taking part, although with the added beaks pecking at the food the amount of food floating in the water increased considerably so they all benefited in the end. Not long after this the lump of food got to be small enough that one Albatross took it and tried to fly away with it only to find that it could not fly with the weight, but it sort of skimmed along with a flock of maybe 50 birds trying to follow the food, although most soon lost track of where it was, so there ended up being a trail of these birds stretching out for 100 metres or so. I was videoing it so don't really have stills (oneday I will sort out putting video on here!).
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:43 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Wide Angle Albatrosses. I thought that the only lens I would be using would be my 70-200mm, but since the birds were so fearless of us I got the 17-40mm out and took a few with it. I kind of like the look the wide angle gives here.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:16 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		I am the Handsomest!!! The Black Browed Mollymawk (still belonging to the Albatross species) would have to be the most handsome/beautiful of the birds we saw from the boat (imo), it is remarkable what a little mascara can do for your looks hehe, oh and the yellow beak-stick ;) They always look so stern though! Although these Mollymawks do seem to have a bit of a grin hidden in there aswell.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:08 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Whetting One's Whistle. Looking into the water? More likely cleaning ones nostrils! You see when the Albatross (or Mollymawk in this case) spend so long out at sea they need to make their own fresh water. Don't ask me how but they 'distil' sea water somehow and the salt is expelled from the system through their nostrils. I find it incredible that a bird that lives so closely with the sea cannot drink it strait so to speak!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:08 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Masters of the Air 3. They definitely utilise what we humans call 'ground effects' or is it just that they get a thrill out of the sensation of speed they get from flying so close to the surface of the sea, I know I would!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Masters of the Air 1. These birds use a flying technique that is known as 'Dynamic Soaring' where they glide with the wind till they are skimming the wavetops, then they turn into the wind and reclaim the height they had lost, this is all done without the 'flap' of a wing. I don't suppose the birds call it dynamic soaring however, they just call it 'another day looking for food, love, and umm, food' I guess :) Kind of like us but with less complex words!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Wandering Albatross. Apparently their beaks go pink when they are ready to mate, otherwise the beak is coloured like the end of this ones beak, so this one may well be interrupting its busy schedule to raise some youngsters soon.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:44 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Big Wings. I wonder if this was the Albatross that bit me?!?! Brave me (some would call it something else!) thought I would present my finger to the bird to see what it would do etc, well it nearly took my finger off lol, no it didn't but with a 5 inch bill and pointy ends it did draw blood on both sides of my finger. I feel privileged though :)
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:40 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 3. I thought that the newcomer had had the best of the fight personally, but for some reason, perhaps because the original one ended over the top of the newcomer, the original one got to carry on it's dominance of the food bag and the newcomer had to hang around the sidelines picking up scraps of food floating in the water. The Skua had to do likewise, although it was much less stand-offish than all the other birds, often sneaking a quick bite of the bag from the relative safety of the other side of the bag.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 2. They crashed together with wings and beaks and spray going everywhere! Meanwhile the black Skua, possibly a Brown Skua makes the most of the free access to the food.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 1. Mostly the Albatrosses were very guarded with the bag of food, but one time it seemed to become distracted, then the next thing we saw was this newcomer 'skiing' across the water making a bee line to the original Albatross. The one sitting in the water is the original one, and it is about to leap at the newcomer.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Big Daddy has Arrived. Just to give an indication of sizes, the small birds are about pigeon sized so you can see that the Wandering Albatross is a very large bird, making even the largish Grey Headed Mollymawk seem fairly compact. Our skipper thought the Albatross may be 20 years old, so it is still quite young (40 years is common, with one known to have lived into her 60th year!).
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:33 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		It's Just Natural to Them! Caught in the moment like this the bird seems like its doing death defying manoeuvres, but it is just flying by, doing what it does naturally. I'm not sure but I think they call these 'Sea Pigeons', or Cape Pigeons.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:24 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Two Shags on a Rock. Any perch will do so long as it is quiet and peaceful. The Shags are fisher-people, but unusually they have no oil in their feathers so every time they get their feathers wet, they have to go sit somewhere in the sun and dry them out again.
Kaikoura. 1:27 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		The Kaikouras'. How glorious is this, the mountains look so awesome and the sea just makes me want to go and dive into it, and I'm not even a swimmer type!
Kaikoura. 1:27 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Wandering Among the Rocks. There are always times when you see the shot and spend precious moments fumbling with the camera while the shot is wandering away, well past its best. So frustrating, but I think I was just in time with this one, although I missed her dog and her legs are more obscured than they might have been, oh well.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay) 4:50 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		Seaweed Surf and Spray. Another windy day in Wellington, just life as normal in the churned up sea, the life within benefits from the oxygen all the tossing and turning introduces into the water.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay), Wellington. 4:43 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		What Lurks Within? In some of these pictures of water I see many things and in this one I think I see a dragon breathing white flames out of it's nose (well, the side of its face really)! Probably just not enough sleep hehe.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay). 4:12 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		Island Bay. Some of the houses along the south coast of Wellington are quite interesting, like the lighthouse you can see here, it would be nice to live there, but it would loose the sunshine very early in the day, I would probably go for the more exposed houses at the top of the hill there.
Island Bay, Wellington. 4:53 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Wellington Harbour Entrance. It is so hard these days to find views unspoiled by houses and man made structures, but this is fairly uninterrupted, apart from those power lines... Now where did I put those wire cutters?!?! The 35mm fixed focal length lens seems to capture a richness that other lenses cannot, it is a lens that I should use more often!
Above Houghton Bay, Wellington. 4:33 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Fishing By The Light. At night the tall structure next to the three boats flashes slowly with a red light, it is to keep larger ships on the far side of the light. I love looking at the this expanse of water to see the patterns and the activities of various sized vessels.
Harbour Channel, Wellington. 9:03 am, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Kelp Patterns. Every time the sea came back towards the shore, the kelp would make a new pattern, seemingly never the same but always complex, sometimes looking orderly and appealing to my sense of symmetry, and at other times chaotic, looking hopelessly entangled with itself.
Island Bay, Wellington. 3:55 pm, Mon 19th Nov, 2007

		Kelp. Some of these strands of Kelp would be 5-6 metres long, they all appeared to belong to the same 'plant' which had attached itself to the rocks on the side of a channel leading to a large rock pool. It amazed me that the Kelp remains attached since every 10 seconds or so it would all be dragged back down the channel towards the open sea, only to be caught up in the next incoming surge of water! The coming and going of the water is not tranquil and calm either, far from it as you can see with all the frothing of the water, yet it was one of the healthiest looking 'clumps' of kelp I could see.
Island Bay, Wellington. 3:55 pm, Mon 19th Nov, 2007

		Mana Island. I have often wondered why Mana Island is shaped the way it is, so flat with a gentle slope downwards towards the south? Perhaps I will find out one day.
Plimmerton, north of Wellington. 5:09 pm, Sun 16th Sep, 2007

		Sunset From Paekakariki Hill Lookout Point. The fact that we are looking straight toward the sun means that everything else in the picture gets to look dark (assuming we want to see any detail at all in the bright areas) which makes the clouds look rather moody, but from memory the day was quite fine and settled.
Paekakariki Lookout Point, Wellington. 5:37 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		South End of Kapiti. Looking down from the lookout point on Paekakariki Hill. The sky is tinged with the colour of the coming sunset and the light highlights the ripples on the surface of the sea.
Paekakariki Hill lookout, Wellington. 5:22 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		View From Paekakariki Hill. Always a favourite view this one, the road that leads to this lookout point is a windy and fairly narrow one that goes from Paekakariki to the Hutt Valley. We are looking West here, but the left is nearly South and right hand side is North. To the left you can see the South Island faintly on the horizon, the island you can see is Kapiti, and the little town to the right is Paekakariki itself.
Paekakariki, Wellington. 5:51 pm, Sat 10th Mar, 2007

		Beach Monolith. Driftwood in the sand, with leaning seagull. The seagull was about to fly away in fact.
Waikanae Beach. 6:14 pm, Thu 8th Mar, 2007

		Afternoon Stroll. Nice contrast in this, I hope he doesn't mind being reproduced on the internet :)
Waikanae Beach. 6:13 pm, Thu 8th Mar, 2007

		Rock Pool. Colours everywhere and textures I can almost smell the sea.
Point Dorset, Wellington. 4:25 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Morning Run by the Sea. Arriving in Napier shortly before sunrise I decided to wait while the sun came up and take some pictures. As the sun was getting itself out of its bed, so were some of the residents of Napier, including this man jogging along the pebbly beach.
Napier foreshore. 5:17 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Good Time for a Chat. Taking the dog for a walk on the beach, a great time to chat and catch up with the latest gossip.
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 3:56 pm, Fri 9th Jun, 2006

		Patches of Sunlight. Morning sunlight through holes in the clouds light Wellington harbour channel, Eastbourne in the background.
Taken from my place. Wellington. 8:03 am, Wed 1st Mar, 2006

		Growth in a Rock Pool. Rock pools are strange, but wonderful, they're another example of how life strives to survive, in spite of the whims of nature.
Breaker Bay, Wellington. 2:43 pm, Fri 20th Jan, 2006

		Watery Ripples. The water looks almost oily, but I don't think Wellington harbour is that polluted (is it? (Just joking btw)).
Near Queens Wharf, Wellington. 9:37 am, Fri 16th Dec, 2005

		Fishing Boat Heads Out in the Morning. Early morning and a lone fishing boat heads out of Wellington harbour by the golden light of sunrise, it was a magical sight. Seen from my back door.
My Place, Wellington. 4:40 am, Wed 14th Dec, 2005

		Kelp waves and the Water Ripples in the Currents. Hopping between the jagged rocks around some bays in Wellington, there are beautiful sights to be seen. The sea was rushing through this gap in the rocks, then it would rush back again, endlessly, and the kelp seems to thrive on it.
West of Lyall Bay, Wellington. 12:36 pm, Sat 19th Nov, 2005

		Light Shifts and Moves in the Ripples. Light is wonderful stuff, especially when you have something to play with it like a lens or water. It's making me thirsty, except it is salt water.
West of Lyall Bay, Wellington. 12:34 pm, Sat 19th Nov, 2005

		Breaking Waves 3. I believe the point in the background is Bream Head about 35 kilometres north of Eyres Point.
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:21 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Breaking Wave 2. It looks a bit like Ice at the edge where it is about to crash into the surface.
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:20 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Breaking Waves 1. A nice pipeline, just a wee bit small to really surf in though, and it doesn't seem to have an open end. I wonder if the little bumps in the pipe are bubbles?
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:20 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Pristine Te Arai Beach. The other end (I think) of the conflicted coastline, it looks amazing I think, and I would love to live here, but not if it was going to mess the place up. It is hard I know, there is the mindset of 'if I don't then others will', but look at it, it is not a product to be bought or sold, it is about something in us that is much more precious!
Te Arai Beach, Eryes Point, Mangawhai Heads. 12:17 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		A Nice Day for a Dive. The boulders may have been placed there by humans I'm thinking, possibly to shelter the beach? They definitely don't make a good path out to the island, I mean even walking over them would be precarious. I should have asked the man about to go diving out there when I talked to him, oh well.
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:48 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Te Arai. Looks like it would be a great place to go swimming in the summer. Understandably this coastline is the subject of conflict with land developers (destroyers) wanting to turn it into a haven for the rich human beings. It is currently the home to among others, New Zealand's rarest bird the Fairy Tern, plus a handful of other endangered species. How can we humans be so blind frankly, how can we forget so quickly the preciousness of nature?
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:38 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Little Boat, Big Sea. Wonderful the way when you increase magnification, things seem to pop out of nowhere.
Bream Tail, north of Mangawhai Heads. 10:05 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Patterns on the Sea. I think this is taken from a place called Bream Tail which is about 5 kilometres from Mangawhai Heads and the large island I suspect is Great Barrier Island (looking at the map and a later picture gives some doubt however). The surface of the sea looks nice I think.
Bream Tail, North of Mangawhai Heads. 10:05 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Nice Play Thing. There must be miles and miles and miles of coastline around countries that there is no way to see without some form of boat! This is not the best kind of boat for that kind of adventuring I guess, since you have to keep feeding it petrol, but the idea is stirring to me :)
Oke Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:07 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Larger Island. Climbing over the ridge to Oke Bay provided a great view of the area. It is one of the things that makes climbing to the top of something so worthwhile, you get to see many things not previously visible. The occasional motorboat that came by while I was up here made wonderful patterns in the sea :)
Oke Bay, Bay of Islands. 1:54 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Jungle On An Island. Yet another example of the tenacity of the New Zealand vegetation, or the fertility of its environment! I wonder what it would be like to be sitting on the island? Distances are deceptive I think, and the island may be bigger than it looks, not just a small lump of rock and trees in the water. Interesting little caves there.
Rawhiti Point, Bay of Island. 1:21 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Tranquil Paradise! The water, so clean and blue, the trees growing out of the rocks like they do, the fluffy white clouds, all adds up to one special place.
Rawhiti Point, Bay of Islands. 1:20 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Paihia Beach. A great place to own a yacht or sea worthy vessel of some kind. I would imagine it would get more crowded in the heat of summer, but at this time of year it is a tranquil paradise!
Paihia Beach, Bay of Islands. 4:03 pm, Sat 13th Aug, 2005

		Worlds Aura. This picture is looking away from the sunset, in fact the horizon to the west is obscured by a large hill, but this was just superbly beautiful, I got the feeling that a mere mortal like myself might not be able to appreciate the direct view, but the incidental view would be just sufficient to fill my heart.
Matauri Bay Camping Ground. 5:56 pm, Fri 12th Aug, 2005

		Looking Back at Pia Pia Beach. Three birds fly over Pia Pia Beach as the calm sea laps the shore where I look back with fondness.
Te Ngaere, Wanui Rd, on the way to Matauri Bay. 4:43 pm, Fri 12th Aug, 2005

		Waves Break. Looking down to the waves coming in from far out in the body of that incredible mass of water. There is something primal in Seas and Oceans that grab us where we don't like to be grabbed, kind of like vertigo does, but in a more obscure way. Sometimes in rough weather waves can be seen way out into the sea, where the Tasman Sea and the Pacific come crashing together.
Cape Reinga. 4:55 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Sky and Sea. The vastness of Oceans, and the depth, they just make us little humans feel very helpless and insecure (maybe I should be speaking for myself than for humanity), like deserts, they are very beautiful but have a terrible potential for death.
Cape Reinga. 4:18 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Faithful Guardian of Ships. Cape Reinga Lighthouse, not quite but nearly the most northerly part of New Zealand. Lighthouses are so evocative, we put ourselves out in the sometimes seething turmoil that is the ocean, it feels so vulnerable, then there in the darkness of despair a light beckons us to safety! We don't need a strong imagination to feel that. The sea is not our environment!
Cape Reinga. 4:17 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		The Light. The Lighthouse sleeping in the day. I never really thought about the fact that lighthouses are nocturnal, but they do come alive at night really.
Cape Reinga. 4:15 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Cape Maria Van Diemen. Cape Maria Van Diemen, where the old lighthouse was built in 1879, however due to difficulties of getting to the light in rougher weather the new light was built on Cape Reinga in 1941. In particular, in 1933 when the assistant keepers wife was swept off the rocks, the radio operator jumped in to the waves to rescue her, and they were both, sadly, drowned.
Cape Reinga. 4:11 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Sea and Clouds to the North of New Zealand. After the enjoyable drive along Far North Road, I arrived at Cape Reinga, and all there was was sea! Oh and clouds, and a lighthouse :) and a steady stream of visitors. You can just see the Three Knights Islands on the horizon at the right.
Cape Reinga. 4:07 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Surf Casting at the Foot of Ninety Mile Beach. Ahipara is at the south end of Ninety Mile Beach, so from here you could in fact drive along the beach all the way up to Te Paki (a little less than 20km from Cape Reinga), but then I would be happier doing that in a 4 wheel drive vehicle.
Ahipara, 90 Mile Beach. 1:22 pm, Thu 11th Aug, 2005

		Rawene Township. Look back from the vehicle ferry at the town of Rawene, a few of the buildings perch on 'stilts', looking a bit like 'add-ons' to the towns center. By comparison, the dock on the other end of the ferry journey is totally deserted.
The Ferry, Rawene. 4:32 pm, Wed 10th Aug, 2005

		Black Backed Gull Paddling. Here the early evening light turns the sea water golden coloured, as a Black Backed Gull paddles through the small waves, perhaps hunting for something to snack on (like the enormous Hokianga Burger I had just finished, highly recommended).
Opononi. 5:17 pm, Tue 9th Aug, 2005

		Peaceful Pastures. Getting nearer to the actual sea in Kaipara Harbour, the cows unhurriedly chew their cud, and I head toward Journeys end road, and Tapora.
Kaipara Harbour. 4:35 pm, Sun 7th Aug, 2005

		Mission Bay. Evening light on the clouds over Mission Bay. Auckland city has a lot of sheltered sea for the yachties.
Mission Bay, Auckland. 5:28 pm, Sat 6th Aug, 2005

		Kapiti Island and The Golden Coast. Looking from Paekakariki hill lookout. Looks to be raining on Kapiti. Stitched.
Paekakariki Hill, Wellington. 2:43 pm, Sun 26th Jun, 2005