Photography

Watching Whales in Queensland !!!

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Gentle Giants Of The Deep Ocean …

 

 

We had a privilege  to witness one of the longest migrations in animal history right here in Brisbane’s Moreton Bay. Humpback Whales travel over 10,000 kilometres on their yearly round migration from their feedings grounds of the cold Antarctic waters to the warm tropical breeding grounds in sunny Queensland.

Of all the great whales, the Humpback is the most inquisitive and playful often leaping clear out of the ocean or slapping the surface with great fins and tail flukes in awesome displays of grace and power.   The Humpback Whale is the most surface active displaying behaviour
that will not only inspire you but leave you in awe.

Natarajan  From Brisbane , Australia

6 jULY 2014

 

Humpback Whales have:

Humpback whale tongue

  • Little or no sense of smell or taste
  • A very sensitive skin that is easily sunburned
  • Remarkable eyes with strong muscles that change the hape of the lens so they can see in the air or underwater
  • Incredible hearing ranging over many kilometres for navigation, communication and finding food
  • Calls or songs that travel hundreds of kilometres
  • Pectoral fins that are ten times longer than your arm
  • Flukes that often feature black and white markings on the underside which can be used to identify individual whales
  • The longest and most varied sign in the animal kingdom
  • An average weight of 45 tonnes which is about 1000 children together
  • An average length of 15 to 17 metres which is about 10 adults lying head to foot
  • An eye the size of a grapefruit
  • A belly button
  • Calves that are fed daily over 400 litres of rich milk which is the consistency of condensed cream
  • An expelled breath or ‘blow’ that reaches a speed of between 300 – 500 kilometres per hour as it exist through the blowhole

Few Glimpses of Whales in the Deep Ocean  spotted By us ….ME, My Wife and our Son during our  ” Brisbane Whale Watching ” Trip on 6 Juy 2014.

 

 

Photo Credit… brisbanewhalewatching.com.au

Photo credit…brisbane whalewatching.com.au

Photo credit… brisbane whale watching .com au

Photo credit… brisbane whale watching .com.au

Photo credit…brisbane whale watching.com.au

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PhotoCredit::::Senthil Natarajan

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Photo Credit:::: Senthil Natarajan

Source:::: http://www.brisbanewhalewatching.com.au

Natarajan   July 6 2014

Image of the Day….

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Stairway to heaven

“I saw this stairway leading into the Milky Way and figured I would give it a try.”

Photo by Wesley Liikane, aka Cowboy with a Camera. Visit him on Facebook.

Wesley Liikane caught this shot on the last weekend in June, when he hosted a photography workshop at a very dark site, Algonquin Park in central Ontario, Canada. He wrote:

… at the second location I saw this stairway leading into the Milky Way and figured I would give it a try. I used multiple exposures, as I did not want to have light ruining the others night vision. One exposure was 155 seconds to let the natural light bring out the foreground while the other image was a 35-second exposure.

You can see the result here. Beautiful. Thank you, Wesley.

More photos by Wesley Liikane, aka Cowbody with a Camera

 

Source::::Earth Sky News

Natarajan

A Close Call For Two Planes …Scary Too !!!

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Pilots averted a catastrophic situation on Saturday when two planes nearly collided at Barcelona Airport in Spain.

The video shows an Utair Boeing 767-300 on final approach to a runway just as an Aerolineas Argentineas Airbus A340-300 prepares to take off.

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The Utair pilots quickly aborts the landing, pulling up and clearing the plane on the ground.

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YouTube/Barcelona-El Prat In’tl

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The manoeuvre is risky because the plane has to unexpectedly re-enter the air, which is populated with other planes.

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The Utair pilots close the landing gear doors and circle around for another landing attempt.

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Meanwhile, the Airbus takes off unscathed.

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Eventually, the Utair flight lands safely on its second attempt.

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A very scary close call.

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Here’s the full video:

 

Source:::: Business Insider AU and You Tube

Natarajan

 

 

Stunning Aerial Photos of Brazil”s Soccer Fields …

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via The Creators Project

 

 

The community surrounding ‘The Beautiful Game’ is huge, and is a unifying force for countries all over the world. All that soccer requires is a ball, a couple goals, and some players—that’s part of what makes it so brilliant.

As many cities in the World Cup’s current home country are occupied by the most famous soccer players in the world, Brazilian photographer and journalist Renato Stockler’s photo essay Terrão de Cima captures the pure democratic essence and simplicity of the soccer fields ensconced in Sao Paulo neighborhoods.

Stockler says in the project’s description that the fields he photographs, “Are a breath for the hard daily life of those who live in the outskirts of Sao Paulo. These fields show the urgency for public and communal places to practice sports, a portrait of those who fight for leisure in a city as Sao Paulo.”

The reddish dirt and uneven patches of grass that make up most of the fields are a harsh contrast to the soft greens that soccer fans are accustomed to watching. All the same, Stockler says that when the hard day’s work is at an end, it’s easy to find tight knit communities of players, friends, and family gathered around the sparse field to blow off steam.

Terrão de Cima, which loosely translates to, “The Ground from Above,” is a love letter to the rugged fields of Stockler’s home, which are fast disappearing due to land speculation.

Aerial photography is the perfect medium for the task, since it shows the incredible variance in color, shape, and texture of local soccer fields, yet also captures the players as a single unit—a culture, rather than just a bunch of people. We’re still not sure we’d want to slide tackle anyone on these fields, but we’re more than ok with ogling them from above.

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators Project

 

 

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via The Creators

Source:::: Business Insider .com

Natarajan

Read more: http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/see-the-soccer-fields-of-brazilian-favelas-from-up-in-the-clouds#ixzz36RuRAOD2

” This Bird is A SuperStar …” !!!

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This bird is a superstar

Fewer than 100 pairs of Spoon-billed Sandpipers remain in the wild. Their migration is long and arduous. This is the first hand-reared bird that’s returned to breed.

Against all odds, this spoon-billed sandpiper has returned to its birthplace to breed. It is the first spoon-billed sandpiper from the captive-rearing scheme to do so. Photo by Pavel Tomkovich and Egor Loktionov.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper is one of the rarest birds in the world. The bird in the image above has now become the first of a group of hand-reared birds in a special program to return to breed. The bird returned to Chukotka, Russia, where it was hatched two years ago.

Saving-Spoon-billed-Sandpiper.com tells the history of this bird:

… it is likely that fewer than 100 pairs remain in the wild.

WWT aviculturist Roland Digby has reared 24 Spoon-billed Sandpipers over the last two summers on their breeding grounds in northeastern Russia, giving them a head start to ensure they survived their crucial first days of life.

Once released, the birds migrated 5,000 miles to south Asia, facing exhaustion, starvation and illegal hunting along the way. There has been a two-year wait to see if any will survive to return to breed.

Now one of the group has been seen back at its birthplace by researchers from Birds Russia, Pavel Tomkovich and Egor Loktionov. They reported that the bird is looking heavy, indicating that she is a female carrying eggs and ready to breed for the first time.

Pavel Tomkovich of Birds Russia said:

Two years ago I attached a tiny plastic leg flag to this bird, so that we’d recognize it if it was ever seen again. The odds were severely stacked against that happening, but amazingly she was spotted, first by birdwatchers in Taiwan in April and then we see her here at her birthplace ready to have young of her own.

It’s a wonderful accomplishment by the people trying to save this bird from extinction. Congratulations to all.

Read more about this bird and its momentous return to breed from Saving-Spoon-billed-Sandpiper.com

Source:::: Earth sky News site

Natarajan

 

Image Of the Day… Upside-Down Rainbow !!!

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upside-down rainbow. What is it?

Circumzenithal arc by Dudley Williams

Circumzenithal arc by Dudley Williams
Circumzenithal arcs have been described as an “upside down rainbow” or “a grin in the sky.” They’re wonderful! See photos here.

Duke Marsh caught this circumzenithal arc on October 3, 2012 from New Albany, Indiana. Thanks, Duke.

People who look up a lot may occasionally see the rainbow-like arcs depicted in the photos on this page. They’re called circumzenithal arcs, and they’re not really rainbows. Instead, they’re caused by ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. These arcs are related to the frequently seen halos around the sun or moon. Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics says of these graceful and colorful arcs:

The circumzenithal arc, CZA, is the most beautiful of all the halos. The first sighting is always a surprise, an ethereal rainbow fled from its watery origins and wrapped improbably about the zenith. It is often described as an “upside down rainbow” by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to “a grin in the sky”.

Look straight up near to the zenith when the sun if fairly low and especially if sundogs are visible. The centre of the bow always sunwards and red is on the outside.

Les says that the most ideal time to see a circumzenithal arc is when the sun is at a height of 22 degrees in the sky. Look here to see Les Cowley’s illustration of the various kinds of halo phenomena, related to circumzenithal arcs. And enjoy the photos below, contributed by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed.

Dan Szulewski captured a circumzenithal arc from Hermiston, Oregon on June 22, 2014.

Julie Gurnhill caught this one on February 27, 2013.

John Gravell captured this circumzenithal arc from Boston on October 17, 2012.

Rene Pennings captured this circumzenithal arc on May 21, 2012.

A lovely circumzenithal arc amidst high clouds by Dudley Williams on December 18, 2011.

Andrew R. Brown saw a jet pass in front of a circumzenithal arc, from Ashford Kent in the UK, on November 19, 2010.

Here's that same circumzenithal arc from Andrew R. Brown again, minus the jet!

Bottom line: When you see an upside-down rainbow in the sky, you are likely seeing a circumzenithal arc. It’s related the halos often seen around the sun or moon, caused by ice crystal in the upper atmosphere. The photos here are by EarthSky friends on Facebook. Thanks to all who contributed!

Gallery: Rainbows around the world

Source::::: Deborah Byrd In Earth sky news site

Natarajan

Image of the Day…

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Northern Illinois storm clouds on June 30

A farmer captured this photo of a serious storm sweeping through northern Illinois on Monday, June 30.

Steve Pitstick of Pitstick Farms in northern Illinois caught these classic prairie storm clouds on Monday, June 30. Used with permission. Thank you, Steve.

On Monday, June 30, 2014, flooding, downed trees and fires caused by lightning strikes snarled traffic, cut power and delayed or canceled hundreds of flights in and out of Chicago, Illinois. Steve Pitstick of Pitstick Farms in northern Illinois caught some of the storm clouds of this heavy-weather day on film.

Illinois was said to be hit particularly hard in Monday’s storms, but the central U.S. as a whole had tornadoes, high winds, hail and heavy rains that day. By Tuesday morning, hundreds of thousands of people were without power and trying to clean up damaged homes and roadways, according to the National Weather Service.

 

Source:::: Earth sky news site

Natarajan

Best Views From Above … Plane”s Eye View !!!

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Who wouldn’t want to be a pilot with views like this?

Who wouldn’t want to be a pilot with views like this? Source: ThinkStock

WHEN it comes to the ideal place for a spot of sightseeing, it’s hard to get better than the pointy end of the plane, where lucky pilots get to soak up the best views Earth has to offer in an office that the rest of us could only dream of having.

Our jealousy has soared to new heights with the release of a survey by British Airways of their pilots’ favourite destinations seen from above.

The pilots were asked to chose from the airline’s 180+ different routes, and came up with a top 10 list.

Here are the winners, along with pilots explaining why they are so incredible.

1. Northern Lights, North America

Captain Dave Willsher: “If you’re not already asleep this is an amazing sight three to four hours into most long North America flights. Well worth staying up for.”

 

Still awake? Picture: Jason Jenkins

Still awake? Picture: Jason Jenkins Source: Flickr

 

2. Central London, approach into Heathrow

Captain Mark Mannering-Smith: “Most flights approach Heathrow from the east — a great opportunity to get an unbeatable view of London.”

 

Wave hi to the Poms. Picture: Advait Supnekar

Wave hi to the Poms. Picture: Advait Supnekar Source: Flickr

 

 

Another Heathrow shot. Picture: Jessica Spengler

Another Heathrow shot. Picture: Jessica Spengler Source: Flickr

 

 

Coming in to land. Picture: Andy Mitchell

Coming in to land. Picture: Andy Mitchell Source: Flickr

 

 

3. Mont Blanc, Pisa

First Officer Caroline Robinson: “A breathtaking view of the Alps, and especially of Mont Blanc.”

 

The majestic Alps.

The majestic Alps. Source: ThinkStock

 

4. Sydney Harbour

Captain Derek May: “When leaving Sydney, sit on the right hand side of the aircraft to get the best views of Sydney Harbour.”

 

There’s a lot to see at Sydney Harbour.

There’s a lot to see at Sydney Harbour. Source: ThinkStock

 

 

Meanwhile, flying over South Sydney.

Meanwhile, flying over South Sydney. Source: ThinkStock

 

 

An aerial photo of Goat Island on Sydney Harbour.

An aerial photo of Goat Island on Sydney Harbour. Source: Supplied

 

 

View of Manly, with Sydney Harbour and the city centre in the background.

View of Manly, with Sydney Harbour and the city centre in the background. Source: Supplied

 

5. Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, San Francisco

Captain Simon Scholey: “You get great views of the bridge on the left hand side of the aircraft, Alcatraz from the right, and the bay from both!”

 

It’s a pretty cool sight. Picture: Paul Williams

It’s a pretty cool sight. Picture: Paul Williams Source: Flickr

 

 

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge. Source: News Limited

 

 

Flying over San Francisco. Picture: Jessica “The Hun” Reeder

Flying over San Francisco. Picture: Jessica “The Hun” Reeder Source: Flickr

 

6. Greenland, North Atlantic flights

Senior First Officer Peter Nye: “Greenland is visually stunning. The tips of mountains can be seen poking through the snow which is over a mile deep. Occasionally you will be able to see icebergs carving off glaciers around the coast.”

 

Ice, ice, baby. Picture: My Faily Sublime

Ice, ice, baby. Picture: My Faily Sublime Source: Flickr

 

 

 

A frozen meltwater lake along the northeast Greenland coast. Picture: NASA

A frozen meltwater lake along the northeast Greenland coast. Picture: NASA Source: Flickr

 

7. Venetian canals

First Officer Joanne Tait: “This is especially good on a departure to the north east as you circle back over the city.”

 

Venice down below.

Venice down below. Source: ThinkStock

 

 

8. Cape Town, Table Mountain

Senior First Officer Kate Laidler: “On early morning arrivals from the north it’s great for Table Mountain and the bay.”

 

Cape Town aerial view.

Cape Town aerial view. Source: ThinkStock

 

9. Dubrovnik

Captain Al Bridger: “It’s a terrific approach into Dubrovnik over the bay to the north east.”

 

Dubrovnik from above.

Dubrovnik from above. Source: ThinkStock

 

 

10. Mount Fuji

Captain Chris Hanson: “Whether arriving or departing from Tokyo (Narita) you can see Mount Fuji sticking out of the clouds.”

 

Pilots enjoy great views of Mount Fuji.

Pilots enjoy great views of Mount Fuji. Source: ThinkStock

 

Source:::: news.com.au

Natarajan

Image of the day !!!

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Happy anniversary, Cassini spacecraft

 

June 30 is the 10-year anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft’s successful insertion into orbit around Saturn. Imaging team leader Carolyn Porco expresses the wonder.

Here's one of the latest views of Saturn by Cassini. This composite image was snapped by the Cassini spacecraft on May 4, 2014 and processed by Val Klavans. More details: on Flickr

In the past 10 years, no spacecraft has consistently delivered the wonder of our solar system like the flagship-class NASA-ESA robotic spacecraft Cassini. No surprise, because it’s orbiting the amazing planet Saturn, world of rings and moons. June 30, 2014 is the 10-year anniversary of Cassini’s insertion into orbit around Saturn. It’s hard to convey in words how wonderful the Cassini images have been since that great day. They are stark, pleasingly symmetric and startling in their beauty. Carolyn Porco, who leads the imaging science team on the Cassini mission, had this to say today on CICLOPS, the official website of the Cassini imaging team.

On the night of June 30, 2004, we flawlessly guided ourselves into orbit around Saturn, and in doing so, took up residence in the house of the sun’s most glorious planet. Our long voyage to this faraway place was over, and we were about to embark on a scientific exploration that would make history. It was hard to take it all in. I was certain that evening there was nothing we could not do.

The last decade has been the kind that can define a human life. Wandering a distant, alien wilderness of endlessly moving worlds, all of us under the commanding and splendidly garlanded presence at its center, one can surely be forgiven for feelings of rapture and sacred calling. It changes you. It has changed me.

And it has changed all of us, Carolyn, who have been privileged to view these images. Thank you and congratulations, Cassini mission imaging team!

Want to see some of the images? Here are a few, from past EarthSky posts:

Best images of great Saturn storm of 2011

Night and day on Saturn

Crescent Saturn

Best views of Saturn hexagon

Saturn’s moon rains water onto Saturn

A 360-degree view of Saturn’s auroras

Saturn’s largest and second-largest moons

Rainbow rings of Saturn

Video: Ride with the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn

Cassini finds vortex at south pole of Saturn’s moon Titan

Image from Cassini captures five of Saturn’s moons

NASA Cassini spacecraft provides new view of Saturn and Earth

Yin and yang of Saturn’s moon Iapetus

Cassini spies Venus from Saturn’s orbit

Blazing objects in Saturn’s weirdest ring

Bottom line: June 30, 2014 is the 10-year anniversary of the Cassini spacecraft’s insertion into orbit around Saturn. Don’t we live in an amazing time of history?

Source::::Earth sky news

Natarajan