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Walking the Dog
Topic Started: Oct 17 2012, 08:17 AM (1,264 Views)
Dana
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WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire
When you're right on the water that's what you get. It's what is wrong with living on the west coast of this island, almost daily fog until noon and it comes back in around 4 or 5pm.
Here, not right on the ocean, not so bad around mid day yesterday. Looks as if we have one more day of it to go.
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Edited by Dana, Jan 23 2013, 04:52 AM.
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Darcie
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Skeptic
Dana and Erka, my daughter's house is on Desolation Sound.
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FuzzyO
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Rather a depressing name!
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Dana
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WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire
BUT it is located on The Sunshine Coast!

Depending on how far out they are I'd wonder about things like healthcare facilities etc.
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Kahu
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FuzzyO
Jan 23 2013, 06:27 AM
Rather a depressing name!
A bit like Poverty Bay, up on the east coast, North Island, NZ!
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asthmaticus
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We got up to Ice fog today.
Not as nice as it looks, covering everything in sight with frosty ice.

We never did see the sun, but it was supposed to be sun with clouds today.
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erka
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Gold Star Member
Dana: Thanks for the tip on Beach Garden Resort. Unfortunately, I left today and didn't have a chance to report back to you on the food.

Darcie: I have been to Desolation Sound only once and it is magical. Lucky daughter to be living in this area. It is like entering another world.

FuzzyO: The name is depressing for such a spectacular area - it certainly doesn't do justice to the area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desolation_Sound
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FuzzyO
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Absolutely stunning beauty.
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Bitsy
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What a splendid vista, FuzzyO, thanks for posting.
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Dana
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WWS Hummingbird Guru & Wildlife photographer extrordinaire
It's been herring season on this coast lately. Many birds and animals feed on the large schools as they pass through including Sea Lions whose songs have been drifting up from the bay and I've seen them swimming by when at the beaches. When friend suggested we walk on a sunny day last weekend we decided to go looking for them and we did find a good spot for viewing them. I'd heard that they congregate at a large booming ground at one of the cities not too far off and we managed to find a way down to a log sorting area where logs are lashed together with cables making stable platforms out in the water big enough to hold these large mammals.
As soon as we stepped out of the car we could hear their calls which only got louder the closer we approached. It seemed about 1/2 kilometer walk from the road through the woods on a nice path, downhill on the way in. Roland was fine, the walk in not too long but when we got to the beach he was nowhere to be found! Well, back up the trail a little ways he had stalled out, too afraid to go near such a ruckus even without seeing the mammoth animals who were making such a din.
It is a working spot but nothing going on at the weekend.
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[Imgur](http://i.imgur.com/RYWbltn)


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There must have been 200- 300 individuals out on the logs.


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Dana
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These loafers were about 30 -40 feet out, below us. The rest, further away.

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Life in a Crowd



Big guy yawns.



And into the water
Edited by Dana, Mar 12 2013, 01:33 AM.
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Dana
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller%27s_sea_lion
"Adult animals are lighter in color than most sea lions, ranging from pale yellow
to tawny and occasionally reddish. Steller sea lion pups are born almost black,
weighing around 23 kg (51 lb), and remain dark for several months. Females
and males both grow rapidly until the fifth year, after which female growth slows
considerably. Adult females measure 2.3–2.9 m (7.5–9.5 ft) in length, with an
average of 2.5 m (8.2 ft), and weigh 240–350 kg (530–770 lb), with an average
of 263 kg (580 lb).[2][3] Males continue to grow until their secondary sexual traits
appear in their fifth to eighth year. Males are slightly longer than the females;
they grow to about 2.82–3.25 m (9.3–10.7 ft) long, with an average of 3 m (9.8 ft).
[4] Males have much wider chests, necks and general forebody structure and weigh
450–1,120 kg (990–2,500 lb), with an average of 544 kg (1,200 lb).
[5][6][7]
Males are further distinguished from females by broader, higher foreheads, flatter
snouts, and darker, slightly tuftier hair around their large necks, giving them a
maned appearance. Indeed, their Latin name translates roughly as: "maned one
with the broad forehead".

They do have a 'hair do'.

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And are surprisingly agile moving on the logs.
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Edited by Dana, Mar 12 2013, 01:41 AM.
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Dana
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Roland was glad when we started leaving. We carried him most of the way back as his tail was beginning to flag indicating that his back was getting sore.
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This is a result of the herring spawn, still fresh. Once it starts to rot there is a rising stink that lasts a couple of weeks or so and gathering seaweed is prohibited while the spawn is there.
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Roland's little Chihuahua feet are visible at the top left helping to indicate the size of the eggs.
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Every sort of seaweed is coated with eggs.
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This is the sea lettuce, the kind someone told me he gathered and dried for winter food, illegal as anything but he did it to survive out on one of the small islands.
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FuzzyO
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Quite something to see, and hear! Thank you so much. I wonder what they are talking about?
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Dana
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After watching them for a while, my guess is that it is something like, 'Don't walk on my head!' They have to squeeze in when they come aboard from the water. Of the three that were lying closest to us, one would occasionally lift a head from slumber to make a small noise and then head back down for more snoozing. Quite a communal song.
Edited by Dana, Mar 12 2013, 02:05 AM.
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