Mother Nature: True Awesomeness
Every decade or so we have a favorite word that becomes over used and I think ‘awesome’ is one of them. These days we seem to apply it to almost everything. But this year I witnessed a truly awesome natural event — the annual Pacific herring run.
Earlier this month we were hearing weather warnings about the gale from hell being on it’s way when the herring run began. Gales are occasional events that we endure every winter but April isn’t a month the normally features them. Before the gale arrived and took down the trees which in turn took out the power I watched from the high tide line as a huge gathering of sea lions in a location we never see large numbers formed.
Next came the bald eagles. I have never seen so many in one place. It seemed like every tree had at least one or two roosting in the top branches and waiting.
The wind changed direction and far off on the horizon I could sea the changes in the water color as a huge underwater river of fish schools approached. It is always an amazing event. Millions of small silver bodies schooling together in the deep green waters turn the color of the ocean to turquoise green and then aqua as the undulating schools move through the strait.
The sea lions worked together to break off and herd a smaller stream of the school of millions of fish and drive it out of the strait and then into the narrows. There the water was only between 5 to 10 feet deep and I witnessed the sea lions feast on the fish that schooled there in confusion circling and changing direction over and over again.
During the seemingly uneventful chilly winter months one of the Bay’s most spectacular wildlife events takes place — the spawning of Pacific Herring (Clupea pallasi).
The Pacific Herring is a small, silvery schooling fish. Its eggs and larvae are the preferred food of a large variety of wildlife. During the spring and summer, herring remain mostly offshore, in the open ocean and coastal waters of the northern Pacific Rim. Here, whales, sea lions, sea birds and fish are their primary predators. Herring, in turn, feast and fatten up on a variety of zooplankton such as krill, copepods and larvae from crustaceans and mollusks.During the fall and winter it is a completely different story. At this time, Pacific Herring gather in large numbers and begin their annual migration to shallow coastal waters to spawn, depositing their eggs on vegetation, algae, rocks and other surfaces. — Juan-Carlos Solis
The eagles reaped their reward for being patient and watchful. They (12 adult Bald Eagle pairs and 10 juveniles ) swooped down over and over again with out stretched talons to snatch up the injured and dead herring that floated to the surface of the sea in the aftermath of the sea lion attack.
Yes! Awesome was the correct word for what we witnessed and nothing is more awesome than natural events like the herring run in spring and the return of the salmon to the rivers in fall.
Which awesome natural events do you witness where you live?
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15 Comments on “Mother Nature: True Awesomeness”
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Would love to see a photo or two of what you witnessed, TT. It sounds really wonderful.
Nowhere near where we live, but in Egypt on holiday a month ago we saw hundreds of storks flying north through the eastern Sinai. They were in flocks of at least 50 at a time, soaring and circling in great clouds above the desert shoreline. To see so many of these huge birds in one place was truly spectacular. They winter in east Africa and come north to eastern Germany, Poland and Russia to nest and breed. Speaking of which, I don’t drop links but I’ve got some great shots of a pair mating atop a chimney on the former West-East German border last year.
.-= ian in hamburg´s last blog ..A close shave in Cairo =-.
@Ian
I don’t even think videos could do the scene justice. It was a you had to be there to witness it event.
Wow! The flocks of storks also sound like an awesome site. I think I saw a photo of a pair of storks on your blog. I’ll have to pop over and see what I can see this weekend.
See you soon. :)
I plan to post them today or tomorrow. They’re not the greatest as we were in a bus travelling at 110km/hr and of course, shot through a window, but you get an idea nevertheless.
@Ian
I’ll be looking for your photos later today. It must have been an amazing sight.
I live a few miles from an active volcano. I look forward to seeing the lava flow into the ocean one day. In the meantime, there are days when I see steam rising above the ocean in the distance and forming into large clouds in the sky giving us the hint of her power.
I also see whales leaping out of the water from time to time as well as dolphins circling around swimmers who have swum out to see to play with them. Although that’s not so unusual for where I live in Hawaii, the awesomeness of it never escapes me.
.-= Sandra Lee´s last blog ..Epsom Salt baths =-.
This is very capable word-painting. I’ve never seen anything like it, but I felt as if I could see it happening. Remarkable.
There’s a dance between light and water that goes on here. It rains for maybe an hour, maybe less, almost every day. However, quite often the sun doesn’t disappear. There’s no thunder, and the drops fall gently in slow-motion. The sunlight hits the falling water and the drops become a million prisms. Tiny, rippling, rainbows run down flat surfaces on the sides of buildings. After the rain has ceased, the evergreens shine like they’ve been sprayed with silicon. It’s so ordinary to people who live here that they don’t notice, but two months ago I was living in an irrigated desert full of palms. To me it’s psychedelic!
.-= Invisible Mikey´s last blog ..Ethics Test =-.
@Mikey,
What a delightful description. Thanks so much for the word painting. I treasure it. :)
@Sandra Lee
You provided even more natural awesome events. There’s no active volcanos here. We do have orcas, dolphins, sea lions, seals and gray whales. These islands are gorgeous but not tropical like Hawaii, of course.
Thanks for the visit. I hope you are keeping well. :)
This is a test post to see what commentluv will display.
.-= timethief´s last blog ..Facebook ‘like’ button for WordPress.com =-.
Another blog friend of mine just turned me on to natureblognetwork.com . I haven’t check it out yet, but I’m sure there’ll be lots of good stuff there.
As for what we witness in our area I guess my blog is the testament to that, really. ;)
.-= Lana´s last blog ..Northlake Nature Center & Art =-.
@Lana
Thanks for sharing that site. It sounds promising and when I have the time to I’ll be checking it out. Yes, your art and your blog are a testament to the awesomeness in nature. :)
Hi TT,
Finally got around to posting them!
Cheers,
Ian
.-= ian in hamburg´s last blog ..The great stork migration through the Sinai =-.
@Ian
Good news. I’ll be over to check them out right away. :)
This is the most fantastic description – no pictures needed! I have heard of the herring run and I think I saw a documentary about it once but your description beats all because it’s a personal account and beautifully told as well. How I envy you this spectacle. And yes, awesome is overused, but not in this case.
.-= Bird´s last blog ..Birthday Girl =-.
@Bird
Witnessing the herring run in spring and salmon run in fall are events that keep me humble. There’s nothing that compares to Mother Nature in her glory. She’s awesome. :)