Tag Archives: Pacific Ocean

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Ron Le Valley recently photographed several Northern Right Whale Dolphins, Lissodelphis borealis, off the Mendocino Coast. These are small, slender Dolphins found in the North Pacific Ocean. They have no fins or ridges on their smooth, curving backs. They are quite shy and usually avoid boats. They travel in groups of two to two hundred but much larger pods have been seen. In the open ocean, they can travel fast, making low leaps together. These Dolphins are just a little bigger than a grown man. One of their favorite foods is Squid.

To see much more of Ron's work, here's a link to his web site: http://www.levalleyphoto.com/home/ And I thank Ron for allowing me to share his beautiful photo with you here.

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My neighbor to the east, Emily Nelson, called and said, "Jeanne, I think there are Dolphins out there!" I immediately could see the dark streak in the ocean.

This is the anomaly you look for - a dark line indicates a school of fish or even perhaps Humboldt Squid. I trained my scope on the dark line and, sure enough, there were dark dolphins leaping out of the water.

The Dolphin were at least two miles out in the Pacific Ocean. I wish the photo was better but it will at least give you a feel for what we were seeing. Any day you see Dolphins is a good day!

And, as a bonus, here's a photo from last night's beautiful sunset.

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Craig Tooley recently took this photo of beautiful clouds from the bluffs of The Sea Ranch. And the Pacific Ocean abides. Just lovely.

 Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo here.  To see more of his work, here is a link to his web site: http://ruffimage.com/

And on a recent walk Rick and I could only look from afar at these Oyster Mushrooms at least twenty feet high on a Tanoak snag. We were wishing we were able to levitate so we could harvest some for our meal.

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There are two varieties of Hedgehog mushrooms that grow on our property and I love to eat both of them! The first Bellybutton Hedgehog, Hydnum umbilicatum, is up but needs some time to grow. Also spotted were several Sweet Tooth Hedgehogs, Hydnum repandum. I have never spotted Hedgehogs this early.

I thought I had a chance to photograph the green flash last night but no luck. There is a good reason people call it the "elusive green flash!" The sunset was beautiful, though, all yellows and oranges with the dark Pacific Ocean underneath.

To see a photo of the green flash posted earlier on this blog, click here: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/04/28/the-green-flash-its-not-a-myth/

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Recently Cathleen Crosby captured a photo of a Sun Dog, which is also called a Parhelion. This Sun Dog was seen out over the Pacific Ocean. It looks like several Ravens were flying by.

A Sun Dog is a rainbow in the sky but there are no rain clouds. It is formed when light rays pass through high cirrus clouds. The ice crystals in the clouds act as prisms and, if conditions are right, you get this rare phenomenon. Thanks to Cathleen for allowing me to share it with you here!

To see another rare cloud with a rainbow phenomenon, click here to see a cloud falling out of a cloud. It's amazing!http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/05/13/rare-cloud-phenomenon-a-cloud-falling-out-of-a-cloud/