Weather and whales

The whales are here and so is wonderful calm weather, as yet the trade winds have not come through making glorious days out on the ocean. However the calm weather makes our temperatures remain warmer than normal winters in the past 7 years.

I always worry and make notes with the weather and the whales, the Humpbacks that come to these waters for mating and calving are fasting during their time away from colder feeding grounds, though they may take an opportunistic feed, the energy expelled to feed outweighs the nutritional benefits of food found in tropical and temperate zones.

This too may be said about warmer waters, currently our temperatures are about 26C, though not as warm as summer they are staying about 1-2C warmer than the first 5 years we were here. This could mean the whales stay in the deeper cooler water.

 My question is does the water temperature effect the fat burn in the whales. To me it makes sense and whales have been both in the islands and further out, however if they are burning more energy due to the water temperature how is it effecting them on the mating grounds.

We again as always will be making notes during the season and trying to find common ground with the results from the last years. So far all our trips have been good, only one we did not swim on. This happens, interaction is never a given with wild animals and all behaviours seen are awesome and spectacular.


I will keep posting on this and and changes we see from previous years, lets hope that these climate occurrences do not make it harder for the whale populations that are still recovering from the hunting era.

Back in the garden

and clearing my head with my favourite lens. The trusty 105mm and diopters, I have always loved the different emphasis that a 105mm can bring to a photo with its shallow depth of field.

Unfortunately my Mac is giving me problems at the moment and making photo blogging hard as it crashes when graphics are needed! Hoping to send it to the Mac Doc soon, but tough to let go and not see it for 4-6 weeks.

My garden has a wonderful array of hibiscus colours and today I just spent time changing focus points and positions. The sun angles are always good for flowers in the afternoon and I love the morning light when the flowers are just opening up with the dew on them.

Its great to have the 105mm back. We also planted lot more rocket and seeds today, our little vegetable patch is coming along and by the end of this year we aim to be 50% sustainable on vegetables and fruits. We will never push to have it all as we also support the local growers around Vava'u.

Well I hope everyone had a good weekend, its such beautiful weather here at the moment thats it has been a pleasant outdoor day and only now have I gotten onto my computer as the sun dips behind the house.

Borrow Lenses

I had never heard of this site until a competition came up this morning. However it is a great idea for photographers who may not know the lens or camera equipment they want to use. Through Borrow lenses you can both photographic and video equipment to suit any shoot or need.

This is a great way to immerse yourself in new styles of photography without the initial costs, if you like the lens or body you can then choose to buy it.

So enjoy your photography, mix it up, its about what you see through your camera that creates a photo.