Last year I took my GoPro to Tutka Bay and got some underwater video of an octopus that had a den in the intertidal zone. I also used the GoPro for a timelapse of one of the tide changes. This year, I’ll be borrowing an OpenROV (remotely operated vehicle) with a camera to explore more of the underwater flora, fauna, and geology of the Tutka Bay Lodge area.
You don’t have to go to exotic places to find cool things. Take a look at your feet, wherever they are, and look carefully. You may see amazing things. Today I found these common grape hyacinths in our yard. But look closely and you’ll see amazing symmetry, smell a fragrance that’s exotic, and see more than maybe you thought was there before. What are you looking at?
Gotta love a seastar that has an attitude!
Sometimes you look out the airplane window at just the right time! This is Greenland. You can see the carving of rock done by glaciers. The colors were just stunning. 
Tutka Bay and the Cook Inlet of Alaska have some of the highest tide swings in the world. Check out the difference between a super high tide and a ultra low tide in these photos. Use the dock sign as a reference. The floating dock really needs those tall pilings to accommodate the huge swings!
Sometimes when I go back through my photographs, I notice things that were happening in the picture that I had missed earlier! Here’s a good example. I totally missed that these little whelks were laying down some egg cases on the intertidal rock! 
Some of you have been asking “What’s next, Karyn?” I have some news that I can share now! During the 2015 Summer season (May-Sept) I will be a guide at Tutka Bay Lodge in Alaska.
The slideshow below highlights some of my previous visits at TBL. I look forward to sharing this amazing wilderness with the Tutka Bay Lodge guests!
I re-post this every year in December because it always deserves another look!
Attention all Tolkien language geeks, my friend, Patrick Wynne, sings “A Elbereth Gilthoniel” (by J.R.R.Tolkien) to the tune of “O Tannenbaum.” Brilliant.
(if you have trouble viewing the video, refresh your browser)
Lyrics:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
O Elbereth Starkindler,
silivren penna míriel
white-glittering, slants down sparkling like jewels,
o menel aglar elenath!
from the firmament the glory of the starry host!
Na-chaered palan-díriel
Having gazed far away
o galadhremmin ennorath,
from the tree-woven lands of Middle-earth,
Fanuilos, le linnathon
to thee, Everwhite, I will sing,
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
on this side of the Sea, here on this side of the Great Ocean!
Special thanks to Pat for letting me post this here!
We found this little guy on the Explore The Wild path at the NC Museum of Life and Science. Normally, you don’t see them on the path (and usually only early in the morning), but after a heavy rain, he apparently decided it was time for a walk.
Stay Curious out there! You never know what you will see when you look around!
