Many hunters are notable conservationists, and one recently found an unexpected way to conserve bullets.
Prairie du Sac, Wis., resident TJ Hauge was hunting on opening day of the state's nine-day gun deer season. Settled into his tree stand when a buck came into his sights, TJ took careful aim and squeezed off a shot. Bull's-eye -- the buck dropped in its tracks -- and so did the unseen one standing directly behind it.
"Between the adrenaline and the rather strange outcome, my mind had a little trouble grasping what had just transpired," TJ told Outposts. "I spent the next 25 minutes with a big, uncontrollable smile and occasionally laughing to myself in disbelief of what had happened."
TJ immediately text-messaged the other members of his hunting party, "two bucks, one bullet."
Malibu's Wes Davis has completed a remarkable achievement in the world of big-game fishing: the International Game Fish Assn.-sanctioned Billfish Royal Slam, which entails catching nine billfish species.
And the kid's only 10, so he becomes the youngest angler ever to accomplish the feat.
The globe-trotting Davis got started when he was 6 and caught a short-billed spearfish. Three months later he reeled in a white marlin. In subsequent years he boated two Atlantic sailfish, a Pacific blue marlin, three Pacific sailfish, a swordfish, a black marlin, three striped marlin and the grand finale: a 300-pound Atlantic blue marlin Davis brought to leader after a two-hour struggle in rough seas.
All but the swordfish were tagged and released. Congratulations, Wes!
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Wes Davis, right, gets started on his billfish royal slam with capture of short-billed spearfish. Credit: IGFA, which did not provide identification of others in the photo.
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I plucked the December/January issue of Outdoor Life from the mailbox Sunday afternoon, shortly after learning that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger suffered what was believed to be a mild concussion in a losing effort against the Kansas City Chiefs.
By strange coincidence I turned to the back page first and there was Big Ben, whose team is the defending Super Bowl champion, talking about how much he loves the much safer pastimes of hunting and fishing--and boasting about how he once bagged three ducks with a single blast.
Here's the brief Q&A:
Outdoor Life: How did you start out?
Ben Roethlisberger: I grew up in Ohio and have been fishing and hunting as long as I can remember with my dad and grandpa. Whether it was bobber-fishing for bluegills or spin-fishing for bass, I'd do it. I'd get out often.
OL: What's your favorite place to fish?
BR: Anyplace there's water! Seriously, though, I've taken my dad to Wyoming to fly-fish and it's been a great experience.
OL: How about hunting?
BR: I've always been more of a bird hunter than a deer hunter. I love to hunt ducks, geese, quail, grouse and turkeys.
OL: What's your most memorable hunting experience?
BR: As a kid, hunting with my dad on the Ohio River, I once got three ducks with one shot.
OL: How does playing football compare to hunting or fishing?
BR: I think my dad said it best when he said, "Being outdoors is still better than anything else you can do." It's hard, but we always manage to get a day off and I'll get outdoors.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger warms up before a game against the Detroit Lions this season. Credit: Leon Halip/US PRESSWIRE
The first winter storm of the season is due to arrive Friday and that's welcome news for skiers, snowboarders and other winter sports enthusiasts traveling to such places as Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Lakes, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park for the Thanksgiving holiday period.
THE FIRST WINTER STORM OF THE SEASON WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AND PERSIST OVERNIGHT. SNOW LEVELS NEAR YOSEMITE WILL DROP TO AROUND 4,000 FEET FRIDAY NIGHT. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 4 INCHES ARE LIKELY ABOVE 5,000 FEET...WITH UP TO A FOOT POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON FOR THE SOUTHERN SIERRA NEVADA FROM YOSEMITE TO KINGS CANYON...
The location is Guadalupe Island, 160 miles west of Baja California, a truly spectacular destination and one of the world's largest seasonal gathering places for adult great white sharks. That's where researcher Michael Domeier has been studying the apex predators, and using satellite tags to determine their migration patterns and other habits.
And it's where TV fishing personality Chris Fischer got to play the role of angler -- and literally come face to face with a 4,600-pound white shark -- during a monumental capture aboard his 126-foot mothership, named Ocean.
"Like in the movie 'Jaws,' the first time we saw a shark come in and eat the bait and then take off and drag the buoys under and across the water it was a life-changing moment as an angler," Fischer said. "The experience of capturing and releasing giant great white sharks is nothing similar to an angling experience of capturing large pelagic fish. There's a sense of history, a sense of awe, humility and humbleness."
Domeier is a legitimate researcher, but some might question the methods: hooking and hoisting incredibly large sharks from the water -- even if for only brief periods and if great care is utilized -- for tagging, measuring and DNA sampling.
Domeier, however, assures that great care is utilized and that "this is a show about real science ... not science created for TV, which is so often the case."
Tonight's episode is part of a longer series that will air next summer and undoubtedly will shed significant light on the lifestyle of one of the world's most notorious and mysterious predators.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Crew member Jody Whitworth lifts the snout of a great white shark as Capt. Brett McBride removes hydration hose that keeps the predator alive while it's on deck. Credit: National Geographic Channel / Chris Ross
Diana Rudolph, co-host for the TV fishing show "Breaking the Surface," almost broke her own world record by catching a permit estimated to be just shy of 25 pounds on 12-pound tippet line.
Rudolph was fly-fishing in the flats off Abaco Island in the Bahamas when she hooked the beautiful permit, one of the most sought-after game fish by fly anglers. “I knew it was very close to my current record, but I let the fish go to live another day,” Rudolph said in a post on The Sportsman Channel website. A crew was in tow filming for an upcoming episode.
It ought to be an entertaining show as Rudolph also completed a grand slam, catching permit, tarpon and bonefish during the same trip.
“Having a camera there filming your every move adds a level of
excitement to how we fish,” said Rudolph, referring to the other co-host, conventional angler Kim Bain-Moore. “I hope people can
learn from how we fish and see the highs and lows of what we do to help
make them more successful when they are on the water.”
Rudolph's record permit, a 24-pound specimen, was caught off Key West, Fla., in 2004.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Diana Rudolph displays permit caught recently in the Bahamas. Credit: The Sportsman Channel
The auction winner will also enjoy lunch with Shaun; a complete set-up from "The White Collection" by Burton including board, boots, bindings and outerwear; and one night's accommodation at a four-star hotel on March 20. Plus, the auction winner can bring a friend (but all travel to and from Stratton Mountain is the responsibility of the winning bidder and his or her guest).
Bidding closes at 7 p.m. PST Friday and is restricted to preapproved buyers only, which means those interested must e-mail the seller to be placed on the preapproved list.
All auction proceeds will benefit Right to Play, an organization that uses sport and play
programs to improve health and develop life skills for
children and communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the
world.
The video above shows Shaun teaching children how to skateboard at Right to Play programs in Rwanda. Their smiles and cheers speak volumes about the value of Shaun's involvement with the charity.
-- Kelly Burgess
Video credit: auctioncause via YouTube
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The Vans Triple Crown of Surfing competition window opens today in Hawaii along a stretch of Oahu's north coastline often referred to as "the seven-mile miracle" because of its many outstanding surf spots.
In 20 years of covering surfing and the general outdoors beat for the Los Angeles Times, I've managed to attend this prestigious year-end series and witness the tribal gathering of hundreds of surfers from around the world a grand total of once.
But I saw Haleiwa breaking at 10 feet, Sunset at 15 feet and Pipeline at about 20 feet. I heard the swell arrive and start pounding the shore during the night, and witnessed some amazing surfing by the best in the world -- and even managed to catch a few waves myself.
But thank goodness for the Internet and webcasts, which will enable Outposts to provide updates during this year's $1-million series, which has lured more than 150 surfers from 17 nations. At stake, for men and women, are ASP World Tour championships and roster spots for next year's elite tours. Also up for grabs are the prestigious Triple Crown championships, won last year by Australia's Joel Parkinson and Stephanie Gilmore.
Many are following Jessica Watson's journey around the world in a 34-foot pink sailboat. The 16-year-old Australian adventurer has maintained high spirits and a sense of humor since departing Sydney on Oct. 18, and is currently in the South Pacific inching closer to the equator.
Following her trip is fun and easy because Jessica has been good at providing updates and photos via her blog, which is well-maintained by her shore-based support team.
In her latest entry she talks about her frustrating efforts to catch fish, which would provide her with something fresh and healthy for dinner.
"Exciting news to report today," she writes. "I pulled the fishing line in to discover that I finally caught a fish! I'd love to tell you what it was, how big it was and how yummy it tasted, only someone (with rather big teeth!) got to it before me. Apart from a few bits of flesh left hanging on the lure, my beautiful fish had been gobbled up by something bigger. I can only keep trying!"
Her situation won't always be so pleasant, as she knows. Once she dips back down and enters the Southern Ocean the sea will become violent at times, and her sailing skills will be challenged. But for the time being, she seems to be enjoying herself aboard Ella's Pink Lady.
Outposts will provide periodic updates throughout her eight-month saga, so please check back soon.
--Pete Thomas
Photo: Jessica Watson shows fishing lure and bits of flesh left after a bigger fish stole the smaller fish from her hooks. Credit: Jessica Watson
Outposts posed that question often while the Thousand Oaks teenager was circumnavigating the planet by himself aboard a 36-foot sailboat appropriately named Intrepid.
Zac has been back on the high seas, off the East Coast, helping younger sister Abby, who recently turned 16, deliver her 40-foot sailboat to Florida, where it will be shipped to the West Coast so she can take her turn at solo global sailing.
Abby's voyage, unlike Zac's is planned to be a nonstop, unassisted journey across the Southern Ocean.
Clearly, though, her adventure has already begun. She writes on her blog:
"Sailing with Zac has been an experience... and I'm still trying to decide whether or not it's a good one! He's taken advantage of there being no mirrors on the boat and I very rarely wake up without some drawing on my my face. He also has taken great joy in little things, like my mortification at watching him wash a cup with salt water and a dirty sock. But despite how annoying he is, its really good to have him with us out here."
To be sure, Abby's around-the-world odyssey will be a lonely endeavor without big brother aboard.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Zac Sunderland at the helm of the 40-foot sailboat Abby Sunderland will try to sail around the world. Courtesy of Abby Sunderland
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To give you an idea of how popular the special, late-season cow elk hunts are in New Mexico, it took only 10 seconds Tuesday for the 350 available licenses to be sold over the Internet.
The New Mexico Game and Fish Department issued a news release stating that tens of thousands of hunters stormed its website seeking a license to bag an antler-less elk in any of five game management units.
The licenses were sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and the website logged 250,000 hits from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. The sale began at 10 and was scheduled to end at 10:30.
Hikers, birders and other visitors to the Eastern Sierra are encouraged to be on the lookout for Karma, an adult male red-tailed hawk that for the past two-plus years had resided at the Eastern Sierra Wildlife Care facility in Bishop.
The majestic raptor was believed to have been kept illegally as a pet before it was abandoned in the wild. It could not fly when it was discovered floundering and suffering from heat prostration and brought to the center, which cares for injured and abandoned critters.
But Karma learned to fly at the facility and was regularly driven afield for brief falconry-type flights. He always returned to his handlers, but last Thursday in the Keough Hot Springs area west of Highway 395, he dipped behind an outcropping and disappeared.
Cindy Kamler, who runs the facility, told Outposts that people have been scouring a two-square-mile area but have not spotted the bird, which is wearing black leather bracelets on both legs and might be trailing a short orange cord.
It's feared that Karma will be unable to fend for himself or find his own food, but Kamler is hopeful and cites a few instances where the bird captured and killed sparrows that had entered its enclosure.
Interestingly, it had recently begun communicating with wild hawks during its flights, notably a juvenile red-tailed hawk that was present during Karma's last controlled flight. Could Karma simply have answered the call of the wild and sought freedom?
Kamler concedes it's a doubtful scenario, since the bird had been raised in captivity. "It'd be unique," Kamler says, "but not impossible."
Anyone who spots the hawk is urged to call the center at (760) 872-1487.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo of Karma the red-tailed hawk courtesy of Chris Morrison
What better place than the wide-open spaces within a national park or wildlife refuge to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy and the sacrifices made by members of the armed services to protect those freedoms?
(This was reported previously by colleague Jane Engle in the L.A. Times travel blog.)
“The Department of the Interior is honored to offer this fee-free day to thank our nation’s service men and women,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a news release. “The sacrifices and achievements of the brave men and women of our armed forces can never be understated. We invite all of our visitors to enjoy this fee-free day and take time out on this national holiday to remember our service men and women who are currently serving overseas in harms way. ”
Only entrance fees are waived. Fees associated with camping, lodging or other activities will be collected.
Australian teen sailor Jessica Watson, 19 days into her planned voyage around the world, has reached the 2,000-mile mark as she sails to the north toward the equator.
She's currently passing the Tonga islands, heading toward American Samoa. After a brief sail north of the equator -- which she'll reach in about two weeks -- she'll pilot her 34-foot boat due south and then east toward South America and the treacherous Cape Horn, which she must negotiate before entering the Atlantic. Her eight-month journey will span 23,000 miles.
But that's getting ahead of the situation. Watson, 16, is enjoying remarkably smooth sailing and is ahead of her planned schedule of logging 100 miles a day.
Her only complaint is all the salt getting into her cabin. She wrote on her blog: "Every time I come in from being on deck, I seem to bring a lot of water with me. Also, despite all the effort we put into tracking them down before leaving, a few small leaks have made themselves known.... So I've been playing around with a tube of sealer and (fingers crossed), looks like I might have put a stop to some of them!"
Jessica celebrated reaching the 2,000-mile mark by baking chocolate cupcakes.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Jessica
Watson leaving Sydney Harbor aboard Ella's Pink Lady on
Oct. 18. She's trying to become
the youngest person to sail solo around the world nonstop and
unassisted. Credit: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images
Rob Machado, the wild-haired iconic free surfer from Cardiff, does not refer to his recent six-month soul-searching odyssey in Indonesia as a midlife crisis, but as a journey of self-discovery far beyond his comfort zone.
Indonesia was the theater, and "The Drifter" is the result. The film, directed by Taylor Steele and produced by Hurley and Warner Bros. Records, has opened to rave reviews in Japan, Hawaii and Australia, and is making its domestic tour this week, with a premier at the La Paloma Theater tonight in Encinitas (7 and 9 p.m.) and at the Ricardo Montalban Theater in Los Angeles (8 p.m.) on Thursday night.
Machado, a stylish surfer and renowned humanitarian, just needed to get away, and during his travels he helped fund and construct a well for poor villagers. One scene shows Machado striking out on a lonesome road aboard a motorcycle he buys roadside on a whim, after he'd emerged from a taxi.
Machado spent three weeks in Bali, much of it surfing, but he also explored the outer islands of Indonesia. He missed home, but something inside wouldn't let him leave. He found ultimate solace on the island of Sumba, where he camped and surfed beautiful waves.
From a hilltop vista he remarks in the film, "A few months ago this might have felt lonely, but sometimes when you're most alone, you're not alone at all."
It has to be an unsettling situation for parents of small children and owners of small pets in South Florida, where thousands of Burmese pythons are slithering amok.
A state-sanctioned pilot hunting program aimed at determining location and formulating an eradication plan ended Saturday with 37 of the invasive reptiles being killed.
The constrictors can measure 18 feet long and weigh 160 pounds, and wildlife officials say they could number in the tens of thousands in the South Florida region -- mostly in the Everglades.
Snake owners who released pythons when they became too large to manage are believed largely responsible for this troubling phenomenon. The snakes, which are reproducing in the wild, have become a threat to native wildlife.
The wildlife commission is collecting data from the snakes killed so far and will expand the hunting program next year. Meanwhile, licensed hunters after other species can continue to kill pythons in designated areas, including parts of the Everglades around Big Cypress National Preserve.
Outtakes from a progress report posted Tuesday by Australia's Jessica Watson, 16, who is attempting to sail alone around the world, on her blog:
-- "It's been a quieter day today, a bit too quiet actually. For most of the day the wind has been a bit non-existent."
-- "I kept busy doing some schoolwork and I finally put the fishing line out. No luck catching anything but there's always tomorrow. I also didn't have much luck with school work. After completing the first English assignment I sent it off to discover that I'd opened the wrong bag and have been working on next year's assignments, oops!"
-- "To cheer myself up I had scrambled eggs for lunch, made with powdered eggs and cream, really yummy!"
-- "Last night I brought my sleeping bag out in the cockpit and managed to get a bit of sleep under the full moon. It was a pretty cool sight with the moonlight making the waves sparkle and lighting up the sails. I have to keep reminding myself to make the most of nights like this as things are certainly going to change when we head back south and into the Southern Ocean."
Watson, who is attempting her voyage alone and unassisted aboard a 34-foot sailboat, left Sydney on Oct. 18 and plans to be at sea for about eight months. Outposts will keep tabs on her odyssey and provide periodic updates.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Teenage adventurer Jessica Watson heads off on her solo global
circumnavigation on her boat Ella's Pink Lady from Sydney's Middle
Harbor on Oct. 18. Credit: EPA/Dean Lewins
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Renowned Australian surfer Dave Rastovich and three others are nearing completion of a monthlong kayaking expedition with humpback whales and their calves in an attempt to bring attention to the dangers marine mammals face as they migrate past Australia en route to the Southern Ocean for the Antarctic summer.
Commercial fishing methods, industrial runoff, noise pollution, ship strikes and human interaction are some of the dangers. Other whales, notably minke whales, also are migrating and they'll soon be targeted by Japanese whalers, who in turn will be harassed by Capt. Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Rastovich, co-founder of the group Surfers for Cetaceans, spearheaded a 435-mile journey that includes San Diego's Chris Del Moro. Musician Will Conner and photographer Hilton Dawe are also part of the odyssey.
The crew, sailing aboard red trimaran kayaks, began Oct. 1 at Byron Bay and arrived today in Sydney Harbor. It will officially conclude its mission Thursday at nearby Bondi Beach. The campaign is called Transparentsea.
Said Rastovich: “The primary intention of our journey has been to highlight the plight of whales that are destined for the Southern Ocean and the inevitable visits by Japanese whaling fleets. As surfers, we have a direct connection with these amazing creatures and during the past 30 days, we’ve had the fortune of interacting with them, almost on a daily basis.
“Now we are calling on people to show their support and to join us in putting pressure on the Australian government, lead by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and our Minister for the Environment, Peter Garrett, to uphold their pre-election promise to challenge Japanese whaling in international court and to protect the Southern Ocean sanctuary.”
The surfer and his group plan to celebrate with Sea Shepherd crew members, who are in Australia preparing for their sixth campaign against the Japanese whalers. Japan's whaling effort is carried out under a research loophole in the wording of an international moratorium on whaling.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Transparentsea environmental campaigners protest the actions of Japanese whalers from aboard kayaks in Sydney Harbor. Credit: Fetch/Transparentsea
The waiting period for the Mavericks Surf Contest began Friday. The opening of the competition window came a month earlier than last year, when organizers missed out on an epic Thanksgiving weekend swell and the contest because of an otherwise flat winter.
They're hoping an El Niño-supercharged 2009-10 winter will provide the necessary 30- to 40-foot bombs and make choosing a contest day simple this time around.
Friday's opening ceremony was attended by legendary surfing pioneer Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, 90, who told the competitors how proud he was of their contributions to the sport of big-wave surfing. “As long as you surf, surfing will keep you,” said Paskowitz, who was accompanied by his son Abraham and grandson Levi.
Veteran Mavericks surfer Peter Mel and past contest champions Greg Long, Darryl “Flea” Virostko and Anthony Tashnick talked about the what the notorious break near Half Moon Bay means to them. San Clemente's Long won the last event in 2008.
Competitors this season will vie for $150,000 in prize money, with $50,000 going to the winner. The event will air live via webcast, and a special giant-screen webcast will again be held at San Francisco's AT&T Park.
Here's the heat lineup (the top three in each heat advance to six-man semifinals, and the top three from each semifinal will compete in a six-man final). May the best man win and may there be no multiple-wave hold-downs, injuries, deaths or visits by hungry great white sharks:
Ron Anderson (pictured at left) was exhausted and "in a state of shock" when he saw the size of the yellowtail he had hooked at Alijos Rocks while on a recent 10-day Penn Fishing University excursion into Mexican waters aboard the American Angler out of Point Loma Sportfishing in San Diego.
It weighed 71 pounds and is among the largest yellowtail caught this year aboard any of San Diego's long-range sportfishers. The Coral Gables, Fla., angler used a dropper-loop rig and 50-pound-test line with a sardine for bait.
"I knew he was really big when I hooked him, I guessed about 50 pounds," Anderson said. "He kept taking line against a tight drag for 20 minutes."
Steve Carson, director of the Penn program, reports that all anglers did well after a persistent wind subsided. The vessel docked with limits of yellowtail, near-limits of yellowfin tuna to 101 pounds, 14 wahoo to 75 pounds, and an assortment of other game fish, including dorado and amberjack.
The long-range season is entering its prime months.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Ron Anderson (left) and crewman Cameron Cribben display the giant yellowtail caught at Alijos Rocks. Credit: Steve Carson / Penn Fishing University
I counted five Saturday afternoon, including the three in the top image, and heard many more have since landed. The large, unwieldy and sometimes comical birds spend their summers in the northern U.S. and Canada. Many winter in Southern California.
As for brown pelicans, they're always around and often amusing. If you have a camera and are patient, you'll be rewarded with exceptional photo opportunities from the footbridge, just steps from the parking lot.
Most but not all of these dive-bombing birds are adept at catching fish.
One of my favorite day hikes is to a series of vast meadows atop Point Mugu State Park, at the north end of the Santa Monica Mountains.
I've preferred making this uphill sojourn in late afternoon, alone, when there are few or no people on the meadow trails, because that's when coyotes emerge from their daytime slumber. If you're stealthy enough, you might get close enough for a decent photo opportunity.
But after reading about the fatal mauling by coyotes of singer Taylor Mitchell in Nova Scotia, Canada, I probably will be more leery next time I make that trip, even if the coyotes there try their best to avoid people.
The first time I encountered one of the rangy critters was on a remote side trail surrounded by tall brush. I'd seen mountain lion tracks and was spooked when a coyote bolted from the brush across the trail 30 yards in front of me. It stopped and gazed at me, and I wondered whether it had companions hiding in the brush.
To see how it'd react, I took a few steps toward the predator. To my relief, it looped swiftly to the other side of the meadow, then turned and kept an eye on me.
The Mitchell incident was bizarre and unusual, but not unbelievable, given there are so many coyotes living in proximity to people.
Jonathan Roldan of Tailhunter International reports that fishing was wide open this week -- until the midweek arrival of the seasonal north wind.
At the beginning of the week anglers found the Sea of Cortez teeming with the acrobatic and delectable dorado, or mahi-mahi. "Not a lot of big fish, but solid numbers of 10- to 20-pound fish all day long, and you could catch and release to your heart’s content," Roldan said.
Those who ventured out of the Las Arenas area also encountered schools of 20- to 35-pound yellowfin tuna, not far from the beach.
"As several veteran anglers said, 'These fish fight a lot bigger than they are. They are amazingly strong,' " Roldan added. "Whether it was tuna or dorado, it wasn’t complicated fishing. You either fished with live sardines for the dorado or stripped slow trolled chunks of fresh bonito. The tuna came up mostly on handfuls of drifted dead sardines."
But then came the wind, which is often persistent and hampers the fishing effort. It diminished today but Roldan is unsure what effect it had on the bite.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Steve Marabella (right) of Wilmington poses alongside Capt. Jorge Moscoron with a late-season dorado caught off Las Arenas near Muertos Bay south of La Paz. Credit: Jonathan Roldan
*Corrected to reflect that Abby Sunderland, when this post went live, had not yet embarked from Rhode Island to Florida.
Abby Sunderland has obtained a 40-foot boat named Wild Eyes, which she hopes will carry her around the world swiftly and safely.
The 16-year-old from Thousand Oaks is on the East Coast with her brother Zac, who recently completed a solo-circumnavigation at the age of 17, and her father Laurence. They will sail Wild Eyes from Rhode Island to Florida -- about a weeklong trip -- and will have the vessel shipped to the West Coast.
Abby, who will attempt a nonstop, unassisted journey, much of it across the Southern Hemisphere, is hoping for an early December departure.
Meanwhile, Australia's Jessica Watson, also 16, is approaching the equator and the 1,500-mile mark aboard her 34-foot sailboat, Ella's Pink Lady, which is the color of a flamingo. She and Abby share the same goal: to become the youngest person to sail alone and unassisted around the world.
The journeys are expected to last up to eight months. Abby, who turned 16 two weeks ago, is younger than Watson so would become the record-holder if she's successful.
Jessica has enjoyed smooth and quick sailing these last few days, averaging 135 miles a day, and is ahead of schedule. She wrote Thursday on her blog: "There's still a good-sized swell today but it's much longer and more gentle and the sun's even out at the moment, so I've been standing outside enjoying it.
"When we're in trough between two waves Ella's Pink Lady feels small and a little lost then up we go again to the top of the next swell, and with a good view out to the horizon. It's as if we're on top of the world. Then off rolls another wave giving us a little push along as it goes."
What both girls are attempting is amazing, considering the unpredictable whims of a rollicking ocean, and the length of time the sailors will spend alone, with only satellite phones and computers connecting them to civilization. They're 16, but they have big dreams. Hopefully, both will be able to fulfill them without too much trouble.
Get used to it. California's state parks, which thankfully will remain open at least well into 2010, will no longer resemble the well-kept, freely accessible facilities park-goers have grown accustomed to.
On Monday the Inland Empire district announced its cost-saving service reductions, which include weekday closures at some facilities, and reduced hours. Today all districts announced their reductions and it's more of the same throughout the 279-park system.
Here are a few examples:
--Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego will experience 50% lifeguard reductions off-season (September through February). Trash cans and fire rings will be removed from the beach and many restrooms will be closed.
--Popular beach parks in Orange County will reduce by half the number of trashcans on the beach. Restroom cleaning and fire ring cleaning will be reduced by half. There will be no off-season chemical toilets and lifeguards will be limited to response by permanent staff. Trail upkeep and habitat restoration will be reduced by 50%. Educational and interpretive programs will be reduced by 25%. Irrigation will be reduced by 25%.
--Mt. San Jacinto SP campground will be closed Monday through Wednesday and backpackers--who had enjoyed free access--will be charged $5 per person.
The list goes on but precise details at many parks are not yet clear. State Parks, as of 3:30 p.m., had not yet posted full details for each region on its website, but they should be forthcoming and available under the "News Releases 2009" tab. A news release issued Tuesday afternoon contained only an example sheet and a checklist with Xs marked under various categories.
At Malibu Creek State Park, for example, there are Xs under the following categories: reduced hours, closed camps/loops, close some day use, close some restrooms, reduce cleaning, reduce trash service. These are common reductions throughout the system.
It could be worse. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had threatened to close more than 100 parks to help alleviate a severe budget deficit. But it's hardly ideal and, to be sure, some of these reductions--notably the weekday closures--will take getting used to.
-- Pete Thomas
Top and bottom images were captured recently at Malibu Creek State Park in the Santa Monica Mountains. Credit: Pete Thomas / Los Angeles Times
A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife official confirmed that a 12-year-old girl has become the youngest person in the state to kill a moose. (Minnesota recently lowered the moose-hunting age to 10.)
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Nicollet resident Kelly Holmin was on a hunting trip with her father, Jeff, earlier this month when she felled the 1,100-pound bull moose with a single shot from about 75 yards.
Kelly is not new to hunting or to handling guns. The youngster has a firearms safety certificate and takes annual hunting trips with her father.
"Maybe the next thing I do is put in for an elk license," Kelly said after bagging the massive moose with a 58-inch antler spread. "My dad says that in big-game hunting, it's all downhill from here."
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo: Kelly Holmin, 12, sits on a bull moose after she shot and killed it. A Minnesota wildlife official confirms that Kelly is the youngest Minnesotan to kill a moose. Credit: Associated Press
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Reading Jessica Watson's blog makes me long for the type of freedom she's enjoying, only a few days out from Sydney, Australia, and with an entire planet yet to circle as she aspires to become the youngest person to sail alone, nonstop and unassisted, around the world.
On Monday the 16-year-old adventurer wrote: "It's been so long since I've had anytime just to take it easy for a while and the freedom was amazing. No deadlines, nothing to rush off to, I can eat whatever I like whenever I like, no one to send me off to bed!
"It was pretty special this afternoon when the sea glassed right out, it was as if you could see right to the distant blue bottom apart from huge schools of jellyfish floating past. We even had a couple of dolphins drop in to say hi. The other unexpected visitor was a small plane who circled around overhead, just when I thought I was finally by myself!"
This will change. There will be issues, perhaps very serious problems. Watson is aboard a 34-foot pink sailboat and might have to negotiate swells taller than her boat is long. She has eight months of sailing ahead of her, and safety is not guaranteed.
But for now it's smooth going. On Tuesday she wrote: "It already feels like I'm settling right into a routine, grabbing a bit of sleep through the night and into the morning when I can, logging and plotting my position, digging through the food bags for meals and calling in for phone skeds twice a day. There's always something to do or check.
"I've been hard at work eating my way through all the last-minute presents and sweets that were shoved aboard just before we left. Every time I think I've eaten them all I seem to discover another packet stashed away somewhere!"
Watson has critics who believe she should not be allowed to attempt this voyage, but many supporters -- Monday's blog post generated more than 700 comments -- are behind her all the way.
A new report that appears in the online journal "Wilderness & Environmental Medicine" includes some interesting statistics involving search-and-rescue operations in national parks.
Notably, they're costly and numerous, but effective. "Without the presence of NPS personnel responding to SAR incidents, one in
five of those requesting SAR assistance would be a fatality," the report concludes. "Future
research and the development of any prevention efforts should focus on
the five NPS units where 50% of all SAR incidents are occurring."
The report, published by the Wilderness Medical Society, has a catchy title: "Dead Men Walking: Search and Rescue in U.S. National Parks." Its authors looked at the NPS' annual search-and-rescue reports from 1992 to 2007 and SAR statistics from all NPS units in 2005. Some key findings:
--From 1992 to 2007 there were 78,488 people involved in 65,439 SAR incidents. These included 2,659 fatalities, 24,288 injured or sick people, and 13,212 "saves," or saved lives.
--On average there were 11.2 SAR incidents per day at an average cost of $895 per operation. Total cost from 1992 to 2007: $58,572,164.
--Hiking (48%) and boating (21%) were the most common activities that required search-and-rescue assistance. Hiking (22.8%) was the most common activity resulting in fatalities. Suicides (12.1%) were second. They were followed by swimming and boating (10.1% apiece).
Perhaps all of this will serve as a reminder to be extra careful while exploring our great national parks and to be thankful that there are emergency teams close by if we need them.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: View of the Grand Canyon at sunrise. Credit: Mark
Boster/Los Angeles Times
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society held a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday and unveiled the Ady Gil: a sleek and speedy trimaran that is expected to bolster the group's effort against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean below Australia.
Formerly named Earthrace, the vessel is powered by biodiesel and can reach speeds of 50 knots and deflect harpoons. It was renamed to reflect its benefactor, Ady Gil, who helped acquire the futuristic-looking boat.
Sea Shepherd will launch its sixth campaign against the Japanese whalers in December from Australia, using the flagship Steve Irwin and the Ady Gil to disrupt efforts by whalers to kill and process minke and fin whales.
It would be interesting to see the expressions on the faces of the whalers when they first glimpse the Ady Gil.
Japan hunts the whales annually in the Antarctic region using a research loophole in the wording of an international moratorium on whaling.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Earthrace, now named Ady Gil, will be used during Sea Shepherd's upcoming campaign against Japan's annual whaling effort. Credit: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
One girl has already departed on her solo-sailing journey around the world while another girl waits, hoping she, too, is able to go.
Australia's Jessica Watson, 16, left Sydney on Sunday aboard a 34-foot pink sailboat named Ella's Pink Lady. She hopes to complete her nonstop, unassisted odyssey in about eight months.
Watson's trip has been highly criticized. She is, after all, only 16 and must now deal with the wild, unpredictable ocean and long bouts of loneliness.
On the day of her departure a quote from Mark Twain was posted on Watson's website: “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you did not do than by the things you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
How appropriate. Abby Sunderland, whose older brother, Zac, recently completed a solo circumnavigation when he was 17, must be envious of Jessica. Abby is definitely supportive.
The Thousand Oaks adventurer, who turned 16 today, is planning a late-November departure but has yet to secure an Open 40 sailboat designed for Southern Ocean travel.
However, Abby and her father, Laurence, are in Rhode Island awaiting a surveyor's report on a vessel they might purchase later today.
So it's likely that soon there will be two 16-year-old girls trying to sail by themselves around the world. Both are seeking to fulfill a dream and become the youngest to accomplish such a feat, and it's remarkable that they're even trying and that their parents are letting them try.
Even critics must admire the courageous spirit these girls possess. Here's hoping that 20 years from now both will recall fond memories of their explorations, their dreams and their discoveries. You only live once.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Teenage adventurer Jessica Watson departs Sydney on her solo global circumnavigation attempt aboard Ella's Pink Lady. Credit: Dean Lewins / EPA
Boreal Mountain Resort on Friday opened its Castle Peak quad chairlift and became the first resort in California to open for the 2009-10 skiing and snowboarding season.
It marks the earliest opener for the Lake Tahoe-area resort. Its previous earliest opening was on Oct. 11 in 2000.
The resort is reporting a 6-to-12-inch base but the accompanying photo shows the resort, like others in the region, need a helping hand from Mother Nature to develop a genuinely wintry appearance. The lift will operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, servicing one groomed trail and a terrain park with up to 10 features for snowboarders and skiers.
To celebrate, Boreal will hold its annual Jibassic Public Invitational competition Saturday and Sunday. The contest is open to "all shredders willing to throw down great tricks for cash."
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Boreal opened Friday, offering what looks to be a sparsely covered run for skiers and snowboarders. Credit: Boreal Mountain Resort
Tailhunter International today recaps a stormy, rainy week of fishing in the Sea of Cortez in the La Paz region of Baja California.
In essence the effort was hampered by nasty weather and fishing was slow, but improved later in the week.
"It was so rough we had some folks actually get seasick on us, which is a rarity because it’s normally so calm especially this time of the year," Jonathan Roldan said via e-mail. "As well, the winds didn’t do us any favors as far as the bite was concerned."
The wind diminished these past couple of days and fishing for tuna and dorado improved slightly. "The tuna bite outside of Muertos Bay and Las Arenas came back on the chew with fish running between 15 and 30 pounds and schools of smaller dorado ripping through the chum," Roldan reported.
"For our La Paz boats, the winds started coming from the north and that really made it difficult. It was just unseasonably windy for October, but then again, this whole year has been a paradox."
His La Paz fleet traveled extensively but found schools of dorado at various locations, and the catch average was three to six fish per boat. Most of the dorado were small.
Outposts always appreciates an honest report.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Bruce Dodge from La Canada displays yellowfin tuna caught off Las Arenas on live bait while fishing with Tailhunter International's Las Arenas fleet. Credit: Jonathan Roldan
Whaling for subsistence is part of the native culture in Barrow, Alaska. Still, news that a 9-year-old boy this week harpooned a 33-foot whale might be unsettling to some.
The Anchorage Daily News reported the story on a blog and details are sparse. But the story implied that it's rare for a boy to be allowed to join a whale hunt, much less deal the telling blow.
Here's the account, shared by Barrow resident Bridget Edwardsen:
On Tuesday around noon, Panigeo crew struck a whale. Pauyuuraq Brower of Barrow shot the whale with the darting gun. Then Paul Patkotak, 9-year-old son of Maria & Ellis Patkotak, harpooned the bowhead whale and officially killed the whale.
Paul is a 4th grader at Ipalook Elementary School & is very into his culture. He loves to go whaling with his uncle Qulliuq Pebley, who is the Captian of Panigeo Crew, he loves to go subsistance hunting and camping. The family was overjoyed in tears when they heard that their 9-year-old Paul harpooned the 32' 7" whale.
This is big news for Barrow, usually kids are not allowed on the boat until they are a certain age. I think Paul is the youngest kid to actually harpoon & kill a bowhead whale.
Once they arrived & beached the whale, the family was overjoyed. His mother could not believe that her son actually caught the whale.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Paul Patkotak. Credit: Barrow resident Bridget Edwardsen
Jessica Watson's sojourn around the world, in a 34-foot pink sailboat, will begin as early as next week from Sydney, Australia.
"She’s a really cute little boat and I’m so proud of her, but she’s really tough as well,” the adventurer said this week during a news conference regarding her controversial odyssey.
Jessica, 16, intends to become the youngest person to solo-circumnavigate the world in a sailboat. She will sail above New Zealand and into the Pacific and up toward the equator, then back down toward Cape Horn, which she calls "the big Everest of sailing."
If she successfully rounds the treacherous Cape passage she'll continue a southerly course back to Sydney.
But it won't be as easy as that; she will will get blasted by gargantuan waves and fierce winds and will, on many occasions, look out of place aboard her soft-hued vessel.
“I’ve got an amazing amount of equipment – we’ve got all sorts of satellite communication equipment and navigation gear and Panasonic Toughbook computers, so I’m in good company," she said.
But Jessica, although she's a skilled and experienced sailor, also suffers from seasickness. On Tuesday, after a five-day sea trial, she posted this statement on her blog: "Since I stepped off Ella’s Pink Lady yesterday afternoon my head has been spinning and I’ve been doing a bit of stumbling into things! Getting my land legs again has taken a while. I can’t image what I’m going to be like after eight months at sea, rather than five days!"
It does not require much of an imagination to conclude it'll be an adventure she'll never forget.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Jessica Watson sails her yacht Ella's Pink Lady past the Sydney Opera House during a media event earlier this week. Watson is attempting to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone and without stopping or receiving assistance. Photo by Sergio Dionisio/Getty Images
The hunt is in progress in Montana's remote Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness along the northern border of Yellowstone National Park. It began Sept. 15 in a small parcel within what is known as Wildlife Management Unit 3. WMU 3 has a quota of 12 but nine wolves already have been killed and it's conceivable the quota will be reached before the statewide general hunt in WMU 3 begins Oct. 25.
Carolyne Sime, the wolf program coordinator, said in a Billings Gazette story that she "didn't think the wolves would be so vulnerable to firearms harvest."
One of the goals of the overall hunt is to encourage wolves to remain in the backcountry away from potential conflicts with livestock. "So what we're learning," Sime said, "is that maybe we need to rethink these backcountry hunts and see if we can fine-tune that."
The front-country wolves, those more likely to come into conflict with livestock, will be targeted during the general season.
Matt Skoglund, blogging for Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote: "How could FWP have expected anything else when they opened the backcountry wilderness areas to wolf-hunting?" Skoglund stated that wolves sought by hunters in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness are "those famous Yellowstone wolves you've seen in the park or on PBS and the Discovery Channel." The blogger wondered whether the "poorly planned hunt" will affect tourism in Yellowstone.
The answer, most likely, is that it will not affect tourism. The quota in this district is only 12 wolves. Montana's wolf population at the end of 2008 was believed to number 500. The overall state quota is 75, which is deemed conservative by the agency, which regards hunting as a necessary wildlife management tool.
But as long as Montana's inaugural wolf hunt continues -- legal challenges remain -- it will be open to this kind of attack by animal rights groups.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Gray wolves wander through the snow in Montana. Courtesy of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
The Mammoth Times reports and sources confirm that a deal has been signed and an official announcement will be made as early as next week.
Horizon already provides winter flights on a schedule that has grown
from one to four flights per day -- with service from LAX, Seattle,
Portland, Ore., and San Jose. Winter flight service is from Dec. 17 through
April 11. Summer service will begin April 12.
The ski area helps subsidize the winter flights, and the ski area and
Mammoth Lakes will subsidize the single daily summer flight.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: A Horizon Air turboprop plane touches down at Mammoth Yosemite Airport during a test run last October. Credit: Peatross/MMSA
Hunters in Alaska appear to have exercised extremely poor judgment by shooting and killing a grizzly bear alongside Alaska's Kenai River in full view of wildlife watchers.
A lengthy account of the incident was posted today on the Redoubt Reporter website.
According to an eyewitness, about a dozen people were watching the bear swimming and fishing from various points on Sterling Highway.
After a while, two men got out of a car wearing camouflage clothing and carrying rifles. They proceeded toward the bear.
Pamela Locke told the Redoubt Reporter: "The lady walking with me stopped them and said, ‘You’re not going to shoot that bear, are you?’ They were kind of smiling and laughing and said, ‘Yeah, we are, if it crosses the highway.’ And she said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.'"
Locke said the men shot the bear after it had crossed the highway, into legal hunting territory, as it was fleeing up a hillside. Hunting from or even close to highways is illegal, and the case is under investigation.
Larry Lewis, a wildlife technician with the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, said it is not illegal to shoot in front of other people, but he implied this seems to have been a clear violation of hunter ethics.
“In our hunter education program and in our general dealings with hunters, we try to discourage people from taking game in a manner that can disturb others,” said Lewis, who is also president of the Kenai Peninsula Chapter of Safari Club International.
Said Locke: “I’m just disgusted at the whole situation. My family supports ethical hunting, but this is anything but sportsmanlike. And any decent hunter knows if you don’t have a clean shot, you don’t shoot. It took at least five shots to put it down, aiming up the hill while it was running away."
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: A grizzly bear fishes in the Kenai River before being shot and killed by hunters. Credit: Pamela Locke
Wolves may be wily and among the more intelligent wild critters, but hunters are not experiencing much trouble finding and killing them in Montana's remote Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness.
The state's inaugural and highly controversial wolf hunt began Sept. 15 in four small districts in which deer and elk hunts also are in progress. The statewide hunt begins Oct. 25.
In the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, which is along the northern border of Yellowstone National Park, nine wolves have already been killed. The state set a quota of 12 in this area.
Carolyn Sime, wolf program coordinator for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, told the Billings Gazette: "We didn't think wolves would be that vulnerable to firearms harvest. The uncertainty is why we went with the low quota."
The agency, which has a separate web page to keep tabs on the number of kills, did not expect the quota to be reached before the statewide season opens, but that's now likely. The statewide quota is 75 wolves.
Montana's wolf population at the end of 2008 was believed to number 500. More than 10,500 wolf hunting licenses have been issued.
Environmental groups, meanwhile, are still trying via lawsuit to have the the cagey predators placed back under endangered species act protection, which would bring an end to hunts believed by the state to be a valuable means of wildlife management.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo of gray wolf courtesy of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
Should Jessica Watson be allowed to go? Does the 16-year-old Australian possess the sailing skills to negotiate her 34-foot boat around the world on a nonstop journey -- by herself?
Is the girl strong enough, mentally and physically, to deal with considerable hazards at sea, or the long, lonely calm stretches she's sure to face?
These are among questions being asked of the intrepid sailor who has just completed a five-day sea trial from Queensland to Sydney and will announce her departure date next week.
Watson probably will depart this month. Abby Sunderland, who turns 16 this month, hopes to begin a similar journey in November.
Abby's brother, Zac, and Britain's Mike Perham recently completed multi-stop around-the-world sailing adventures at the age of 17.
The girls -- Abby is from Thousand Oaks -- will be attempting to become the youngest ever to have sailed nonstop around the planet.
The Queensland government has suggested that Watson abandon her plans, but she'll proceed aboard Ella's Pink Lady, just as Sunderland will go if her family can raise money to buy her a boat.
Watson said she and her family "made the decision a long time ago that I was going, and the only thing left to do was prepare properly and make it safe."
I'm not sure sailing on a pink vessel is a safe choice for the Watson team, as it will announce to other mariners the presence of the fairer sex. But beyond that, she seems determined and capable, and she has the support of those who matter in her life, so who else is qualified to pass judgment?
The voyage is expected to last about 240 days. Here's hoping she makes it.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Jessica Watson arrives in Sydney aboard Ella's Pink Lady after a five-day sea trial in advance of her impending around-the-world sailing adventure. Credit: Dean Lewins / EPA
Five-year-old Simon Hughes has quite a show-and-tell for his schoolmates after bagging a 12 1/2-foot, 800-pound alligator.
The Goodrich, Texas, first-grader was out hunting Sunday with his father, Scott, and family friend Chuck Cotton on the Hughes' 5,000-acre property near Lake Livingston, reports the Houston Chronicle.
They had set a baited hook the evening before, and when they went to check it Sunday morning the line was in the water, taut.
When the reptile surfaced, Simon shot it from about 5 feet away with his junior-sized shotgun, killing it. Just to be certain, Cotton fired another shot with his pistol to make sure it was dead.
The youngster showed no fear. "I wasn't even afraid," Simon told a KTRE-TV reporter. "It's pretty much simple. I got my gun out and shot him."
Simon's mother, however, wasn't so nonchalant. "As a mom it sort of scares you to death, because there's alligators, there's snakes, there's all of that sort of thing out there," said Toni Hughes. "What we thought was huge was a 10-foot and this one just dwarfs the 10-foot. I mean its just so massive and prehistoric looking."
The gator, estimated to be 35 to 40 years old, is currently at the
taxidermist, where the Hugheses are having the head -- which alone weighs
104 pounds -- mounted. They plan to make boots out of the hide and eat
the meat.
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo: Five-year-old Simon Hughes examines the alligator he shot on his family's ranch. Credit: Associated Press; Michael Paulsen / Houston Chronicle
I'm still on vacation, but while catching up on e-mail I found a brief report sent this morning by Mark Rayor, who runs Vista Sea Sport in the East Cape region of Baja California.
Rayor, who is one of the top anglers in the area, said by e-mail: "Quality yellowfin tuna have finally showed up in big numbers on the East Cape. My long time friend and high school buddy Gary Street [pictured] of Laguna Hills and I landed these four bad boys yesterday.
"They were all between 80 and 100 pounds. The main concentration of fish are between 15 and 30 miles out on porpoise schools. Many fish ... being taken on chucked up giant Humboldt squid. We used green jacks for bait and found that to be the bigger fishes' choice."
Wish I could be there for the rest of my vacation. All I have to show for it so far are some tiny wild brown trout caught in the San Joaquin River near Mammoth Lakes. No complaints though.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Gary Street with an impressive day's catch in the Sea of Cortes. Credit: Mark Rayor
The headline atop today's news release from Sacramento is full of promise: "Gov. Schwarzenegger Announces Plan to Keep State Parks Open"
The governor is quoted as saying, "This is fantastic news for all Californians."
But you might tone down your celebration. While about 100 of California's 267 state parks would be spared full closure under a plan to achieve $14.2 million in savings during the fiscal year, at least that many and possibly more could be open only partially or seasonally, and/or with restricted hours.
Also under the plan, maintenance and equipment costs would be sharply reduced and staffing would be cut.
The plan, a cooperative effort between the Department of Finance and Department of Parks and Recreation, does not restore funding to the beleaguered state parks system and many actions outlined in the plan, to realize a one-time budget savings, were being considered anyway, along with the closures.
The California State Parks Foundation, which has figured prominently in the struggle to keep parks open, responded to the governor's plan suspiciously and placed this statement on its website: "While the Governor has found a clever way to get political cover on this issue, it’s not clear that this plan won’t actually leave Californians with just as limited access to their state parks as if they had been fully closed.
"The 'found money' here is from having less lifeguards on state beaches, not maintaining restrooms, not staffing parks for health and safety standards, etc. And you’ll see at the end of the release, a $22-million cut in next year’s budget is still on the horizon."
So while it's good that our favorite parks will remain open this year, today's news isn't all that fantastic.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: A deer wanders in a meadow at dusk in Malibu Creek State Park. Credit: Pete Thomas/Los Angeles Times
Capt. Paul Watson and his ragtag vegan crew are about 90 days from embarking on another controversial campaign against the Japanese whaling fleet in and near the Antarctic.
But early next month, to drum up support for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's sixth such mission, Watson will guide the group's flagship vessel, Steve Irwin, on a tour of Australian ports.
The vessel will open for tours and the crew will share stories about what these campaigns entail; perhaps they'll discuss the controversial methods employed while trying to spare whales from exploding harpoons--like tossing bottle of rancid butter at the whalers.
For those who live Down Under, tour dates are as follows: Sydney–Oct. 5-12 at Circular Quay; Hobart–Oct. 16-22 at Macquarie Wharf; Fremantle–Nov. 4-Dec. 7 at C Berth.
For anyone considering joining up with Sea Shepherd, here's the job description: "No pay, long hours, hard work, dangerous conditions, extreme weather. Guaranteed: Adventure, fulfillment, and the hardest work you will ever love. The experience of a lifetime."
These campaigns have gained widespread notoriety thanks to Animal Planet and its "Whale Wars" series. The shows take viewers along for the ride as the Sea Shepherd crew hunts down the Japanese fleet and disrupts hunts that annually target about 1,000 minke whales and a small number of endangered fin whales.
The series also has served as a valuable recruitment tool for Sea Shepherd, a group that seems to be either despised or admired. Critics point out that Japan's hunts are legal and that Watson's questionable antics will get someone killed. But supporters maintain that Japan is hunting whales via a research loophole in the wording of an international moratorium on whaling, and that profit, not research, drives the whaling effort. If most of the world is against whaling, why is Japan still slaughtering the intelligent mammals?
From the sidelines, these annual confrontations are entertaining, to say the least. That's why Animal Planet jumped aboard two campaigns ago. Season 1 was boring, Season 2 was action-packed and it's anyone's guess how Season 3 will turn out, but it will not be lacking in drama.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Steve Irwin docked in Hobart, Australia. Credit: Adam Lau / Sea Shepherd
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National Hunting and Fishing Day is Saturday and I'll celebrate by stalking trout on the shores of some Eastern Sierra creek. I can't wait.
In the extended-entry field below is President Obama's official proclamation.
The first such proclamation was made in 1972 by President Nixon, who said: "I urge all citizens to join with outdoor sportsmen in the wise use of our natural resources and in inspiring their proper management for the benefit of future generations."
In Obama's version are these words: "If not for America's great hunters and anglers, like President Theodore Roosevelt and Aldo Leopold, our nation would not enjoy sound game management; a system of ethical, science-based game laws; and an extensive public lands estate on which to pursue these sports."
The landscape has changed vastly since Roosevelt's time, to be sure. Obama must have known he'd wind up in the cross hairs of critics who don't hunt or fish, and who oppose both pastimes on mere principle.
In an L.A. Times Top of the Ticket blog post, for example, it was pointed out that Obama's proclamation was being issued "on the eve of that special season when so many Americans blast migrating ducks out of the sky and blow large holes in the side of fleeing deer."
The words of an anti-hunter are often harsh. But the truth is, hunters and fishermen are closer to the Earth and place more value on the environment than most of their critics. And they contribute more toward conservation.
Ducks Unlimited, to cite one example, is the world's leader in waterfowl and wetlands conservation. Simply, there would not be nearly as many ducks filling our flyways were it not for this organization. Trout Unlimited, likewise, has done more to conserve fisheries than any animal rights group that I know of.
As for wildlife management, states accomplish this via hunting, and as of yet nobody has come up with a better means of controlling animal populations -- a necessity in an age when civilization is increasingly encroaching into wilderness.
Hunting and fishing, additionally, are an economic force worth billions annually. Much of the money spent by hunters and anglers is used toward conservation of wildlife and fisheries. National Hunting and Fishing Day is about recognizing these contributions and more; it's about traditions dating to our ancestors.
So I'll venture out Saturday in support. I hope I catch some fish but that will be secondary to the fact that I'll be among the conifers and critters, far from the bustle and grind. That's what fishing means to me.
Heather DeRamus, right, obviously had time to freshen up after her three-hour battle with a 200-pound tuna Wednesday at Jaime Bank beyond Cabo San Lucas.
Why? Because the weather is blazing off Land's End and nobody could look so cool after such a monumental battle with such a stubbornly powerful game fish.
Anyway, congratulations are in order for the angler from Richmond, Texas, who was aboard La Brisa from the Pisces Sportfishing fleet.
Fishing is not great off Cabo but no Pisces anglers were shut out during the past week, said Tracy Ehrenberg, the fleet's general manager.
She said tuna fishing has been consistent, though, with vessel catch rates ranging from one to 10 fish per day. Several have come in at 80 pounds or more. DeRamus hooked her tuna on a black-and-green lure.
Dorado, or mahi-mahi, also are active and 53% of Pisces charters caught the vibrantly-colored game fish. Largest aboard a Pisces boat weighed 55 pounds.
Striped marlin, blue marlin and sailfish are biting sporadically. Most of the fishing effort is on the Pacific side of the Baja California peninsula.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Heather DeRamus poses with a 200-pound yellowfin tuna caught Wednesday off Cabo San Lucas. Capt. Nicolas Winkler, right, and deckhand Salvador Flores pose with the angler. Credit: Pisces Sportfishing
Jamie Mitchell won't soon forget his encounter Tuesday with a humpback whale off New South Wales, Australia.
Mitchell, an eight-time World Paddleboarding champion and big-wave surfer, was aboard a standup paddleboard filming for his new television documentary project "Living in Liquid."
A pod of humpbacks approached and the whale in the photo above surfaced next to Mitchell, winner of the recent 32-mile Molokai-to-Oahu paddle race in Hawaii.
Humpbacks are among the most gregarious and curious cetacean species and often treat whale-watchers aboard boats to up-close encounters.
About 13,000 humpbacks migrate each season along Australia's eastern seaboard.
"They have amazing control in the water, so I relaxed and enjoyed the experience," said Mitchell, a Quiksilver-sponsored athlete. "I have an even greater respect for them now, they are so cool."
"Living in Liquid" will follow Mitchell's many waterborne challenges, from big-wave surfing to free-diving and paddleboarding. Presumably, the humpback footage will make the cut.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Jamie Mitchell stands in awe before the a humpback whale that approached him as he was paddling off Australia. Credit: Liam O'Brien/Jason Muir
A 175-pound adult female black bear was shot to death Tuesday afternoon by a 58-year-old visitor to Lake Mary near the Eastern Sierra town of Mammoth Lakes.
Steve Searles, wildlife manager for Mammoth Lakes, described the shooting as "unprovoked," according to a report on the Sierra Wave website.
The California Department of Fish and Gam is investigating the case. The department's Lt. Marty Markham said this morning in an interview that the man and his companion were frightened away from a spot on the lake's shore by an approaching bear. Another person helped "haze" the bear away.
The couple returned to the site and the bear returned. The woman tried to "haze" the bear away. The man retrieved a large-caliber handgun from his vehicle and shot the bear once in the head.
Markham said the investigation should be complete within a week, and could not say whether charges will be brought against the man, whom Markham would describe only as a 58-year-old from San Bernardino County.
Don Barrett, who runs Lake Mary Marina & Store, did not witness the shooting but was at the lake and heard the shot. Barrett, in an interview, said he heard that the bear was aggressive and standing on its hind legs approaching the couple when it was shot with a .44-caliber pistol.
Barrett said bears have learned to frighten anglers from their fishing spots, then steal their stringers of fish.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: A bear near South Lake Tahoe, Calif., last year. Credit: Associated Press
It's the end of an era in Alaska. The popular ski train has been canceled because of economic problems endured by the Alaska Railroad Corp.
The Anchorage Daily News reports that the railroad informed the Nordic Skiing Assn. of Anchorage that it was canceling next spring's charter on the same day it laid off 127 employees. The train has transported thousands of skiers into Grandview and Curry backcountry.
The NSAA had been chartering the train for 37 years, and the ski train was popular long before then. "We have pictures of people on the ski train back in the '40s. It is a long, loved Alaska tradition," Diane Moxness, executive director of the NSAA, told the newspaper.
Skiers from all over the world had visited Alaska to ride the ski train. Said Kenny Powers, who had been riding the train since 1980: "I don't have any doubt that the Grandview ski train was the best one-day tour in the world. Nothing can compare to it anywhere for total awesomeness.
"It's not only beautiful, but you have 700 people get off a train and just disappear. It was like you were alone in the wilderness, there was so much room. It was just a wonderful, joyful day."
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Winter enthusiasts spill out from the Alaska Railroad ski train, ready to explore the wilderness. Credit: Kaylene Johnson
Zac Sunderland, 17, sailed around the world alone on a voyage that was not grandly sponsored and ended up burying his parents in debt.
Now it's Abby Sunderland's turn to test her mettle against the world's oceans, but a different tack is required: Her parents need more sponsors to help fund the 15-year-old's attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted.
Notably, funding is needed for the purchase of a used Class 40 sailboat that Laurence Sunderland, the shipwright father, has tabbed as an ideal vessel for the daunting task of negotiating the Southern Ocean and especially the treacherous Cape Horn.
With good fortune the funding will be obtained and the Thousand Oaks teen can embark as planned in November, four months after her brother's 13-month odyssey ended. Otherwise Australia's Jessica Watson, 16, could end up in the record book as she, too, is planning a nonstop, unassisted journey, and hopes to depart this month aboard the 34-foot Ella's Pink Lady.
It was simply Pink Lady before Watson landed Ella Bache as a major sponsor.
Though summer is drawing to a close, fishing for subtropical species such as yellowfin tuna and dorado remains fair to spectacular -- depending on whether your captain is able to locate a kelp paddy.
The bite is best for anglers aboard one- or two-day excursions from San Diego ports. Tuna, dorado and yellowtail are teeming beneath floating paddies and multiple hookups generally ensue for anglers casting bait or lures alongside the kelp.
"It's still wide open. However, it's kelp-paddy fishing so if you're on a boat that doesn't find that kelp, you're going to put up with a lousy day," said Philip Friedman of 976-TUNA. "But most boats are finding them and most boats, when they do find kelp, or just strands of kelp, are finding 100s of fish under them."
Anglers aboard the Condor out of Fisherman's Landing on Monday -- the first of a two-day trip -- boated 180 fish of mixed species.
In other news, large schools of albacore are being encountered off Morro Bay, and if the weather lays down this week thanks to a developing high-pressure system, the vessel tallies ought to be impressive off Central California.
The albacore outlook is so promising that Capt. Bill Cavanaugh of the Pacific Queen is considering traveling from San Diego to Morro Bay for the weekend bite.
The yellowfin and yellowtail are averaging 5-12 pounds but much larger tuna are occasionally being found swimming beneath dolphins. The dorado are 5-20 pounds.
The highly prized albacore are coming aboard at between 25-70 pounds.
-- Pete Thomas
Photo: Earl McVicar of Torrance. left, and a crewman aboard the Legend display a 60-pound tuna caught recently aboard the San Diego vessel. Credit: 976-TUNA
Outposts' primary contributor is veteran L.A. Times outdoors and action sports reporter Pete Thomas. Also contributing are Kelly Burgess and other Times staffers.
