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Ocean

Silver King

November 22, 2020 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Tarpon are considered one of the best saltwater sport fish because of their fight and jumping ability, but they are not a food fish.

Tarpons are large, air breathing fish of the genus, Megalops, and they’ve been swimming the seas for 18 million years.  There are two species, both found in saltwater as well as freshwater habitats. Megalops cyprinoides (Indo-Pacific tarpon) populate the east African coast, southeast Asia, Japan, Tahiti, and Australia.  Megalops atlanticus (Atlantic tarpon, aka ‘Silver King’) is native to the Atlantic, and found along the western Atlantic coast from the US state of Virginia to Brazil, throughout the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, and on the eastern Atlantic coast from Senegal to South Angola. Since the mid-1960s, there’s been a significant decline of Atlantic tarpon populations in the Gulf of Mexico, most dramatically at Port Aransas, Texas, likely the result of damming of rivers, toxic run-off, dredging of canals and shipping channels, and overfishing.

 

“He is a battle flotilla in full blazing armor, and peace and good will are not in him for an instant.”  — Henry Wellington Wack 

 

In 1885, the first tarpon was caught on a rod & reel in Florida.  After more than 130 years, tarpon is still considered one of the great saltwater game fish because of its size (tarpon reach a length of 4–8 feet and weigh 60–250+ pounds), extraordinary ability to jump high out of the water, and fast, powerful fight at the end of the line.  It’s tough to hook and land a tarpon—about one in eight hookups are successful catches, and a challenge to locate as they’re a warm-water migratory fish.

Florida is considered one of the world’s top destinations for tarpon fishing, with “hot spots” at Boca Grande in southwest Florida, Homosassa, and the Florida Keys.  High season is May through July, but records indicate all sizes are caught throughout the year.  Other places on the best tarpon fishing list:  Yucatan Peninsula (year round);  Costa Rica (Fall season);  Angola (Dec – Feb);  Gabon (late Oct – early Jan);  Guinea-Bissau (Feb – March)

  

WATCH the THRILL of the CATCH!   120 Days:  Tarpon Season, a short documentary video that captures a close-up view of the sport, featuring tarpon fishing guide, David Magnum, in his fervent search for the Silver King in the beautiful waters of Florida.

 

Information/Resources:

Tarpon, Texas Parks and Wildlife
Tarpon, Florida Parks and Wildlife Research Institute
Atlantic Tarpon, University of Southern Mississippi
Tarpon Research, Bonefish and Tarpon Trust
Megalops atlanticus-Gulf of Mexico, assessed “Vulnerable” by the International Union of Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
The Silver Kings – Once so plentiful. Where did they go? by Stephen Harrigan, Texas Monthly (May, 2013) [Veteran fishing guides recall a time when Port Aransas, Texas was known as “The Tarpon Capital of the World”]

 

The Time Travelers video chronicles six men as they set out to break the speed record for a 277 mile course through the Grand CanyonReady for more water sport adventure?  Watch as 8 paddlers set out to break the rafting speed record through the Grand Canyon on the wild and dangerous Colorado River in The Time Travelers video

 

 

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Feature photo by Flickr user, Jack, CC BY-NC-ND

Filed Under: Experience, Video, Water Tagged With: Documentary, Environment, Ocean, Wildlife

Malibu Road

June 2, 2020 By Zola Zeester 2 Comments

Scenic beauty on beach at sunset is just one of many moments of bliss in Malibu

Sometimes— bliss is found by chance at an unlikely place and time.  A friend recommended Malibu as one of the “best places” to live in the Los Angeles area.  I was more than skeptical, and thought she must have had a total misunderstanding of my financial resources, life-style and career goals.  But, I was also intrigued and willing to check it out as the friend assured “it’s a beautiful community”, and I was very much in need of a refuge.  As it turned out, the Bu was not just a beautiful place; it was a beautiful experience.

 

[su_quote cite=”Rachel Carson (1907-1964) “]To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.[/su_quote]

 

California Brown Pelicans in flight at Big Rock Beach, Malibu
Memories of Malibu California
Purple Shore Crab at Big Rock Beach, Malibu
A paraglider tours the Malibu beach
Tide is up at Malibu

 

To Jacy, the friend who turned me on2 Malibu……..

“I wanna thank you with all of my heart
It’s a brand new start
A dream come true
in Malibu”        — Miley Cyrus

 

Zola’s Malibu Road Reading List*

The Story of Malibu  (free to read online)  historical account of this unique place, published by the Malibu Lagoon Museum

• The King and Queen of Malibu:  The True Story of the Battle for Paradise by David K. Randall.  In 1892, Frederick H. Rindge (1857-1905) bought the 13,300 acre Spanish land grant “Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit” (Malibu Rancho) for $10/acre, and just a few years later, an intense fight for Malibu and its beautiful, secluded beaches began.

• All For a Few Perfect Waves: The Audacious Life and Legend of Rebel Surfer Miki Dora by David Rensin

• Malibu (Images of America) by Ben Marcus and Marc Wanamaker

• Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival by Norman Ollestad

 

A close-up photo of California Brown Pelican in flight

Read up on the amazing ‘California Brown Pelican‘

 

 

 

 

Malibu Travel Information/Resources:

Malibu Lagoon State Beach – water sports, hiking, bird and whale watching, and guided tours of wetlands and historical/cultural landmarks
Birdwatching field trips at Malibu Lagoon hosted by Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society (free, monthly)
Malibu Creek State Park – hike, ride, climb & explore stunning terrain and wildlife of California’s Santa Monica Mountains
Point Dume State Beach –  swimming, surfing, scuba diving and fishing.  Watch California gray whales during December to mid April migration period
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach – an area of small beaches known as “pocket beaches”, including: El Pescador, La Piedra and El Matador
Adamson House and Malibu Lagoon Museum – tour 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival home and garden; and museum collection of artifacts, photos and documents depicting history of Malibu
The Getty Villa – art, architecture and gardens within a re-creation of an ancient Roman country house
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Top Ten Reasons to Visit

 

Travel destinations for dreamingLooking for your own special refuge? Watch: Destinations,
an On2In2™ collection of short videos from around the world,
for dreaming and exploring

 

 

 

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Malibu photo collection courtesy of Zeester Media LLC, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Feature photo courtesy of Unsplash CC0

*If you purchase a book via a link within this page, Zeester Media LLC may receive a small commission. This in no way affects the price you pay for the purchase.

Filed Under: Books, Experience, FREEBIES, History, Music, Nature, Travel Tagged With: Birding, California, FREEBIES, Hiking, Music, Ocean, Wildlife

Art Underwater

June 2, 2020 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Underwater sculpture museums contain breathtaking works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness and appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.

“For Art may err, but Nature cannot miss.” — John Dryden, The Cock and the Fox

Underwater public arts projects created by the visionary Jason deCaires Taylor are not just unique exhibition spaces for divers and snorkelers to enjoy.  They’re also examples of successful marine conservation efforts as the sculptures serve as habitats for all sorts of sea life which transform Taylor’s work into living, constantly evolving art that inspires an appreciation for the natural beauty of the mysterious world underwater.  This video takes you there.

He had a very big idea — create giant cement sculptures and place them on the ocean floor in areas with barren sea beds.  Then, in 2006, Jason deCaires Taylor founded and created the world’s first underwater sculpture park off the west coast of Grenada in the West Indies.  It was a great success, and has been listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic.  In 2009, he co-founded an underwater sculpture museum, Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), that includes a collection of over 500 of his art works in the waters of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc, Mexico. More underwater sculpture gardens followed in the Bahamas and Spain, and he’s currently working on a new project in the Maldives.  In this TED Talk, Taylor shares his story and breathtakingly beautiful photography.

 

 Jason DeCaires Taylor talk is courtesy of TED, CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International

 

Information/Resources:
Gallery: The sculpture garden at the bottom of the sea, by Kate Torgovnick May, Ted.com blog article (December 23, 2015)
Locations Map of the underwater sculpture exhibits around the world (Jason DeCaires Taylor Projects)
Underwater Sculpture Park – Granada, West Indies, Molinere Beauséjour Marine Protected Area
(listed as one of the Top 25 Wonders of the World by National Geographic)
Bahamas Reef Environment Education Foundation (BREEF) Sir Nicholas Nuttall Coral Reef Sculpture Garden  (Included in the sculpture garden is, Ocean Atlas, a young Bahamian girl who appears to be holding up the ocean, and at 60 tons/18 ft tall, it’s the largest underwater sculpture in the world.)
Museo Subacuático de Arte (MUSA), Museum of art under the waters of Cancun, Isla Mujeres and Punta Nizuc (Viewing via glass bottom boat, scuba and snorkeling)
Museo Atlántico, Located near the south coast of Lanzarote, in the Bahía de Las Coloradas, Spain
Alluvia, Sculpture lies at bottom of the river Stour running through city of Canterbury in Kent, UK
Pemuteran Temple Garden (statues of Buddha, Ganesha, Turtles behind an ornate Balinese gateway, constructed as one of three Bali Reef Foundation/Australian Aid funded projects)

 

There's much to discover underwaterDive In2 deep waters and explore the otherworldly beauty of ocean life  Watch:  Underwater Discoveries, an On2In2™ collection of short videos, Free-to-Watch, On-Demand  

 

BIG, POWERFUL (sometimes dangerous), and a beautiful BLUE, the Ocean does more than its share to sustain life on Planet Earth.  Saving Our Ocean

 

 

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It's easy and fun to join On2In2 social networkWe’d love to hear from you!  If you’d like to comment on this post, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’.  Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy.

 

Feature photo is a screen shot taken from the Jason DeCaires Taylor Ted Talk video

Filed Under: Insight, Nature, Video, Visual Arts, Water Tagged With: Art, Ocean, Planet Earth

Upsurge

June 1, 2020 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

Ray Collins seascape photography and Armand Dijicks cinemagraphs combine to create a view of the ocean you've never seen before in video format

“When it all comes together… it’s like, man, this is the moment.” — Ray Collins

Chris Bryan loves filming in the ocean more than anything.  In fact, it’s his passion, and he says capturing the rare moment when first rays of light hit the ocean without any other person in sight is “unexplainable, its one of the most amazing feelings ever, its like my own personal therapy” to experience such “absolute beauty”.  Chris shares some of these beautiful moments in his latest video project MOCEAN.  Views captured by Chris for the video are like nothing you’ve ever seen before, and watching is nothing short of awesome.  

 

In the water, Ray Collins creates works of art with his camera, and cinematographer/photographer, Armand Dijicks, brings Collins’ seascape photographs to life in the short video, The Infinite Now, by transforming the stills into cinemagraphs — beautiful and mesmerizing.  Cinemagraphs create the illusion of motion by applying image editing software to composite a series of still photographs into sequential frames.  The result is amazing.  

 

The Ocean is an essential life force, and we must stop its destructionLove the Ocean?  See & Learn more On2In2™ ⇒   Underwater Discoveries    Saving Our Ocean      Cranking Surf

 

 

Ray Collins started out his working life in a coal mine, and has become an internationally acclaimed, award-winning ocean photographer.  In the short video, Sea Stills produced by Malibu Media, Ray describes his inspiration and technique in capturing moments of water and light in a wave.

 

Information/Resources:
Chris Bryan Films – Cinematographer (watch more surf and underwater video)
Armand Dijicks (online courses, video tutorials and ebooks available)
Photographer Ray Collins  (info on photos and book ‘Found at Sea’)

 

Video and live stream lectures and lessons offer helpful advice from camera pros on how to take better photographsMore FREE To WATCH, and Learn from the best photographers
→  Watch: Photography video channel for inspiration and → Pro Photo Tips for how-to-tips and advice

 

 

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Feature photo is a screen shot taken from Ray Collins video, Sea Stills

Filed Under: Nature, Video, Visual Arts Tagged With: Art, Ocean, Photography

Saving Our Ocean

May 31, 2020 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

The importance of the world's ocean cannot be overstated, and each of us has the power to help assure it's survival.

 

 

The global Ocean covers 72% of the Earth surface, and it does more than its share to sustain life on Planet Earth.  It feeds us, and is the source of the water we drink and the air we breathe. It provides precious minerals, metals and energy resources, and generates revenues and jobs in marine-related industries. Yet, we have failed miserably in protecting the Ocean from harm.

In fact, for too long, humans have exploited natural resources and misused the environment in such disdainful, foolhardy ways that as much as 40% of the world oceans have been severely affected by pollution, depleted fisheries, and loss of coastal habitats, and the escalating damage now threatens the survival of future generations.  *Some sad facts:

  • 6.5 million tons of litter enters the world’s oceans each year, and 50% is long-lasting plastic that will drift for hundreds of years before it is degraded.
  • 80% of marine pollution comes from land-based sources.
  • Human health suffers from the contamination of coastal waters. [250 million/year cases of gastroenteritis and respiratory disease; 50,000-100,000/year deaths caused by eating infected shellfish]
  • 60% of the Pacific and 35% of the Atlantic coast shorelines are eroding at a rate of one meter each year.
  • About 30% of the world’s reefs are seriously damaged and 60% could be lost by 2030.
  • 75% of fisheries worldwide are fully exploited or overexploited. If habitat destruction and over fishing continue, the world’s seafood populations could collapse by 2048.
  • A 2019 report by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns Earth’s oceans are warming and getting more acidic, and sea levels are rising at an accelerated rate 

 

Heart of Ocean

BIG,  powerful (sometimes dangerous), and a beautiful BLUE,  humans have a strong affinity for the Ocean.  We love to play and explore at, in and near ocean waters as well as sit, walk and drive on a beach for hours.  The sounds, smells and just the feel of the sea air seem to trigger a sense of peace and calm in the human brain, and there are also feelings of awe and joy in being so close to nature and wildlife.  Unfortunately, the Ocean and sea life are suffering after many decades of human abuse and neglect, and there won’t be much left for future generations unless we stop the destruction and make big changes in how we live and care for this critical life force.

 

 

RIGHT NOW  💙  LET’S DO BETTER 

You cannot get through a single day without having an impact in the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.  —Dame Jane Morris Goodall

♥  Each and every day, Be Mindful about energy consumption at work and at home. Teach children about the importance of energy saving alternatives, and enact eco-friendly company polices.

♥  Choose seafood that is sustainable. Express your concern should you notice a threatened species offered by a seafood supplier, on a restaurant menu, or at a grocery seafood counter.

♥  Try to reduce/eliminate plastic containers, straws and bags from your life.  Reuse and Recycle when possible.  Figuring out recycling rules and deciding what to do with household garbage every day can be confusing, but there are some basics that can help make it easier.  ‘Plastic trash, what’s recyclable & what’s not’  Plastic Tide explains → Here  However, recycling plastics doesn’t solve all the problems.  Find inspiration from Art Transforming Trash and Emma Nelson’s 5 clever ideas to reduce the plastic in your life.  If you live or work in an area that does not provide recycling pick-up services and/or has not yet adopted a plastic bag ban ordinance, get things going by voicing your concern and the community’s needs.  

♥  Appreciate and Respect the Beach. Don’t litter. Clean up after yourself. Don’t interfere with wildlife. Don’t remove rocks or coral.

♥  Be Responsible when enjoying water sports and recreation. Brush up on ‘Ocean Etiquette’, and follow water and boating safety rules. Never throw anything into the Ocean. If you’re planning a cruise holiday, research to find the most eco-friendly options.

♥  Don’t sell or purchase products made of materials that harm marine life, such as coral, tortoiseshell, sharkskin.

♥  Be an ‘Ocean-Friendly’ pet owner. Look for sustainable seafood ingredients on pet food labels. Allow your dog only on designated dog beaches, never leave your dog unattended at the beach (keep on leash or under voice control), and if there is an accident, clean up the doggie poop. Never flush cat litter down a toilet. Avoid stocking aquariums with wild-caught saltwater fish, and never release aquarium fish into the Ocean or any other body of water.

♥  Support organizations working to protect the Ocean by giving financial support, joining campaign efforts, and/or volunteering   Ocean Conservancy      The World Ocean Network      Green Peace     The Ocean Project      World Wildlife Fund      O’Neill Sea Odyssey     Sea Shepherd    Sea Legacy 

♥  Influence Change in Government.  Research the ocean protection policies and voting records of public officials and platforms of political candidates before you vote, and let your representatives know you support laws that protect our oceans, beaches and sea life.

American voters:  Click here to view environmental record of all members of Congress →  National Environmental Scorecard  Contact your state and federal representatives to let them know you support ocean conservation projects, and ask them to do the same (find your US congressional representatives → HERE

Australian voters:  The Open Australia Foundation – Did I really vote for that?  Discover voting records of politicians in federal parliament and official register of interests

Canadian voters:  Keeping Tabs on Parliament – Find your MP, see what your representative is saying and what laws they are proposing

UK voters:  They Work For You  Search Parliament and Assemblies by name, party, position, and topics of debate

Underwater sculpture museums contain breathtaking works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness and appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.You’ll be surprised to see what lies
beneath the waves – Art Underwater  

 

 

 

There's much to discover underwaterThe “Underwater Discoveries” On2In2™ video collection
allows you to swim through the unique beauty of sea life,
without the dive gear.  FREE to watch, on-demand

 

Notes

“Saving our Ocean” is an edited version of an article originally published on the “Zblog” by Zeester Media LLC

*Information/Statistical Sources: Ocean Conservancy, The World Ocean Network, and The United Nations (World Oceans Day)

⇒ June 8 is World Oceans Day  Find an event & join the celebration of the world’s oceans→  HERE

⇒ International Coastal Cleanup Day is celebrated annually the third Saturday in September as hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the world comb lakes, rivers and beaches collecting trash.  Here’s everything you need to know about volunteering to help in the cleanup → Start A Cleanup

Inspired art works can be created from the plastic trash collected on the beachHow to turn plastic trash found on the beach
into a work of art → Art Transforming Trash

 

 

 

 

It's easy and fun to join On2In2 social networkWe’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to comment on this article, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’.  Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy (unless you’re a robot). 

 

 

 

• The beautiful blue Ocean wave photo is courtesy of Emiliano Arano/Pexels CC0
• Ocean Heart photo is courtesy of Jeremy Bishop/Unsplash CC0

Filed Under: Enlighten, Experience, Insight, Nature Tagged With: Environment, Ocean, Planet Earth, Wildlife

Art Transforming Trash

February 29, 2020 By Zola Zeester 1 Comment

Inspired art works can be created from the plastic trash collected on the beach

“The opposite of beauty is not ugly… it’s indifference.” — Richard Lang

There are many complex issues involved in the elimination of pollutants from the environment, but there’s at least one problem easy to identify and understand — trash.  Take just one walk on a beach, and you’ll quickly see the ugly truth.

More than 8 million tons of plastic makes its way into the Ocean each year, and the stuff doesn’t go-away or disappear.  Just one plastic bag takes 1,000 years to decompose.  Much of this garbage can be seen floating on top of the ocean surface.  Between California and Hawaii, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is more than double the size of Texas, and it’s just one of many similar floating debris patches.

Ray Ives, a retired Royal Marine and commercial diver, saw even more during his 40+ years of deep sea diving,……“You can’t believe some of the things people dump in the sea.  It’s like the biggest rubbish dump in the world”.

Artists are using their creative talents in amazing ways to help make positive change as their works of art bring attention to the plastic pollution problem the world faces and inspire all of us to “rethink plastic”.

Gyrecraft is a short film about crafting objects at sea, in the past with whale’s teeth and in the future with plastics collected from Ocean waters.

Studio Swine went on a 1,000 nautical mile journey through the North Atlantic Gyre, from the Azores to the Canaries, collecting plastics as they sailed.  (The North Atlantic Gyre is one of five large systems of circulating ocean currents.  The vortex of currents traps man-made marine debris into a large, dense floating debris zone called  the ‘North Atlantic Garbage Patch’.)  Using a specially designed ‘Solar Extruder’ machine, the plastic pieces collected during the trip were melted on board ship with heat from the Sun, creating a ‘sea plastic’ material used to create art works.

 

In the short video, Sea Chair, watch as a stool is built on a boat from the plastic collected in a fisherman’s nets.

 

Since 1999, Richard and Judith Selby Lang have been visiting a special spot at Kehoe Beach at the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, collecting plastics that have washed up on shore. The Lang’s then take their treasures home, wash and sort the items, and create works of art.  Over the years, they’ve collected tons of the stuff, learned a lot about ocean pollution, and discovered each little bit of found plastic has an interesting story to tell and provides an insight into human culture.

 

Aurora Robson is a multi-media artist known for her work with waste materials, and the founding artist of Project Vortex a collective of creatives who work with plastic debris as a medium and support organizational efforts to reduce the amount of plastic littering the oceans and shorelines of the world. She has said the intention of her art is “to take something negative, try to change the direction it’s going, and turn it into something positive”.

 

Inspired to create your own “environmental art”, but not sure how to start?  David Edgar creates marine life art forms from plastic bottles, and his instructional fish project video is a how-to guide for beginners. In the demonstration, you’ll learn that creating a sculpture requires scissors and a couple of simple tools, and reshaping plastic can be accomplish with heat from a hair dryer.  Really, the possibilities are endless because unfortunately, so is the trash.

 

Information/Resources:

Point Reyes National Seashore  Point Reyes is a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Pacific Ocean, supporting a large diversity of species throughout the food chain and ecosystem.

One Plastic Beach  The Lang’s offer workshops, presentations, art sales, commercial and residential artwork commissions

Aurora Robson  See more art and media

Washed Ashore – Haseltine Pozzi, an artist and longtime art teacher, made it her mission to collect garbage that washes up along the Oregon coastline and use it to create large art sculptures in an effort to bring awareness to the enormous amount of plastic pollution in oceans and waterways and inspire change.

Project Vortex is an international collective of artists, designers and architects creating art works with plastic debris in support of projects that intercept plastic waste in innovative ways and help water cleanup efforts.

Plastic Ocean by Tan Zi Xi – an inspired art installation simulating the environment of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch created the experience of being immersed in a space covered with trash.

Healthy Seas – a joint venture of non-government organizations and businesses dedicated to cleaning ocean of litter and recycling it into new products such as socks, swimwear, textiles and carpets.

International Coastal Cleanup Day is celebrated annually the third Saturday in September to encourage people to join in efforts to rid beaches of the garbage plaguing beaches, and around the world, conservation groups organize cleanups along coastlines and waterways. 

Plastic Oceans Foundation – a non-profit organization with a mission to engage people through education and media projects, campaigns and global partnerships

Underwater sculpture museums contain breathtaking works of art that seek to encourage environmental awareness and appreciate the breathtaking natural beauty of the underwater world.You’ll be surprised to see what lies
beneath the waves – Art Underwater 

 

 

The Ocean is an essential life force, and we must stop its destructionOur Oceans are suffering from many decades of
abuse and neglect, but each of us has the power to help heal it 

 

 

It's easy and fun to join On2In2 social networkWe’d love to hear from you!  If you’d like to comment on this post, join the conversation, or share your inspiration, and you have not yet registered as an On2In2™ playmaker, please sign up via the ‘Engage page’.  Don’t worry, it’s pretty quick and easy.

 

Get more fun delivered straight to your inbox. It's easy to sign up for the On2In2™ newsletter.

 

Feature photo is courtesy of Free Stock Pro/Pexels CC0

Filed Under: Collections, Insight, Video, Visual Arts Tagged With: Art, Arts & Crafts, Environment, Ocean

Chasing the Light

August 27, 2018 By Zola Zeester Leave a Comment

While most glacial ice is located in Antarctica and Greenland, there are actually glaciers on almost every continental landmass, covering approximately 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles)– that’s 10% of Earth’s land surface. Artist Zaria Forman captures the massive, but fragile beauty of these amazing ice and snow formations in her work, and reminds us how important glaciers are to every living being on Earth, now and in the future.

Zaria Forman video courtesy of Ted Conferences LLC,  CC BY-NC-ND

Seventy-five percent (75%) of the world’s fresh water supply is stored within glaciers;  therefore, it’s impossible to overstate their importance to our survival. And, learning just a few basics about glacier formation and loss helps in understanding the urgent need to protect glaciers from melting away.

There are two primary types of glaciers:

Continental:  These are enormous masses of glacial ice and snow, known as “ice sheets”, that flow away from a central region and are mostly unaffected by underlying topography.  Found only in Greenland and Antarctica.

Alpine or Valley:  Glaciers in mountains that flow down valleys.  When two glaciers meet and merge at the base of mountains, the new glacier is called a piedmont glacier.  If the piedmont glacier flows into the sea, it’s called a tidewater glacier.  A cirque glacier is confined by a valley forming in a “cirque” (semicircular bowl-like basin at the head of a valley).  Valley glaciers (aka alpine glaciers) form in a mountain valley when more snow falls on mountain peaks during a year than melts during the summer, creating a snow pack that builds up, thickens, compresses, turns into ice, grows and moves slowing downhill (Mer de Glace and Exit Glacier are examples of a valley glacier).  An Ice Field (also spelled ‘icefield’) is an extensive area of ice and interconnected valley glaciers that usually form over high altitude basins and atop plateaus.  Ice caps cover mountain tops.

 

Map of world glaciers, NASA

 

Glacial ice is formed by the accumulation and compression of snow and ice over a period of years, often 100 years or more.  It’s not quite as dense as ice formed by freezing water because of tiny air bubbles trapped inside, and this unique composition allows light reflecting as white to be absorbed while blue light is transmitted and scattered, resulting in the distinctive blue color of a glacier.

Formation and survival of a glacier are affected by environmental and geological factors such as the slope of the land, amount of snowfall, temperature and winds.  The surface area of a healthy glacier is covered more than 60% by snow at the end of a melting season and produces good flow.  This requires a delicate balance of variable circumstances, and that’s been continually disrupted in recent history.

NASA comparison photos show the disappearing Muir Glacier
Muir Glacier, 1941 – 2004, NASA Climate 365

Since the early 20th century, glacier retreat and mass loss have accelerated and become more prevalent.  In fact, several glaciers, ice caps and ice shelves have completely disappeared, and approximately 400 billion tons of glacial ice were lost each year since 1994.  Many other glaciers are shrinking so rapidly they’ll likely vanish in a few more decades. Just one example is Muir Glacier in Alaska.  From 1941 to 2004, it receded about seven miles and lost more than 2,625 feet in depth.

Information/Resources:
Wikipedia (Glacier, Glacier mass balance)
“All About Glaciers“, National Snow and Ice Data Center Glaciers (terminology, notes and comments), Eastern Illinois University
Pizol Glacier:  Swiss hold funeral for the ice lost to global warming, BBC News (September 22, 2019)
Some of the Oldest Ice in the Arctic is Now Breaking Apart by Christopher Joyce, NPR Science (August 23, 2018)
“NASA Mission Takes Stock of Earth’s Melting Land Ice” (February 8, 2012) Jet Propulsion Laboratory
NASA Global Climate Change (Glaciers) – Interactive Global Ice Viewer
Common Questions and Myths About Glaciers, US National Park Service
“Steps to Prevent Glaciers from Melting” (February 19, 2016) The New Ecologist
Artist bio, works, shows and exhibitions, Zaria Forman on Artsy

 

Crossing the Mer de Glace on foot (1902-1904)
Mer de Glace Crossing, 1902 – 1904

The history and exploration of France’s Mer de Glace (‘Sea of Ice’) is fascinating, and it’s become an important fresh water source as well as a popular tourist destination. Sadly, it’s also disappearing.

 

 

 

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·Feature photo is a still shot taken from the Zaria Forman Ted Talk video
·Glacier Map, courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory, is a visual depiction of world glacier study and catalog by the Randolph Glacier Inventory (2014)
·Graphic:  Dramatic Glacier Melt (Muir Glacier, 1941/2004), NASA Climate 365

Filed Under: Create, Enlighten, Insight, Nature, Visual Arts Tagged With: Art, Glacier, Ocean, Photography, Planet Earth

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