Seattle Waters

June 10, 2022 / Jet Eliot / 69 Comments

Mt. Rainier and paddleboarder, Vashon Isl., WA

The northwest corner of the United States is a bevy of islands and waterways, and inside it all is Seattle, Washington. Here is a look at a few of the waterways in the Seattle area.

Flying into Seattle, air passengers get a glimpse of the water that surrounds the city. Not only is the Puget Sound bounding the west, but you see islands, channels, canals, and lakes in every direction.

By consulting the maps below, you can see the unique layout of the land and water in the Seattle area.

Puget Sound is a large saltwater estuary system fed by the Olympic and Cascade Mountain watersheds. More info: Puget Sound Wikipedia

The city’s Discovery Park (below) overlooks the Sound, as do many other smaller parks.

Puget Sound from Discovery Park, Seattle

This photo demonstrates the operating shipyards in Seattle.

The ferris wheel is a popular Seattle waterfront attraction.

Seattle’s Great Wheel, candy canes during holidays

There are 21 state-operated ferries on Puget Sound and many additional public tourist vessels, as well as hundreds of private boats. Some residents commute by ferry.

Many of Seattle’s surrounding islands are havens for tourists and residents looking for a quieter way of life. Vashon Island, pictured below, is a 20-minute ferry ride from Seattle.

Vashon Island, WA Lighthouse; Photo: A. Alexander

In addition to the Puget Sound’s dominating influence, there are many other waterways too.

Situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, the city is bisected in the middle by a series of canals and locks called the Lake Washington Ship Canal.

This canal system connects the Sound to the Lake.

A person can traverse across the city entirely on boat.

Several busy urban neighborhoods have canals flowing through them. Often there is a park alongside the canal, where you can watch boats quietly cruise by. Here you can see there is an office building and a parking lot directly adjacent to this canal.

Bays, creeks and the Duwamish River also occupy significant Seattle real estate. According to Wikipedia, water comprises approximately 41% of the total area of the city.

With all of these waterways come bridges.

There are approximately 150 bridges within Seattle’s city limits. Floating bridges, drawbridges, double-deckers…old, new, and a few historical.

List of Bridges in Seattle, Wikipedia

The Fremont Bridge, in the two photos below, is the most frequently opened drawbridge in the U.S. It is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, built in 1917. The second photo shows it opened.

There are also some major lakes in Seattle. Last week I presented a post on Green Lake, but there are two other major lakes here, too.

Washington Lake, stretching the city’s eastern side, is the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (second to Lake Chelan). It is 22 miles long (35 km), enormous, and is classified as a ribbon lake for its glacially formed long, narrow and finger-like shape.

Lake Union, part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal system, is a large and popular lake. Houseboats, seaplanes, rowing teams and many other kinds of boats line this lake.

In 2014 I had the thrill of boarding a seaplane at Lake Union and flying over the Puget Sound and San Juan Islands to Victoria, Canada. It was a commercial operation flying small Cessnas via Kenmore Air Harbor.

Walk for ten minutes in Seattle and you will see a seaplane up above.

The Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, located on South Lake Union, outlines the city’s maritime history.

This vessel below, the Virginia V, is docked there. The steamer, launched in 1922, primarily transported passengers between Tacoma and Seattle.

Glass artist Dale Chihuly, who was born in Washington State, has brought a plethora of art and artistry to Seattle, often highlighting the sea life that is so deeply rooted here.

Seattle’s Chihuly Garden and Glass is an indoor/outdoor museum exclusively featuring his art. A few of his maritime pieces are pictured below.

This glass sea star (below) is a sprightly detail of the bigger sculpture entitled Sea Life (below).

Chihuly Sealife Overview, Seattle, Washington

Many of his glorious glass works celebrate the sea, including this elegant octopus.

This community of waterways is one of the best parts of Seattle. The sea air, winds and waters are a great reminder of the wild and wonderful side of this seaport city.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Northwest corner of Washington State. Courtesy Wikipedia

SF’s Aquatic Park

February 11, 2022 / Jet Eliot / 79 Comments

After living in the Bay Area for three decades, I have many favorite spots in San Francisco. One of my top favorites is Aquatic Park.

Located at the west end of Fishermans Wharf, it spans a short beach on the San Francisco Bay.

Owned and operated by the National Park Service, the park is a National Historic Landmark. It’s touted as “America’s Only Floating National Park.”

Here you will find much to keep you occupied with the past and the present.

There are old wooden piers lined with a fleet of permanently moored ships, some that you can go inside.

The Maritime Museum is also part of Aquatic Park. Built to mimic an ocean liner, the museum was built in 1939 as part of the New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA). It offers art deco architecture as well as many seafaring exhibits.

The interior of the museum, also known as the Bathhouse building, showcases stunning depression-era WPA murals on every wall. Hilaire Hiler (1898-1966) created the undersea murals.

More info: San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park.

When standing on the museum’s back veranda, one feels like they are on the upper deck of a ship. Surrounded by exquisite WPA tile walls in marine themes, you have an elevated, full panoramic view overlooking the San Francisco Bay.

Maritime Museum, Sea Forms by Sargent Johnson and Mohammed Zyani.

Balclutha in SF Bay (Alcatraz in background)

Aquatic Park also boasts a large grass lawn and ample amphitheater seats with views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

This is a great place to watch boats, joggers, bike riders, swimmers, tourists, and local residents while gulls cruise overhead.

There is also a municipal pier for fishing enthusiasts.

My favorite thing to do in Aquatic Park is visit the ships.

There are a couple of old wooden piers open to the public that lead to the anchored vessels, including the restored Hyde St. Pier. The piers are a five-minute walk from the museum, and invite visitors to sit on the benches, wander in amazement, or climb aboard the ships.

Before the Golden Gate Bridge was built, Hyde Street Pier was a popular spot for the ferries to transport residents from across the bay to San Francisco.

Standing on these piers you feel dwarfed by the majestic old ships.

Folks who have paid the museum park fee can board the ships.

Walking across a gang plank onto the ship instantly transports a person from land to sea and from the present to the past.

My favorite ship is the Balclutha, an 1886 square-rigger. Built in Glasgow, Scotland, the Balclutha made its maiden voyage to San Francisco in 1887. It took 140 days and a crew of 26 men to transport the cargo of 1,650 tons of coal.

On deck is the bracing smell of briny sea air, and mast rigs continually clang as the stiff ocean breezes rock the ship.

Balclutha rigging (and swimmer on far right)

Other restored vessels include an 1895 schooner, 1890 steam ferryboat, 1890 scow schooner, 1907 steam tug, 1914 paddlewheel tug, and a circa 1890 San Francisco houseboat. I have returned here many times because there are so many boats to explore, it cannot be done in just one day.

The next two photos show the side-wheel paddle steamboat: the Eureka. Built in the Bay Area in 1890, this vessel had many lives ferrying trains and then cars from Sausalito and Tiburon to San Francisco.

Vintage cars from the 1920s and ’30s are lined up on the Eureka, as if they are ready to disembark.

There are great views of San Francisco from the ships and piers, too.

Often a swimmer or two can be seen swimming by, like in this photo’s foreground.

Lastly, Aquatic Park is also a San Francisco mainstay for open-water swimmers. There are local residents who regularly swim the cove for fitness, and it is also popular for training triathletes.

There are numerous open-water swimming events here throughout the year.

The classic San Francisco Bay swim route is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) plunge from Alcatraz Island to Aquatic Park in 60-62-degree Fahrenheit (15-17 C) water. You have to be a serious swimmer to brave the frigid water, strong tides and currents.

“Escape from Alcatraz” is the most popular swim event in Aquatic Park, named after the mysterious 1962 escape of three prisoners from Alcatraz.

Are there sharks in the bay? Yes, several different species. And seals and sea lions too.

This aerial view of Aquatic Park shows the Maritime Museum (bottom center), the municipal fishing pier (long, curved structure), and the historic ships right of the yellow line. The yellow line indicates the swimmers’ lap area.

Aquatic Park, SF. Photo courtesy Golden Gate Triathlon Club.

Places to adventure within a five-minute walk of Aquatic Park: Ghiradelli Square (shops and restaurants); the Hyde-Powell cable car line; Fishermans Wharf.

Whether you’re steeped in the seafaring days of yore or strolling in the 21st century, Aquatic Park has something for everyone.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Building Machu Picchu

August 6, 2021 / Jet Eliot / 73 Comments

Built for Inca royalty around 1450 A.D., Machu Picchu is a grand complex in the Andes mountains of Peru. It was occupied for 80 years, then for hundreds of years lay dormant. Here is a brief look at the ingenuity behind the building of Machu Picchu.

The citadel was an extensive complex with approximately 200 buildings, and housed about 750 people. It covered 80,000 acres (82,500 hectares).

It was roughly divided into an urban sector and an agricultural sector; with a variety of buildings including the royal palace and tomb, residential quarters, religious temples, the cemetery, prison area, and more.

In addition to the 200 buildings, Inca engineers also designed elaborate farming terraces and sophisticated canal irrigation systems. Water was guided through aqueducts into the citadel for use in agriculture and bathing. Pictured below is an indoor water feature with water that still flows.

This photo below of the Royal Tomb highlights the fine workmanship in the granite.

At the time, the buildings were constructed with thatched roofs. The thatching is long gone now, but there are a few buildings where officials revived the thatched roofs to demonstrate what it looked like.

Machu Picchu Houses with Thatched Roofs; Andes and Rainbow in Background

The architecture of this UNESCO World Heritage Site is still admired today. Design incorporated the surrounding topography. With light and its resulting shadows, some designs mimicked the mountain peaks precisely.

This scene shows the parallels between the stone buildings and the mountains.

Building materials also incorporated the surroundings. They used the existing rock, primarily granite, in two basic ways: by chiseling the granite bedrock of the mountain ridge; and cutting granite from nearby quarries, transporting it to the site.

To transport the granite, builders cut it into blocks using nothing more than hard stones and bronze tools. Then hundreds of men, using ropes, logs, poles, levers and ramps, pushed it up the mountain.

Some blocks weighed more than 40 tons.

Amazing Feats #1 and #2: cutting hard granite with stone and bronze tools; and pushing 45-ton granite blocks up a steep mountain.

Elevation at Machu Picchu is 7,970 feet (2,430m). You can see here how steep the mountain is.

Amazing Feat #3, the one I never stopped examining as I stood among the rocks and walls of Machu Picchu: the way the stones fit together.

Once the blocks were pushed up the mountain and into place, builders fine-tuned the blocks until they were perfectly interlocking…so tightly and impeccably fitted that they used no mortar.

This technique, called ashlar masonry, was painstakingly practiced in the most sacred Inca sites.

In the 500+ years since its original construction, the buildings still remain standing, even in this earthquake-prone area.

Below are two of Machu Picchu’s celebrated structures. The first one is the Temple of the Sun, or Torreon, where they worshipped the sun, planets and Inca constellations.

Notice the trapezoidal-shaped windows. This design is prevalent throughout the citadel.

Temple of the Sun aka Torreon, Machu Picchu

The second structure, below, titled Intihuatana, is what is believed to be an astronomic clock or calendar. It is a ritual stone arranged to point directly at the sun during the winter solstice. Inti was their sun god.

More information:

Machu Picchu Wikipedia

Inca Architecture Wikipedia

Just like the Inca empire, the Machu Picchu citadel was eventually lost to history. The Spanish conquistadors never found it, the reason it was still intact in 1911 when Hiram Bingham, an American lecturer and explorer, discovered it while on an expedition in search of a different site. (Although he was not the first to find it, he was considered the scientific discoverer.)

Beautiful Machu Picchu had been hidden under thick vegetation for hundreds of years.

During my two visits to Machu Picchu, occasionally a grazing llama ambled by, and a particularly enchanting sparrow sang, sealing in the natural beauty and rich history of this remarkable place.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

The Art of Our Seas

May 7, 2021May 12, 2021 / Jet Eliot / 74 Comments

Octopus on mural at Maritime Museum, San Francisco

Fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, mollusks, crustaceans, seaweed, coral reefs and many more living beings share this planet with us, all underwater. Here is a colorful look at different kinds of art celebrating Earth’s sea creatures.

If you have ever spent time exploring the wild waters below the ocean’s surface, you know what inspires sea art. It’s a world of quiet, endless wonders; and one that we still think about it when we’ve come back onto land.

If you have not been under ocean water, there is plenty of art to highlight the sea’s magnificence. We have talented artists to thank for that.

Once you physically submerge underwater, the cares and thoughts of your life on earth seem to melt away. Talking and human noises drift off with the waves, and even gravity quietly vanishes.

I once snorkeled over a giant clam in the Great Barrier Reef. There were no voices guiding me toward it, no signs or crowds. It was just the giant clam and me. It was nestled in the sandy sea bottom and I was perhaps 50 feet above.

At first it looked like a brown blob, but I found it intriguing and slowed my strokes, and then recognized the outside scalloped shape as something different.

When I realized it was a giant clam, I hovered over it for quite awhile, but it never moved, and eventually I swam on. I have no photos, only memories, of this experience.

But fortunately I have Dale Chihuly’s elegant version of the bivalve mollusks, to remind me.

This American glass sculptor of world renown has created enormous sculptures celebrating the endless variety of colors and shapes in the sea world.

Born in Washington State and influenced by the Puget Sound, Chihuly has mastered unusual glass art embracing his passion for the sea and nature.

This is a gallery room in Seattle’s museum devoted exclusively to Chihuly art: Chihuly Garden and Glass. It is entitled Persian Ceiling and is a ceiling installation of glass “seaforms,” to use his word.

When you stand in this room and look up, it is the next best thing to floating among the tropical fish and coral reefs.

More info: Dale Chihuly Wikipedia.

Although I am not a scuba-diver, I have had terrific snorkeling experiences. In Australia you have to be taken out in a boat beyond the shore to get to the Great Barrier Reef. One of the boats we were on also featured an underwater photographer as part of the package. His camera was huge, not much smaller than a dive tank. These underwater photos are his.

From them you can see how real-life underwater scenes like these two below…

… can be translated into art like Chihuly’s. They bring the glory and mystery of the sea alive.

In addition to glass sculptures and wall paintings, sea art comes in many forms–too many to present here. If you live in or have visited seaside towns, you see it everywhere.

San Francisco, the City by the Bay, showcases a lot of sea art, and not just in galleries.

This staircase in San Francisco was a 2005 neighborhood project. Various fish, seashells and sea stars dance in the blue mosaic pieces. From the top of these steps is an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean.

Sixteenth Avenue Tiled Steps, San Francisco

Miles away at the Ferry Building, the inside promenade is decorated with tiles. My favorite is this octopus.

Octopus mosaic tile, Ferry Building, San Francisco

The Maritime Museum, also in San Francisco, is a monument to ships and sea art.

Maritime Museum rear veranda, Sea Forms by Sargent Johnson and Mohammed Zyani.

Now part of the National Park Service, the museum’s interior walls are covered with underwater murals created during the 1930s by Sargent Johnson and Hilaire Hiler. Exterior walls include sea-themed facades and tile work, all of it funded by then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) project.

Maritime Museum interior mural, San Francisco

Sea Turtle mosaic, Maritime Museum, San Francisco

This octopus chair (below) on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico is a whimsical salute to the sea. It is joined by several other brass chairs entitled Rotunda by the Sea, by Guadalajaran sculptor Alejandro Colunga.

There is so much life and wonderment in our planet’s seas. Any way that the glory of the sea can be highlighted, is yet another way to express the importance of its gift and survival.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexandria unless otherwise specified.

This is a real fish, a Napoleon Wrasse, on the Great Barrier Reef.

Hubble Space Telescope

March 27, 2020 / Jet Eliot / 67 Comments

Stephan’s Quintet, interacting galaxies. Courtesy Hubble.

When life on earth gets impossibly complicated, I often look to the skies for solace. On clear nights, I have a galaxy of stars above to embrace me. At other times, it’s Hubble’s photographs.

The Hubble Space Telescope (“Hubble”) is situated above Earth’s atmosphere–340 miles (540 km) up. At this altitude, it is able to avoid the atmospheric distortion that terrestrial-bound telescopes and observatories encounter, resulting in pristine images.

Pillars of Creation, interstellar gas and dust in the Eagle Nebula. Courtesy Hubble.

The information gathered from Hubble’s 30 years of images have led to breakthroughs in astrophysics.

With a very large mirror (see photo at end) and four main instruments, Hubble can observe in ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

“If your eye were as sensitive as Hubble’s, you could look from New York City and see the glow of a pair of fireflies in Tokyo.”

(Hubble’s Universe, Greatest Discoveries and Latest Images [2014] by Terence Dickinson.)

Hubble Space Telescope in space being serviced by Astronauts Smith and Grunsfeld (center), Dec. 1999. Courtesy NASA.

The only telescope designed to be maintained in space by astronauts, Hubble was launched into space in 1990. Since then it has been serviced, repaired and upgraded by NASA space shuttle missions in 1993, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2009.

NASA: Hubble Servicing Missions

Inside the Orion Nebula. Courtesy Hubble.

Due to these upgrades, Hubble is equipped with cutting-edge mirrors, computers and navigational equipment. It remains in space to this day, fully functioning.

Multi-layered insulation on the outside protects it from the harsh environment of space. Large solar panels turn the sun’s light into usable energy.

Hubble Space Telescope in orbit. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Over the years, space shuttle missions to Hubble have been cancelled and re-scheduled due to funding and safety issues.

The fifth and final upgrade mission was serviced by the space shuttle Atlantis crew in 2009. Upgrades and servicing are over now, but Hubble could last until 2030-2040.

This is the Atlantis shuttle craft, below, now displayed in Kennedy Space Center.

Atlantis Space Shuttle on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

Engineering support for Hubble is provided by NASA and personnel at Goddard Flight Center in Maryland. Four teams of flight controllers monitor Hubble 24 hours a day.

Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, is currently being developed by NASA with significant contributions from European Space Agency and Canadian Space Agency.

NASA is generous with sharing data and Hubble images, and also provides numerous websites for anyone to visit, here are a few:

Online brochure: Highlights of Hubble’s Explorations of the Universe.

NASA Website: Hubble Space Telescope

This NASA link invites you to enter your birthday to see the photo Hubble took on your birthday. What Did Hubble See on Your Birthday.

Wikipedia Hubble Space Telescope

Crab Nebula. Courtesy Hubble.

Horsehead Nebula. Courtesy Hubble.

Carina Nebula. Courtesy Hubble.

Jupiter. Courtesy Hubble.

The triumphs and discoveries gleaned from Hubble are a testament to the profound abilities of humans from all over the world.

While we work on sorting through problems on our planet, we have the skies and space to dazzle our imagination, and open the universe to future generations.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Hubble photos courtesy NASA.

Atlantis Space Shuttle photo by Athena Alexander.

Hubble’s primary mirror measuring 7.9 feet (2.4 m), March 1979. Courtesy Wikipedia

Whirlpool Galaxy. Courtesy Hubble.

Kennedy Space Center — Part 2 of 2

December 13, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 65 Comments

Atlantis Space Shuttle on display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

As we continue our virtual space voyage with Part 2, please join me for a look inside the expansive Atlantis Space Shuttle building, located in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center. Part 1 can be viewed here.

All 135 Space Shuttle missions were launched from the U.S. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) between 1981 and 2011. These were crewed spacecraft that launched into space, orbited Earth, and returned to Earth. Each Space Shuttle flight performed a specified space mission, and most have returned to space numerous times. There were 133 successes and 2 failures.

NASA’s Space Shuttle Atlantis was first launched in 1985 and completed its final space mission in 2011. In all, it orbited the Earth 4,848 times.

The building where the Atlantis now lives is 64,000 square foot (5,900 m2) and showcases the spacecraft on three different levels. It opened in 2013.

Atlantis from underneath

The spacecraft is raised 30 feet (9 m) off the ground and rotated 43 degrees, displayed as if it were in space. The many burn marks and marrings are visual proof of its many orbits into space.

Close-up of underside

It has over 2.5 million parts.

Visitors can see Atlantis’ opened payload bay doors and the robotic arm.

Open payload door

Atlantis’ robotic arm

This space shuttle charged in and out of space for 26 years, completing 33 missions. It transported 207 astronauts, flew 126 million miles, and spent 307 days in space.

It has three types of engines and an impressive array of rocket thrusters.

Atlantis’ rocket thrusters

Here is a photo of Atlantis leaving Earth. For the initial thrust into orbit, it is attached to an external fuel tank (orange) and twin solid rocket boosters (white).

Atlantis leaving Earth. Courtesy Wikipedia.

This is Atlantis as it transits the sun (small black dot near center of photo).

Courtesy Wikipedia

For more in-flight photos of the Atlantis, click on Space Shuttle Atlantis Wikipedia.

The Atlantis building, one of many at the KSC, has over 60 interactive exhibits. In addition to Atlantis, which dominates, there is a full-size replica of the Hubble Space Telescope, the original still being in space.

There are displays highlighting the mission of each of the space shuttles. Most of them did work on the International Space Station and/or the Hubble Telescope.

Display of the Discovery Shuttle’s Mission

This is a walkway highlighting each of the 33 missions of Atlantis.

There are also many displays of the International Space Station (ISS), including an active countdown of how long it has been in space (over 20 years).

Countdown of the ISS days in orbit

Film delineating each part of the ISS

Kids can climb in tunnels that lead to spacecraft; many people were stimulated by several different simulators. The space toilet display was also popular.

Space Shuttle Toilet

There were other space shuttles in the American space program. Out of the five fully functional orbiters, three remain on display, open to the public. Aside from Atlantis, the other two are: Discovery in Washington D.C. and Endeavour in Los Angeles.

The Atlantis performed NASA’s last Space Shuttle mission.

Space Shuttle program Wikipedia

Thanks for launching into space with us.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander unless otherwise specified.

Dear friends, I am taking a break for the rest of December, will resume posting in January. Wishing you happy holidays, and many thanks for another sweet and adventurous year together.

Astronaut Scott Kelly aboard the International Space Stn, 2016

Kennedy Space Center–Part 1 of 2

December 6, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 60 Comments

Entrance Gate to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Visitors first entering Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex are greeted by several authentic rockets towering above. Heads looking up to the sky, each person is handed a brochure with a map and exhibit information, and off we go, launched into the world of space.

This rocket below, the Atlas-Agena, was launched 109 times between 1960 and 1978.

Atlas-Agena Rocket

NASA Kennedy Space Center entrance

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is comprised of 700 facilities on 144,000 acres (580 km2); and has the distinction of being the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968.

This shuttle stack is a 184-foot (56 m) full-scale replica of what is needed for a space shuttle to be shot into space: external fuel tank (orange) with twin solid rocket boosters (white).

Shuttle “stack”

Kennedy Space Center Wikipedia

kennedyspacecenter.com for visitor information

Historic space programs like Apollo, Skylab, and the Space Shuttles were carried out here at KSC, while other space programs, like Gemini flights, were launched from adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Today this area, on the Atlantic coast of Florida, is bustling with robotic and commercial crew missions, and other missions dedicated to future off-Earth exploration. Launches occur regularly.

Much of it is a restricted area, but there is a large Visitor Complex open to the public.

The KSC Visitor Complex has numerous large buildings filled with exhibits and displays featuring the activities of the Hubble Telescope, International Space Station, Space Shuttle voyages, and more. Visitors can walk the grounds, or take a bus tour.

Mural of International Space Station and flags of all the countries who participate in the program

They also have space-ride simulators and other simulator rides, interactive exhibits, and daily presentations with veteran NASA astronauts. Numerous multimedia cinematic productions give in-depth information on various space projects from visiting Mars to how the Atlantis Space Shuttle was built.

Films can be seen in several different theaters, two of which are IMAX, as well as stand-alone videos, like this one below.

Photo of Earth with ISS in center

This Saturn 1B rocket made nine launches between 1966 and 1975.

Saturn 1B Rocket

Inspiration is the word that came to me most often on the day we visited the KSC. All the courage and genius of thousands of men and women, some who gave their lives, is embodied in this Complex.

This building, below, recently opened in 2016, has the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Heroes and Legends Exhibit

My favorite exhibit houses the entire space shuttle Atlantis, a retired space orbiter that made 33 space missions in the course of 26 years, before it was retired in 2011.

Countdown for that: seven days.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

November 15, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 78 Comments

Bigfin Reef Squid

There are about 200 exhibits at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Designed to delight and educate visitors, the exhibits attract visitors of all ages. Here are a few photos from last month.

Purple-striped Jelly

Black Sea Nettles

I shared the Sea Jelly Exhibit in a previous post, and enjoyed hearing from readers about their underwater and aquarium experiences.

Sea Otter

The sea jellies were a popular exhibit, and so were the sea otters.

Sea Otter viewers

They have five otters: Abby, Ivy, Kit, Rosa, Selka. Each one arrived as a rescue animal, cannot survive in the wild. They have their own two-storied tank, and can be seen submerged, or frolicking above water.

Sea otters were heavily hunted for their fur in earlier centuries and remain an endangered species today. They have the densest fur of any animal.

You can see here how the outer layer of thick fur repels water, keeping the inner fur layer dry.

Sea Otter

The Tentacles Exhibit had numerous tanks, artfully lit and emulating underwater scenes. Squid and cuttlefishes could be found here, along with octopuses, nautiluses and other tentacled creatures.

Kisslip Cuttlefish

Visitors walk through dark rooms lit by tanks of colorful sea urchins, anemones, shrimp, crabs, clams and seahorses.

Seahorses

There are daily feedings, auditorium programs, behind-the-scene tours, and numerous videos offered throughout the facility. Some exhibits are interactive, visitors are invited to touch the creatures; while other exhibits are simply for observing. Free live cams entertain visitors from afar.

The largest exhibit, the Open Sea, features a giant tank with sea turtles, rays, giant tuna, all kinds of fish, and sardine swarms.

Sardine swarm in center

Many of the sea creatures are residents of California’s coast, but there are additional animals from other parts of the world as well.

African Penguins

Kelp is an algae seaweed that lives in cold, nutrient-dense waters and is prevalent along the west coast of North America. In California’s Monterey Bay area, where kelp is protected, large kelp canopies flourish, providing food and shelter to hundreds of species of birds and mammals.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, in recognizing and promoting the ecological importance of kelp forests, features a permanent Kelp Forest Exhibit. Their 28-foot (8.5 m) exhibit hosts swaying fronds of kelp and millions of fish.

Leopard Shark in kelp forest

Kelp Forest

About 20 minutes south of the Monterey Bay Aquarium off Highway 1 is a splendid array of many of these same sea creatures in their natural habitats. The Monterey Bay sea canyon is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

A visit to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve yields protected tide pools, kelp forests, and marine mammals. Whenever I am in the Monterey area, I never miss a visit to Point Lobos. I’ll share this wonderland with you another time.

Point Lobos, California

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a non-profit organization, and their research and advocacy is ongoing.

In today’s times when our planet’s seas are showing signs of deep distress, spending time and money exploring and supporting the health of the oceans is not only beneficial to future generations, but it is also great fun.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Harbor Seal, Pt. Lobos

Sea Jellies

October 25, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 95 Comments

Purple-striped Jelly

Jellyfish, or sea jellies, can be found in waters all around the world, but they are primarily translucent and difficult to see. For a good look at them, a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium is rewarding.

Highly regarded around the world, the Monterey Bay Aquarium houses 35,000 animals of over 550 species. The Aquarium is also prominent in research and commitment toward ocean protection and public awareness.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Wikipedia

Spotted Comb Jelly

Black Sea Nettles

They have many exhibits with sea creatures, and about a dozen tanks filled with different kinds of sea jellies. (The term “jellyfish” has officially been replaced by “sea jellies” because jellies do not have spines and are therefore not fish. I use the terms interchangeably here.)

Sea jellies are gelatinous invertebrates and 95% water, and appear almost invisible in the underwater world. To aid with viewing, the aquarium tank backgrounds are blue and illuminated by side lights.

You can see in this photo what a sea jelly (center) in the San Francisco Bay really looks like — ghostly and almost imperceptible.

Sea Jelly in San Francisco Bay, Tiburon Harbor

Sea jellies require currents for locomotion. In public aquariums, there is a complex system for water flow, with precise inflow and outflow.

Sea Gooseberry Jelly

According to World Atlas, there are more than 2,000 species of jellyfish in the world, and it is thought that there are over 300,000 species yet to be discovered.

The sea nettles and purple-striped jellies photographed here are found along California’s Pacific coast. They are highly efficient in their movement, using muscles in their umbrella-shaped bell to propel; this is also where the mouth and digestive system exist.

Purple-striped Jelly pair

Tentacles are the long stringy body parts, and have stinging cells, or nematocysts, that sting their prey. The “arms” are frilly extensions, and move the prey to the mouth.

Jellyfish anatomy. Courtesy Wikipedia.

It is a marvelous experience to observe this exhibit…mesmerizing. A dark room with colorful, glowing cases filled with exotic sea jellies. Soft music accompanies as we watch the jellies rhythmically pulse and propel throughout the illuminated tanks.

Jelly Live Web Cam at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

But . . . if you have ever been stung by a jellyfish, and I have, you don’t forget the sting, no matter how attractive and enticing the jellies appear.

The first time, Athena and I were snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef when we came upon eight or ten sea turtles in one small area. Usually you see one or two turtles, but here we were thrilled to find so many.

When we swam respectfully near, we found ourselves in massive clouds of sea jellies. Each jellyfish was the size of a large coin, and there were thousands. The turtles, we realized too late, were there to eat the jellyfish.

Stung instantly and by the dozens, we shot out of that cloud like rockets. Came to the surface, stunned. Even so, we both laughed then and there, because the experience was so atrociously the opposite of what we had expected.

Within 24 hours the bites had disappeared; and thereafter underwater garments were purchased.

Most jellyfish stings are not deadly, but a few species can produce stings fatal to humans.

Usually I prefer seeing creatures in the wild, over observing them in an exhibit. But in the case of sea jellies, I think these other-worldly and sting-free exhibits are just the ticket.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexander.

Black Sea Nettles

Camera Obscura on Wheels

September 27, 2019 / Jet Eliot / 76 Comments

Camera Obscura Front View

I found another Camera Obscura this past summer. We were driving down Highway 1 and happened to see it beside the road. Stopped the car immediately. I never miss an opportunity to steal away from the real world and escape into a Camera Obscura.

This one is a mobile unit, and was parked at Russian House #1, a restaurant where the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River meet in Jenner, California.

From the outside it looks like a psychedelic tool-shed. The inside is small, but has all the essential ingredients: completely dark with a parabolic screen, a tiny ray of light, and the rotating lens and mirror on top. I found it charming and curious, and appreciated the ingenuity it took to build it. It rests sturdily on a small flatbed trailer, with steps built for visitors.

Camera Obscura Side View

Camera Obscura Lens

Camera Obscura means “dark chamber” in Latin. They date back centuries; and are the original idea behind the pinhole camera, where light passes through a pinhole and provides an inverted image in a dark chamber.

The oval photos are what we saw from the inside of the unit. These are real time images, as reflected by the lens onto the oval concave screen.

Camera Obscura Screen Photo of Russian River and Bridge

And this is the wheel, inside, that you turn, moving the lens for 360 degree views.

Crank for Turning Outside Lens

As we hand-cranked the lens, the Russian River, bridge with passing cars, and restaurant appeared on the screen.

There are 23 public Camera Obscuras listed as existing in the world today. In addition, there are private ones. This one we came upon is both. The owner, Chris de Monterey, built it and owns it; he transports it and shares it with the public.

Camera Obscuras date back to the 5th Century, B.C. Over the centuries, scientists, scholars, and artists studied the phenomenon. By the 18th century, it had become a resource for education and entertainment. Then photography pioneers built portable Camera Obscuras, and the camera was born.

As portable cameras became popular, the Camera Obscuras fell out of fashion, and most were demolished. Fortunately there are still some in the world.

Camera Obscura Wikipedia — including the list of Camera Obscuras with public access.

In San Francisco there is a Camera Obscura: The Giant Camera, on Ocean Beach behind the Cliff House. It was built in 1946 and is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

I’ve been here dozens of times, and taken many loved ones here as well.

I wrote about it in a previous post: Camera Obscura San Francisco.

San Francisco Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura, San Francisco

I have seen another one at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, but it’s always been closed when I’ve gone there. The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles also has one; there are about two dozen open to the public around the world. A list of their locations is provided in the Wikipedia link above.

Today we all walk around, rather cavalierly, with a telephone/computer/camera in our back pocket.

I suppose one day our back-pocket-phone devices will become quaint antiques, too.

But for now, we can take pleasure in all the different versions of any sized device that records the beauty and magic of our surroundings.

Written by Jet Eliot.

Photos by Athena Alexanader.

More info:

The Magic Mirror of Life, a website about the world’s Camera Obscuras by Jack and Beverly Wilgus.