365 Project, Day 118
Here is my day 118 submission to my 365Project:
We've been seeing many of what we call 'grass islands' drifting around out here lately. Apparently, they wash out of the Congo River, into the sea and then drift with the currents. Though there isn't normally much more than the vegetation (and garbage...more on this later!) in these grass islands I usually snap a photo to later zoom in and see what else might be in and around them. You just never know what fish or unique pieces of garbage might end up in this micro-ecosystem.
Today as I was photographing this particular grass island I noticed something white in among the grass...and when I got a better look through my binoculars I realized it was a cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) floating along on top of the island. It eventually drifted passed us and, much to my delight, we got a good look at it looking up at us holding a crab in it's mouth!
So, my sighting of the day was a lone cattle egret, floating on a grass island, about 35 miles offshore Angola, eating a crab for breakfast! It was such a neat sighting :)
Fact of the day:
This is not such a fun fact (hence the reason I'm not calling it the 'fun' fact of the day) but I think it's very important anyways. Ocean garbage, especially plastics, is becoming a huge problem globally and here are just a few facts from PlasticOceans.net webpage:
The following are more photos of the egret on it's island, my best shots of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) yet (finally!) and a unique commute to work:
We've been seeing many of what we call 'grass islands' drifting around out here lately. Apparently, they wash out of the Congo River, into the sea and then drift with the currents. Though there isn't normally much more than the vegetation (and garbage...more on this later!) in these grass islands I usually snap a photo to later zoom in and see what else might be in and around them. You just never know what fish or unique pieces of garbage might end up in this micro-ecosystem.
Today as I was photographing this particular grass island I noticed something white in among the grass...and when I got a better look through my binoculars I realized it was a cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) floating along on top of the island. It eventually drifted passed us and, much to my delight, we got a good look at it looking up at us holding a crab in it's mouth!
So, my sighting of the day was a lone cattle egret, floating on a grass island, about 35 miles offshore Angola, eating a crab for breakfast! It was such a neat sighting :)
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) on a grass island, crab in mouth. Unfortunately, this guy's little island didn't just contain food but an awful lot of garbage :( |
Fact of the day:
This is not such a fun fact (hence the reason I'm not calling it the 'fun' fact of the day) but I think it's very important anyways. Ocean garbage, especially plastics, is becoming a huge problem globally and here are just a few facts from PlasticOceans.net webpage:
- "We have produced more plastic in the last 10 years than we did in the whole of the last century..."
- "The amount of plastic being produced is using vast amounts of oil reserves"
- "Almost half of the plastic we use is used just once and then thrown away" (a personal pet peeve of mine!).
The problem is that there is no "away" and these plastics are having a huge impact on the environment...on wildlife and us! Seabirds and marine mammals are starving to death from plastics. Seabirds consume large amounts of tiny pieces of plastic, which fills their guts making it impossible to consume and digest real food (read more about it here). Marine mammals, such as sperm whales, can eat plastics (especially plastic bags) which will also fill their stomachs causing starvation, lead to gastric rupture and eventually death (read more at this plasticsoupfoundation.org link).
To learn more about plastic in the ocean check out these webpages:
- Plastic Oceans - PlasticOceans.net
- Article on the Atlantic Garbage Patch in Surfer Magazine
- Surfrider Foundation Rise Above Plastics article
- A great Mockumentary in the style of Sir David Attenborough - Life of a Plastic Bag
The following are more photos of the egret on it's island, my best shots of sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) yet (finally!) and a unique commute to work:
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
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| Cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
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| Sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) feeding on something in the water (hopefully not plastic!) |
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| Sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) feeding on something in the water (hopefully not plastic!) |
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| Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) feeding on something in the water (hopefully not plastic!) |
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| Sooty shearwaters (Puffinus griseus) taking off |
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| Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) |
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| Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) |
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| Sooty shearwater (Puffinus griseus) |
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| Crew change day for the guys on Kuito FPSO. I've never seen this in action...doing crew change by crane and basket |
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| The basket is lifted by crane, with the crew hanging on, up to the deck of Kuito |
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| You can just see the guys standing inside the basket |
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