Check the second video and observe the hunting technique. Look at how the orcas use their tail to stun fish (you should hear the noise of the tail hitting fish). I knew about it, but this is really easy to observe here.

Nick Brandt, famous wildlife photographer, wanted to render this fact more visible showing the conflict through a photo series (titled “This Empty World” – as it would be without wildlife) where it created superb photo compositions mixing animals and human industrial contexts.

Those are not photographs of these encounters, but pictures assembled on a computer. But these images speak louder than words. And they tell the underlying reality in a spectacular way.

• A scientific research vessel from Russia reconverted into an expedition ship, Akademik Ioffe,
• a few tens of passangers,
• a staff of more than twenty people (zodiac pilotes as well as polar bear scientist from the San Diego zoo),
• a trip bringing us from Iqaluit (South of Baffin Island) to Resolute Bay (base camp for many North Pole expeditions),
• for:
  • wildlife observation,
  • encounters with the Inuit culture and people,
  • discovery of the history of Arctic Canada arctique by the pionneers coming from Europe.

I will publish here some of my best photos from this trip (wildlife is not really dense in the Arctic, but we met many animals: Polar bears, sea birds, seals, musk oxen, whales (both toothed whales and baleen whales), etc.) but I would like to thank the staff right away. The whole staff and crew offered a warm welcome during these 2+ weeks; All stars converged to make this trip memorable.

In the coming days: trip images, to allow you sharing some of the strongest moments we lived through.

this time, the intent is to share Marion Jonchères’ passion for cold, ice, snow and altitude. Here, you will only find extreme sports, high altitude mountaineering, North Pole or South Pole. But this is based on detailed commentaries and spectacular pictures.

I recommend you to go and see Ice-Altitude.com (and don’t hesitate to stop and leave your email to receive her information letter – in French).

Some of the photos shot by Gordon are in the article published in the Daily Mail Online.

So, you’ll find here -day after day- snapshots from the mythical National Parks of this beautiful country:

• Serengeti
• Ngorongoro crater & conservation area
• Seronera

I’ll try to show you some beautiful shots.

I heartfully recommend this mountain photo-sequence or video; I don’t know how to describe it. But I love it.

In some countries (like in Botswana), the protection institutions have included radio chips in the horns of wild animals to -at least- be able to catch quickly any poacher even when they left the National Parks and are in big cities (and this has been the reason for quite some bad surprises to some poachers: Botswana laws lead to 15 years in prison in this case).

The WWF is trying something different: Taking some animals from a location where there are a little more wild animals and moving them to an habitat where they have disappeared. In this case, moving the from South Africa Eastern Cape to Limpopo Province, about 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) away.

This gave photographers a unique occasion to shoot unusual pictures:

Photographs courtesy Green Renaissance/WWF.

Spider attack from Ahmet Ozkan on Vimeo.

‘Monographie des Picidées’ @ Harvard University Library {volumes II + III}.

This is the result of digitization of a reference book from Alfred Malherbe (1804-1866), whose name has even been given to a bird (see one of my photos here). You will find marvelously beautiful engravings presented on Bibliodyssey.

Octopus ballet.

On April 17, 2011, Robert Budnitz, Ed Morse and Tom McKone discussed Japan’s nuclear crisis. I recommend their comments (including the web sites they list in the end of the presentation).

Listed web sites:

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA – United Nations) Japan information updated twice a day
• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
• National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP – USA)
• List of various resources to build yourself a personal opinion on events:
  • Guardian
  • New York Times
• Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS – USA)

The wallpaper is available in various screen sizes:

• 1920 x 1200 pixels
• 1280 x 1024 pixels
• 1024 x 768 pixels

European Hare (Lepus europaeus), Lièvre commun d’Europe.
Photograph shot in 2011 in the Vexin Français.

Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them.

Vexin français.

Precisely one year ago, BP should have followed this excellent advice and checked about the status of the Deepwater Horizon platform before it became an oil spill.

What do you not see?

Via: ScienceBlogs.