Argos

Another image from our trip to Alaska — this one from an unusual perspective:

Some people have asked me how I got this view looking down on a seagull in flight, high above the ocean waves. The answer’s easy…

I’m really, really tall.

Seriously, though, this is an excellent case of the old saw that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. On the last day of our cruise, we were supposed to pull into Victoria, BC for a little shore time (including the Butchart Gardens, all lit up at night). The weather was uncooperative, though — a steady 45 knot wind meant that our cruise liner behaved much like a very long sail, and we couldn’t safely make it in to the docks.

So the ship set anchor outside of the harbor, and all of us passengers tried to find ways to kill a little time. Having my full compliment of camera gear with me for the trip, I figured I’d take some pictures of the shoreline. But then a few locals happened along — namely, 4 seagulls. Since the ship was pointed into the wind, they could essentially hover next to the ship, only having to move their wings once in a while. It didn’t take long to figure out why they did this — pretty soon people were tossing out chunks of bread, and of course the moochers stayed around as long as the bread held out.

I took a few dozen pictures of our feathered friends; this is one of the better ones (I’ll be posting other good ones in the future…). Here one of the gulls is on station about 30 feet from our balcony, hoping for a handout (and likely wondering what that shiny black blob in my hands would taste like).

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