wildlife Archives - Page 16 of 38 -

What We Do Matters

By Simone Lipscomb | April 1, 2016

Recently I came across a book by Boyd Norton entitled, Conservation Photography Handbook: How to Save the World One Photo at at Time. Dr. Jane Goodall endorsed the book saying, “Boyd Norton inspires you to take action with your camera to save wilderness and wildlife everywhere.” His life’s work is impressive and he gives good tips. But it was the title that really grabbed me….How to Save the World One Photo at a Time.

In a time of increased pressure from over-fishing and pollution…noise, plastic, chemicals, excessive nutrients, raw sewerage…the Ocean struggles. All life within it struggles. And with an estimated 70% of the planet’s oxygen produced by phytoplankton, it’s not that much of a stretch to see that all planetary life dependent on oxygen to survive will be negatively impacted if the Ocean systems fail. Plain speak? Human life is in danger as much as any life connected to the sea.

As an Ocean lover, a person dedicated to working for the sea, it’s really difficult to know what to do on a daily basis. The path of science wasn’t my calling. It was the call of the relationship with the salt water and her life that lit the fire of passion within my heart…relationship to beauty and the intense desire to translate this beauty and the emotion it stirs within me to others. How does the life of an artist lend itself to saving whales or manatees or phytoplankton?

Today I submitted images of humpback whale flukes I took in February to the Center for Coastal Studies, an organization that protects whales. They shared with the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog. I was able to share photographs of Reaper, a female humpback, and her calf with these organizations. I found out that Reaper summers in the Gulf of Maine. From metadata on my photographs I could give dates and times seen.

Reaper's calf breaching — *Reaper’s calf breaching*

That might not feel like much of a big deal to some folks but for me, a woman driven nearly insane witnessing the struggles all life faces due to human carelessness, this was a big deal. It felt as if my work adds to the efforts of these scientists who work to protect whales. It felt like something I did mattered.

Grocery list and notes about whale photos...my desk is a creative cauldron — *Grocery list and notes about whale photos…my desk is a creative cauldron*

One of my yoga teachers shared a Jack Kornfield quote with me recently. “It is not given to us to know how our life will affect the world. What is given to us is to tend the intentions of our heart and to plant beautiful seeds with our deeds. Do not doubt that your good actions will bear fruit, and that change for the better can be born from your life. May our actions be a product of our wisdom and compassion even when the immediate result is uncertain or not visible.”

It’s nice when those good intentions of the heart find a home, make a difference.

When I helped organize the rescue of Magnolia, our wayward Alabama manatee, it showed me what a few people can do to create a crowd of folks willing to help. Following her story from rescue, through rehab at Sea World Orlando, to release at Three Sisters Springs was an experience that changed my life and encouraged me to keep doing the work of my heart.

Everyone isn’t called to the Ocean to swim with whales or manatees or sharks. Some may find their heart’s work in schools or in inner cities, working as a nurse or physician, a computer programmer, a scientist….or by sharing music, painting, prose and poetry with the world. Each of us brings a special gift by simply opening our hearts and following our passion. We create a kaleidoscope of beauty, each bit of it necessary for healing and wholeness.

What we do matters.

It Begins with Me

By Simone Lipscomb | March 18, 2016

It’s difficult to avoid learning of the many assaults to our planet and all life here. It’s possible if the news is avoided, social media is turned off and conversations with friends and family are kept to polite subjects such as the weather. But even that conversation leads to climate change eventually.

I don’t watch the news and haven’t had ‘regular’ television for four years. I haven’t missed it. But the news still finds its way into my life via an NPR app and posts on social media. Being involved in conservation organizations information is passed along about injured or dead sea turtles, dolphins, manatees, birds. And who hasn’t seen the repulsive trophy hunting photographs or those of abused animals? It gets overwhelming and so often I feel anger flare within me.

Photograph Summer 2010...Shell Oil — *Photograph Summer 2010…’Shell Oil’*

While documenting the Gulf Oil Spill for a year I remember people on Long Island getting upset about potential wind towers offshore. The ghastly wind towers spoiling their view…yes, I thought of their protests as I stood on the beaches of Alabama with my eyes and throat burning from the smell of crude oil and dispersant washed ashore. As sea gulls feet were coated and burning with the sludge and fish were dying in tidal pools, those protestors words echoed in my mind and fueled the rage I felt at what humans were (are) doing to the planet and each other.

It took attending a week-long retreat with Joanna Macy and thirty other environmental activists for me to come back to myself. We grieved together, celebrated together and learned how to care for our planet without going completely stark raving mad.

Peace finally came to me one day when I imagined walking into a BP board meeting, looking at each person around the table and seeing them as my brothers and sisters instead of bastards. It took a while to get there but I got there.

Photograph I took Summer 2010. It reminds me of a woman's body and so I call it the Rape of Mother Earth — *Photograph I took Summer 2010. It reminds me of a woman’s body and so I call it the Rape of Mother* *Earth*

The essential difficulty we face is blaming our ills on others. Whether its pollution, violence, clear cutting, over-fishing, disregard for life….and the endless list continues…when we see ourselves as separate we immediately create the energy of separation and pretend we don’t drive cars, fly in jets, turn on light switches in our homes, eat food brought from across the country, elect corrupt politicians. Nothing is ever solved from this stance, this snobbery.

The dilemma I face every day is this: How do I practice love and compassion toward people who destroy the planet with no thought for anything but greed and the love of power…..while knowing that we are One. This is the growing edge upon which I dance. The only answer I have found? It begins with me. It begins with you. It begins with each of us taking personal responsibility for our thoughts and actions….and knowing we cannot control anyone else. Personal responsibility without attachment to an outcome. Not an easy task. I take a lot of deep breaths.

*Our community of Magnolia Springs came together Jan 1, 2015 to aid in the rescue of manatees that were cold-stressed and ill. WE ARE ONE!*

It becomes a daily practice of finding stillness within, being non-violent with myself and making choices that back up what I find important…volunteering for manatees, sea turtles, environmental education, watershed protection, non-violent solutions, photographing beauty, writing passionately. You might volunteer to build houses for homeless families or work at a food bank. My other friend might volunteer to do eye surgeries on those who can’t afford it. Perhaps another friend fosters dogs and cats. Maybe someone else reads to children. It’s not that we have to all do the same efforts but that in our unique callings, we create a blanket of love and light. We strengthen the bond of brotherhood and sisterhood with all life.

When we begin to realize the truth of unity, we can release the blinders of fear that causes us to think we are separate from all life.

Countdown to Joy

By Simone Lipscomb | March 17, 2016

The next adventure is booked and already I heard spotted dolphins whistling and sharks gnashing their teeth. I had been putting the question out there, into the Void, “Where is my next adventure?” Just Monday I had posed the question out loud in query. The echo came rather quickly. A friend messaged me yesterday reminding me of an upcoming trip to Bimini and when I looked at the description and itinerary I felt immediate joy. YES!

Each of us gets lost in our own inner process as we prepare to enter the water.

Years ago, while in undergraduate school studying outdoor recreation, I learned that much of the satisfaction of a vacation or adventure comes from the moment a person begins planning it. The anticipation of the trip is where much pleasure is generated, not just the experience itself. I jumped into planning the logistics of the Bimini quickly and found everything coming together effortlessly.

Arranging flights was easy. Frequent flyer miles purchased the US portion of the flight and with each successful step of negotiating the details, excitement grew and joy began bouncing around within my mind and heart.

Spotted dolphins….every day. Sharks and baby shark encounters….oh, my gosh! Could anything be cuter than baby sharks? All those teeth in munchkin size bodies. (Sigh).

I realized today, after chatting with a friend who decided just this morning to go along, that too often we put off feeling joy. We don’t have to have an awesomely cool photography trip (or whatever makes you happy) on the horizon to get the internal joy juices flowing…every day we have the opportunity to be present with joy.

A little buddy checking out my permit vest in Crystal River NWR. — *A ‘selfie’ with a little buddy checking out my permit vest in Crystal River NWR.*

There’s no need to postpone joy or start a countdown to it. Every moment we can find joy…in spring birdsong, rainy days, sunny days, flowers bursting forth with wild colors. Or dreaming about our next adventure. I propose that we put ourselves on the fast track to joy by finding one thing each day (at a minimum) in which to celebrate and connect with our beautiful, open hearts. Who’s in?

Epilogue–Humpback Whale Adventure Part VI

By Simone Lipscomb | March 4, 2016

Friday--The last pre-dawn yoga morning at the Silver Bank reef and the moon and stars and sea met me as I stepped onto the deck. The wind had calmed from yesterday’s blow so the boat wasn’t rocking as much.

As I was facing the port side of the boat doing a wide squat pose I noticed a white mist illuminated by the nearly full moon. I removed an ear bud and heard an exhale very close to the boat. I held my pose, listened, looked and white mist blew again as the whale exhaled. As if a whale coming to the ship while I was doing my final yoga practice wasn’t enough, a shooting star arched across the sky…over the whale. (You cannot make this stuff up…things like this happen out here, 92 miles off the shore amid humpback magical dreamland).

In that moment of perfect timing I knew that everything in my life is completely in sync. The whale and shooting star reminded me of the impeccable timing of life’s journey when a person surrenders to it.

Another favorite image.... — *Another favorite image….*

It seems as everything conspires to rise up and meet the seeker when the time is right.

I closed with a final dedication to my life’s work and felt the violet flame of spiritual transformation engulf me as whales breathed and moved very close to the boat. It felt as if I was being initiated into the next step in my life.

Afterwards I went up to the flying bridge and did my morning dance to the sun and experienced unbounded joy and love pouring to the Ocean, whales and all creatures who call the sea their home.

Then it was time to head back to land. After getting underway we saw the remains of the sailboat that had hit a reef the day before during the storm. Our ship approached to open hatches in an effort to encourage a final sinking. It is a serious navigation hazard to any craft that plies these waters, especially at night.

Notice the whales in the background...they watched the entire procedure. — *Notice the whales in the background…they watched the entire procedure.*

While the crew surveyed the wreck a group of whales approached and watched with curiosity. They spy hopped, surfed with their heads out of water, and finally when the dingy had been recovered and the hatches opened, breached and fin-slapped with exuberance. There was no doubt they heard the noise and came to investigate. During the initial sinking of the craft, the mayday message said the four crew members were surrounded by whales. Obviously the whales were still following ‘the story.’

The biggest take-away from the week, besides the amazing spiritual communion, is the absolute fact that whales are sentient, aware, caring individuals who think and behave in highly functional ways. Again I am reminded of the arrogance of humanity to assume we have a monopoly on intelligence or that we’re at the top.

*Juvenile practicing her fin slapping. Notice her eye watching the surroundings.*

Whales watched the entire sailboat wreck operation. They watched us eat and hang out on the motherships. Sometimes a mother and calf would find one of our boats and settle under it, inviting an encounter. The whale that blew her breath onto the boat at the most heart-felt moment of the interview….the whale that came to the boat as I was doing my final yoga practice and stayed during my dedication…the singer that hovered beneath our ship to sing us to sleep….the mothers caring for their young with incredible tenderness…the mother’s coaching their young on tail lobs, fin slaps and breaches…

*Perhaps my favorite underwater image of the experience*

There is the temptation, after a peak experience in life, to try and stay in that glow of Divine perfection and stay ‘there’ in those precious moments. However, these times in our lives are meant to be spring-boards for us, to catapult us to greater expressions of our highest self. These wondrous moments are instrumental in helping us move forward, to gain momentum in our journey and inspire us to step more fully into the clearest expression of love we can be. At least that’s my take on it.

What Great Mystery fills my heart and mind and causes me to wonder so. You draw me to you like a magnet–heart to heart, mind to mind—Brother, Sister….we are One.

*****

Part I–Begin at the Beginning

Part II–Meditating with Whales

Part III–Tender & Gentle

Part IV–Whale Relationships

Part V–Stormy Day

Stormy Day–Humpback Adventure Part V

By Simone Lipscomb | March 3, 2016

Clouds and wind yoga instead of moon, stars and sea yoga this morning. During my practice I kept wondering how I would find this amazing connection to Mother Ocean once I was land-bound and no longer held in her liquid embrace. I felt fearful and lost as I opened to the day. Being so far removed from land brings me great peace, even on a stormy morning but I wondered how I would integrate back into every-day life.

About the time I was doing my much-modified yoga on deck due to rough water, a mayday call was going out from a 32 foot catamaran 12 miles from our mooring. Due to rough seas and being anchored within the protection of the coral heads, none of the boats in our area could respond but a Carnival cruise ship did and the US Coast Guard from Puerto Rico. More on this story during the Epilogue entry tomorrow.

Considering the rough sea conditions I expected we wouldn’t be able to take the small boats out to look for whales on our last day and that my dream of being in the water with a singing whale wouldn’t come to pass. As I walked down stairs to the dining area someone asked if I had heard the singer through the ship during the night. Was that after I put in my earplugs?

Actually I did hear something through the wall but wasn’t sure what it was so I popped in my sound-deadening earplugs and went to sleep. On some level I hope the singing vibrating through the hull of the boat worked some magic within me. I felt like a kid left out of the playground fun.

We didn’t go out for our morning session with the whales but the wind was supposed to die down later in the day. We had the morning free so I reflected on the week. The tour operator says to always take your camera underwater, even if it looks like crappy viz and like the whales aren’t interested in interacting. This trip proved him to be right. The two times I left my camera on the boat were the two times babies decided to come within ten feet of our group. I do have the blissful babies face imprinted in my heart and mind; however, it would be nice to have taken one of those opportunities for photographing the amazing moment. On the second encounter, the baby rolled and played within feet of us….okay Tom, you are right.

During our morning downtime one of my trip mates was interviewing me on video about sustainability and business. At the very end she asked me this question: If I was in a corporate board room with executives, what would I want to say to them. I was speaking from my heart about wanting to tell them to care deeply for the planet when a whale exhaled at the side of our big boat right where we were sitting. I felt a rush of whale mind reach out to my mind and I knew that the connection they have with us is powerful and strong….and more than we can ever even imagine. During the interview I jumped up and shouted….”There’s a WHALE right here!”

My answer to the question? Please work toward building a sustainable economy, not one based on more and more profit. I want them to work toward moving from a profit-at-any-cost mentality to one of respect and balance with planetary resources. Obviously the whales liked my answer for they started circling the boat as I was responding. I added, “The most important thing to remember is that we are a part of nature. Thinking we can take and take and take and not give back is guarantying a grim future for all life on our planet. We are a part of that which we protect…or destroy.”

The afternoon whale watching presented no opportunities for in-water encounters but we did see some spotted dolphins. Compared to the whales, they are like attention deficit, wild kids. We encountered a group of three large whales that were not exactly a rowdy group but a laid back group swimming in a very large circle. We were able to observe them for a nice while before heading back to the mother ship.

Mother fin-slapping while baby watches from her side

What I have learned on this trip in a nutshell: 1) Whales choose when they want to interact with humans (or not interact). Period. 2) They connect with humans that are open to it via some mysterious channel. More than once this week they would suddenly appear when something powerful was happening with me….especially the interview and during the last morning’s yoga (in the Epilogue entry tomorrow). 3) The mothers and babies have the most beautiful relationship of any beings I have ever known, including humans. Perhaps because they don’t have ‘speech’ as we know it, it’s so powerful. They use touch and who knows what else to communicate. 4) My life’s work is directly tied to the Sea and to Her I am dedicated.

This was my last entry for the day: “I’m sitting on the sundeck watching whales blow and leap. They are moving closer to the large boats and the tethered tenders. All across the vast sea, golden white mist erupts from the surface. Small bursts where the Ocean breathes through massive bodies of humpback whales. I feel the Ocean Mother rise up through me as well to tell the stories, to share the Mysteries as they are unveiled, revealed to me. The requirement of me is to be open….available. To return to my life with renewed dedication.”

Part I-Begin at the Beginning

Part II-Meditating with Whales

Part III-Tender & Gentle

Part IV-Whale Relationships