#chatham

Wild Places and Wild Things: 2016 in Review

John J King II

Dec 9, 2016
1 min

Wild Places and Wild Things: 2016 in Review

Autumn is in full swing here on the elbow of Cape Cod and it is a time for transition for most observers of the marine natural world in this parts. Ocean and air temperatures are slowly cooling and easterly storms are more frequent. And the boats have now been hauled and stored for the long winter season. They will not see the water again for 6 months! Yikes that seems like a long time. Thus we are turning our attention to enjoying all that one can from a perch on land - wate

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Summer - Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the Atlantic White Shark Conse

John J King II

Aug 24, 2016
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Summer - Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge and the Atlantic White Shark Conse

Summer is a siren that woos us on Cape Cod each year here into a state of contentment with warm breezes and sunny days and spectacular natural history in our maritime environment. Summer 2016 has been no exception though it seems to be passing at an ever accelerating rate as we age. As in the previous two years we have been engaged in supporting the white shark research ongoing in outer Cape Cod waters conducted by Dr. Greg Skomal and John Chisholm with the dedicated support

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Winter Approaches

John J King II

Oct 21, 2015
2 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Winter Approaches

Our work with the Massachusetts White Shark population study is winding down with only a couple of weeks to go to the end of the field season. The air and water temperatures are dropping and with the onset of autumn the weather in New England has added some drama to our trips when we can get out. The work continues to be exciting as we have observed changes in the shark behavior and especially in the size of the sharks that are in the area. Larger sharks, both male and female

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John J King II

Jul 12, 2015
1 min

Close Encounters of the Shark Kind II

Heartfelt thanks to the Nickerson Art Gallery in Chatham, to all those who turned out for our reception last night and to those of you who visited our show during the past Shark Week! Very pleased to say that most of the images are going to great homes around the country spreading some shark love. For those who could not make it to Chatham, here is the line up of images including two limited edition posters that are being exhibited. The show closes today. #CapeCod #chatham #c

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Close Encounters of the Shark Kind: An exhibit of original photographs

John J King II

Jul 3, 2015
1 min

Close Encounters of the Shark Kind: An exhibit of original photographs

With Discovery Channel's Shark Week fast approaching, the adrenaline in this household is starting to increase with anticipation as it has every year at this time in recent memory. And now imagine our thrill at having the honor to be a (small) part of this year's lead show for the Shark Week line up, titled Shark Trek featuring our very own Dr. Greg Skomal and his important shark research being conducted right in outer Cape Cod waters. In honor of the weeks' coming events we

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Spring on the Water

John J King II

Jun 19, 2015
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Spring on the Water

On the outer Cape as most Cape Codders know, spring comes later than on the mainland. Sea temperatures are cool from the long winter and warming comes very slowly. Notice the deep blue color on the image below indicating water temps in the 40s F. This "tongue" of cold water has occurred each of the past three years that we have been looking and others have told us they have seen it regularly here in the spring. As you can see the northern tip of it touches the area just south

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Chasing the Last Dragons

John J King II

Sep 20, 2014
3 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Chasing the Last Dragons

A large male tagged earlier in the season is called Chex (nicknamed Darth Vader by the DMF Team). He is riddled with battle scars indicating that he is likely the dominant male white shark in the Chatham/Orleans habitat this summer season. The tag is visible in this image behind the dorsal fin. I read a recent article in National Geographic Traveler about cage diving with white sharks in the Neptune Islands in South Australia. Local eco-tour operator Andrew Fox describes the

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John J King II

May 27, 2014
2 min

Cetaceans on the Outer Cape

The month of May is fast moving to a close and the spring migration continues to be an adventure. Launching our boat , Aleutian Dream into the water this past weekend finally enabled us to get out in the Atlantic and off shore to investigate reports of massive schools of sand eels and voraciously feeding Humpback Whales. We were joined by friend Ted Cheeseman a Conservation Biologist and whale naturalist visiting from California and scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic In

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John J King II

Feb 12, 2014
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Winter 2014

We are still sifting through the images and savoring the experience of our recent trek down Sandy Neck here on a frozen Cape Cod but this has not stopped us from continuing to get outside in the frigid but beautiful winter landscapes here to find the wild things. The weather is forecast to change and warmer temperatures with lots of rain and wind are expected shortly....so we thought we would post some of the images we have recorded in the past week including a host of beauti

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Winter-Barrier Beaches #3

John J King II

Jan 28, 2014
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Winter-Barrier Beaches #3

This is the third post highlighting our walks on the barrier beaches on the Cape in the month of January. Still in search of up close and impressive images of the Snowy Owl visitors we venture onto Harding's Beach in Chatham in the late afternoon to investigate. As those who follow this blog know even if your prime objective is elusive there is always something interesting to observe....always. Cutting to the chase - we did not find the owl this day but other visitors caught

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John J King II

Dec 12, 2013
1 min

Green Water…White Death

wild cape cod Third in a series of photographs leveraged to raise awareness, the 2013 poster edition of wild cape cod illustrates a story of predation and power. Taken a few moments after a failed attack, this photograph captures a great white shark as she circles back for another strike at a one of the area's many seals. Poster is 22" x 28" and printed on high quality photographic paper suitable for framing Cost $50.00 signed and dated All proceeds will be used to support Ca

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John J King II

Nov 14, 2013
1 min

Transitions of the Season

It is that time of year when the NE Gales start to become more frequent and the temperatures drop toward the freezing mark. Our boat Aleutian Dream has been in the water here on Cape Cod for over 6 months and the time has come to haul it for the winter season. It is always hard to give up the chance to be on the water in a moments notice. Here are some additional unforgettable images from our last adventure a week ago out with the humpbacks off Chatham Inlet. But even as the

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John J King II

Nov 6, 2013
1 min

Offshore with the Humpbacks

The blessings of our mild and beautiful autumn weather continue to flow as we have been able to keep our boats in the water and in the past few days venture outside into the Atlantic Ocean to observe various life forms returning to our waters including rafts of common eiders and white winged scoters as well as a host of gannets and other pelagic seabirds which are in the area before returning to their winter waters in the South Atlantic. The biggest bonus of the fall season h

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John J King II

Oct 27, 2013
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Autumn

We are down to the last few days of our beloved "Septober" season and the changes toward winter have been signaled by the return of waterfowl from the arctic and our shortening days. One beautiful bonus however. We are enjoying the characteristic golden "light" at the beginning and end of each day which highlight the splendor of autumn color here. Outer Beach, Chatham #Chatham #waterfowl #wildlifeencounters

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Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Atlantic White Sharks

John J King II

Oct 13, 2013
3 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Atlantic White Sharks

The Cape Cod fall has been spectacular especially in this month of October. The weather has been largely sunny, temperatures have been mild and the strong storms with easterly winds have held off. With the Massachusetts Shark Research effort under the direction of Dr. Greg Skomal winding down and all tagging efforts complete for the 2013 season we decided to take advantage of a beautiful sunny day and get up in the air with veteran pilot and fish spotter Norman St. Pierre of

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John J King II

Oct 5, 2013
2 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook: Autumn

The beauty of this time of year on Cape Cod is exemplified by the diversity of observations that one can have in a short period of time given migration and weather patterns of the season. The following sightings all occurred within the past week in the mid Cape region and waters. The red tailed hawk below was astounding in its concentration as it lifted off from its perch and kept focus while generating lift in the most beautiful way. The shorebird southerly migration is slow

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John J King II

Sep 19, 2013
1 min

Wild Cape Cod Notebook

As summer days turn into autumn here on Cape Cod the beautiful "Septober" environment blesses locals who get to celebrate the close of the hectic summer's passing. Mild temperatures, incredible color and the fall migration are just some of the treats we enjoy when home in Chatham. Check out these images we recorded on a flight to observe our home town from the air. We were reminded how special Cape Cod is...especially at this time of year. #chatham #shorebirds #thecommonflat

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John J King II

Sep 2, 2013
1 min

Expedition Cape Cod Concludes

If you have followed this page you are aware that M/V Ocearch has been in Cape Cod waters for the past month supporting a consortium of shark researchers in their quest to study the mysterious Atlantic white shark. The team was strong and had able leadership spending literally hundreds of hours on the water, sometimes in very challenging conditions, looking for these elusive visitors. The team reported seeing about 20 different white sharks from their platform but were succes

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John J King II

Aug 20, 2013
1 min

Offshore with the Humpbacks

Our good friend Denise Lawrence of Aquatic Adventures - an accomplished naturalist, diver and guide for whale encounters in the Caribbean, came to Cape Cod at our invitation to see her beloved humpbacks in their summer feeding grounds for the first time. Having been traveling in South Africa the pressure was on to quickly locate whales and hope for good weather to get out to see them. With a little bit of research and some good luck we were able to get on the whales about 22

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John J King II

Apr 26, 2013
2 min

A Midnight Memory of Wooden Ships

A chance conversation with Brad Pease, master craftsman an co-owner of Pease Boat Works in Chatham, gave me a heads up that they planned to haul the beautiful schooner Tyrone on the spring high tide. As she is quite large for their yard and a full moon, clear sky was promised we scrambled to witness the event. And it was the perfect way to usher in the beginning of my 62nd year on the planet. The evening was cool and with the wind calm everything went according to plan. If yo

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