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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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Duncan Murrell - A Whale of a Time

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  • Wet meadow with rusty menzesia and moss and lichen festooned dwarf trees, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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I loved taking photos during the extended periods of Alaskan twilight when the colours deepened, and the lighter, pastel shades of green of the moss, lichens and the rusty menzesia shrub visible in this photo, seemed to be left hanging in the encroaching darkness like ethereal wraiths. The stunted trees appeared to be animated by their clothing of lichens and moss dripping from their trunks and branches. They were magical places that seemed to come alive as the light faded.
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  • Muskeg is an acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas, although it is found in other northern climates as well. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, but "muskeg" is the standard term in Western Canada and Alaska, while 'bog' is common elsewhere. The term became common in these areas because it is of Cree origin; maskek meaning low-lying marsh.<br />
Muskeg consists of dead plants in various states of decomposition (as peat), ranging from fairly intact sphagnum moss, to sedge peat, to highly decomposed humus. Pieces of wood can make up five to 15 percent of the peat soil. Muskeg tends to have a water table near the surface. The sphagnum moss forming it can hold 15 to 30 times its own weight in water, allowing the spongy wet muskeg to form on sloping ground.Muskeg forms because permafrost, clay or bedrock prevents water drainage. The water from rain and snow collects, forming permanently waterlogged vegetation and stagnant pools. Muskeg is wet, acidic, and relatively infertile, which prevents large trees from growing, although stunted lodgepole pine, cottonwood, some species of willow, and Black Spruce are typically found in these habitats. It needs two conditions to develop: abundant rain and cool summers. A dead plant that falls on dry soil is normally attacked by bacteria and fungi and quickly rots. If the same plant lands in water or on saturated soil, it decomposes differently. Less oxygen is available under water, so aerobic bacteria and fungi fail to colonize the submerged debris effectively. In addition, cool temperatures retard bacterial and fungal growth. This causes slow decomposition, and thus the plant debris gradually accumulates to form peat and eventually muskeg. Depending on the underlying topography of the land, muskeg can reach depths greater than 30 metres (100 ft).
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  • Sphagnum moss changing colour in autumn with dwarf blueberry, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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The lush, thick, spongy sphagnum bogs became a colourful delight of edible colour during the autumn; I never expected to see moss change to such vivid shades of red and pink, like a soft, spongy dessert beneath my feet.
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  • Sphagnum moss changing colour in autumn with dwarf blueberry, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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The lush, thick, spongy sphagnum bogs became a colourful delight of edible colour during the autumn; I never expected to see moss change to such vivid shades of red and pink, like a soft, spongy dessert beneath my feet. The miniature forest beneath my feet was also resplendent with the vivid colours of other plants, like the burning red stems of this bog blueberry plant.
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  • Many parts of Port Houghton were like a magical fairyland, where only the smallest and lightest of footprints would be permissible to preserve the delicate beauty. It is quite clear from the vegetation that it a particularly wet place that receives maximum amounts of localised rainfall. The trees were the mossiest that I saw anywhere in Southeast Alaska.<br />
Wet meadow with common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium), western hemlock trees (Tsuga heterophylla) festooned with moss and usnea (Usnea longissima), and false azalea (Menziesia ferruginea) and western skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus).
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  • The sphagnum moss is so thick in places in the muskeg, and often beautiful shades of red and pink. Walking on it is like walking on snow because you leave such deep footprints as it springs beneath your feet. I didn't like to leave too many ugly footprints in such a pristine miniaturised environment of dwarf plants. The muskeg always invites closer inspection to discover the variety of berry-producing plants at ground level.
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  • The sphagnum moss is so thick in places in the muskeg, and often beautiful shades of red and pink. Walking on it is like walking on snow because you leave such deep footprints as it springs beneath your feet. I didn't like to leave too many ugly footprints in such a pristine miniaturised environment of dwarf plants. The muskeg always invites closer inspection to discover the variety of berry-producing plants at ground level.
    Alaska-vegetation19.jpg
  • Walking around the muskeg is quite hazardous because there are deep black ponds scattered amongst the strange landscape of stunted trees and shrubs, and mounds of sphagnum moss.
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  • I particularly used to enjoy photographing the lush vegetation at Port Houghton during the extended twilight in the summer. Using a tripod I took very long exposures of more than a minute, and the results were very atmospheric. As the light slowly faded the lighter features of the scene like the pastel green shade of the leaves of the rusty menziesia, and the usnea or old man's beard dripping from the trees, appeared to become luminous and suspended in the encroaching darkness, giving a ghostly life to the stunted trees.
    Alaska-vegetation12.jpg
  • Many parts of Port Houghton were like a magical fairyland, where only the smallest and lightest of footprints would be permissible to preserve the delicate beauty. It is quite clear from the vegetation that it a particularly wet place that receives maximum amounts of localised rainfall. The trees were the mossiest that I saw anywhere in Southeast Alaska. This was my most successful plant entry into the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, reaching the final stage of judging.
    Alaska-vegetation9.jpg
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  • Waterfall and large Alaska cottonwood tree in the autumn, Stikine River, the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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If I wasn’t kayaking at sea looking for humpback whales then the Stikine River was my favourite place to be. What an amazing, breathtaking river that is, that provides a valuable natural highway for wild animals from the interior and opens out onto  a spectacular river delta. When I remember Alaska, it is somewhere that I always return to in my dreams, to feel the vastness of open vistas that Alaska provides.
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  • Wet meadow with Alaska cotton grass and dwarf trees, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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I loved the wet meadows and “muskeg”, sphagnum bogs, at Port Houghton. I was almost afraid to walk across them because they seemed so fragile underfoot. This was a magical place to me where only the soft, gentle, footsteps of fairies could be permissible.
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  • Ponds created by beaver in temperate rain forest, Kadashan River, Chichagof Island, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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The Kadashan River on Chichagof Island, that flows into Tenakee Inlet, was my other favourite place for vegetation, particularly where there are many beaver dams, that serve to open up the forest and allow more light in.
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  • Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) trees festooned with moss and usnea or old man’s beard (Usnea longissima), Tongass National Forest, Southeast Alaska, USA.
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  • Although the temperate rain forest of Southeast Alaska is evergreen there is never any shortage of beautiful autumnal colours in the understory vegetation such as the blueberry bushes and the sphagnum moss and miniature plants of the muskeg.
    Alaska-vegetation13.jpg
  • I always pitched my tent back in the forest where it was sheltered, and there was a thick bed of moss on the forest floor giving me a very comfortable bed. I was always beach-combing looking for either natural treasures like skulls, or flotsam and jetsam that I could use in my camp. One of those items, the yellow bottle crate, accompanied me on many journeys and was useful as a stool and for carrying things. I found the bench back in the forest not far from here. Next to the fire is an old pressure-cooker that I found in the Salvation Army charity shop in Petersburg, and it was an essential part of my cooking gear. I stripped down so it was just metal, and it had a lid that closed and locked rotationally, so I could leave it in the fire without fear of it tipping over. It was solid stainless steel with a copper bottom, so it could take a lot of heat without burning the feed ...too much. Sometimes I had my campfire on the other side of the beach depending on which way the wind was blowing from. It was a great beach for firewood because there was always plenty of driftwood washed up around the point.
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  • Port Houghton is a deep inlet on the mainland just to the north of Petersburg. It was one of my favourite peaceful retreats to find solitude in Southeast Alaska, and to enjoy and photograph the beautiful vegetation. It was my favourite place for vegetation because it has such an array of consummate displays of all the lowland, coastal vegetation habitats: flower meadows bursting with blooms and colours: muskeg resplendent with colour and minute detail, especially in the fall, dotted with inky ponds, and lichen and moss festooned dwarf trees: before the surrounding primary old growth temperate rain forest extends up the flanks of the surrounding mountains. Foraging bears frequent the meadows in the summer or dine on salmon in the rivers in the fall. At the head of the inlet there is a salt chuck  with a rock where harbour seals haul out.
    Alaska-vegetation2.jpg
  • Port Houghton is a deep inlet on the mainland just to the north of Petersburg. It was one of my favourite peaceful retreats to find solitude in Southeast Alaska, and to enjoy and photograph the beautiful vegetation. It was my favourite place for vegetation because it has such an array of consummate displays of all the lowland, coastal vegetation habitats: flower meadows bursting with blooms and colours: muskeg resplendent with colour and minute detail, especially in the fall, dotted with inky ponds, and lichen and moss festooned dwarf trees: before the surrounding primary old growth temperate rain forest extends up the flanks of the surrounding mountains. Foraging bears frequent the meadows in the summer or dine on salmon in the rivers in the fall. At the head of the inlet there is a salt chuck  with a rock where harbour seals haul out.
    Alaska-vegetation1.jpg
  • Apart from ascending An Sgurr, the other essential thing that I had to do during my first time on the Isle of Eigg was to visit the infamous Massacre Cave. During the sixteenth century there was a lengthy feud between the Macleod and MacDonald clans. According to traditional accounts, in 1577 a party of MacLeods staying on the island became too amorous and caused trouble with the local girls. They were subsequently rounded up, bound and cast adrift in The Minch, but were rescued by some clansmen. A party of MacLeods subsequently landed on Eigg with revenge in mind. Their approach had been spotted by the islanders who had hidden in a secret cave called the Cave of Frances (Gaelic: Uamh Fhraing). The entrance to this cave was tiny and covered by moss, undergrowth and a small waterfall. After a thorough but fruitless search lasting for three to five days, the MacLeods set sail again but a MacDonald carelessly climbed onto a promontory to watch their departure and was spotted. The MacLeods returned and were able to follow his footprints back to the cave. They redirected the stream and lit a fire at the entrance so that the cave was filled with smoke thereby asphyxiating everyone inside. Three hundred and ninety five people died in the cave, the whole population of the island bar one old lady who had not sought refuge there. Human remains in the cave were reported to have been found, but by 1854 they had been removed and buried elsewhere.<br />
Massacre Cave sits in the back of a fault-like crevice under a steep rock face near where this photo was taken just around the point south of Galmisdale. It was one of the most eerie places that I have ever visited, and as I crawled along the very low claustrophobic passage into the cave my imagination was vividly reconstructing the horrific event from many centuries ago. I had to crawl for about 7 metres before it opened out into a larger chamber where it was impossible not to feel their presence, and to hear their choking and screams
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  • Flower meadow bordering a river, Port Houghton inlet on the mainland, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
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As a keen gardener and amateur botanist Port Houghton was my Shangri-la. It is a very deep inlet and it ends with a salt chuck surrounded by high mountains. On one side there is a river that goes directly into the tidal inlet, as can be seen in this photo. Between the river and the salt chuck there are beautiful, colourful, flower meadows and closer to the forest there are extensive patches of richly vegetated “muskeg”, sphagnum bogs, dotted with dwarf trees heavily festooned with moss and lichens. It was like a botanical garden that had beautiful features of all facets of the rich vegetation of Southeast Alaska. Because the rainfall there was so high and the conditions usually overcast, the colours always seemed to be particularly saturated and resplendent so that the red of the Indian paint brushes literally seemed like wet paint that had just been applied to them.
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  • Walking around the muskeg is quite hazardous because there are deep black ponds often vegetated with water plants like this great yellow pond-lily scattered amongst the strange landscape of stunted trees and shrubs, and mounds of sphagnum moss.
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