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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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  • During the autumn the cotton tufts of cottongrass are dispersed by the wind and cover the surrounding vegetation like a shaggy dog shedding its fur on furniture.<br />
<br />
Wet meadow with common cottongrass (Eriophorum angustifolium) blowing in the wind in autumn, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.
    Alaska-vegetation19.jpg
  • Skunk cabbage is the definitive plant of the damp Southeast Alaskan terrain. It's large leaves and thick stems can be found anywhere where the ground is saturated enough both inside the forest and outside. Apart from its prominent appearance its distinctive musky smell is a prevalent feature in and around the forest. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 cm or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter. The leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 50–135 cm long and 30–80 cm wide when mature. Its flowers are produced in a spadix contained within a large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe 30–40 cm tall; it is among the first flowers to appear in spring.While some consider the plant to be a weed, its roots are food for bears, who eat it after hibernating as a laxative or cathartic. The plant was used by indigenous people as medicine for burns and injuries, and for food in times of famine, when almost all parts were eaten.Streptopus amplexifolius was used as a food plant by Native Americans in Eastern North America and as a medicine. The plant was referred to by early settlers of Eastern and Western North America as "wild cucumber" and as "scoot berries" for the mildly laxative effects of the berries if they are eaten in excessive quantities.<br />
Twisted stalk or wild cucumber is one of my favourite plants in Southeast. It is a very elegant plant with its ornately arranged lanceolate leaves attached to each kink in the stem. It has delicate little ivory flowers that hang down like fairy's hats.The tender young shoots of this plant were eaten by some aboriginal peoples as a salad green, but most considered the plant and berries poisonous.The shoots are sweet with a cucumber-like flavor. The berries are juicy and sweet, with a watermelon-like flavour. The juice of the berries was used as a soothing treatment for burns by American Indians.
    Alaska-vegetation25.jpg
  • 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).
    Alaska-vegetation17.jpg
  • 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-vegetation18.jpg
  • 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
  • Beavers open up the dark dense forests with their dams and ponds, creating a different habitat for other plants and animals to thrive in.
    Alaska-vegetation20.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation3.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation8.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation32.jpg
  • 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
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation10-2.jpg
  • There are extensive grass meadows at the head of the inlet beyond the mud flats, and then again at the head of the salt chuck. Dotted around the expanse of green grass there are concentrated oases  of plants in bloom like this. One large patch past the salt chuck bristled with a profusion of white bog orchids: more than I have seen anywhere else before.
    Alaska-vegetation11-2.jpg
  • 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.
    Alaska-vegetation22.jpg
  • Skunk cabbage is the definitive plant of the damp Southeast Alaskan terrain. It's large leaves and thick stems can be found anywhere where the ground is saturated enough both inside the forest and outside. Apart from its prominent appearance its distinctive musky smell is a prevalent feature in and around the forest. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 cm or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter. The leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 50–135 cm long and 30–80 cm wide when mature. Its flowers are produced in a spadix contained within a large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe 30–40 cm tall; it is among the first flowers to appear in spring.While some consider the plant to be a weed, its roots are food for bears, who eat it after hibernating as a laxative or cathartic. The plant was used by indigenous people as medicine for burns and injuries, and for food in times of famine, when almost all parts were eaten.
    Alaska-vegetation23.jpg
  • Skunk cabbage is the definitive plant of the damp Southeast Alaskan terrain. It's large leaves and thick stems can be found anywhere where the ground is saturated enough both inside the forest and outside. Apart from its prominent appearance its distinctive musky smell is a prevalent feature in and around the forest. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. The plant grows from rhizomes that measure 30 cm or longer, and 2.5 to 5 cm in diameter. The leaves are the largest of any native plant in the region, 50–135 cm long and 30–80 cm wide when mature. Its flowers are produced in a spadix contained within a large, bright yellow or yellowish green spathe 30–40 cm tall; it is among the first flowers to appear in spring.While some consider the plant to be a weed, its roots are food for bears, who eat it after hibernating as a laxative or cathartic. The plant was used by indigenous people as medicine for burns and injuries, and for food in times of famine, when almost all parts were eaten.
    Alaska-vegetation24.jpg
  • Indian paintbrush is a common plant in coastal areas of Southeast Alaska, and it illuminates a frequently overcast monochrome landscape with its flaming red bracts that surround the flowers. There are many different species that are difficult to identify, and colour variations from red to orange to yellow in Alaska. They are hemiparasitic on grass roots. The plant evokes the Native American legend of a young brave who tried to paint the sunset with his warpaints. Frustrated that he could not match the brilliance of nature, he asked for guidance from the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit gave him paintbrushes laden with the colors he so desired. With these, he painted his masterpiece and left the spent brushes in fields across the landscape.
    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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  • 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
  • Alaska-vegetation29.jpg
  • Palawan-underground-river15.tif
  • This beautiful view is along the cliffs at the southwest end of the island with the offshore skerries and Atlantic Ocean in the distance. I also watched basking sharks from that side of the island and saw some dolphins just offshore. It was one of my favourite palces to watch the fulmars demonstrating their aerial skills. This was the windward side of the island facing the turbulence and swells of the open ocean, and a magnificent location to look down at the waves crashing forcefully against the rocks below. There was the occasional boat that visited the island during the time that I stayed there but most of the time I had it to myself, and it gave me a wonderful feeling of coastal maritime solitude that I have rarely, if ever, experienced in the UK. I could have stayed there for at least another month but there were still other islands to visit and explore on this trip.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland24.jpg
  • Palawan-underground-river13.tif
  • 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
  • Alaska-vegetation30.jpg
  • 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
  • Alaska-vegetation15.jpg
  • I always called this my party picture because the coloured grass reminds me of party poppers or fireworks.
    Alaska-vegetation14.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.<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).
    Alaska-vegetation19-2.jpg
  • Alaska-muskeg-vegetation6.jpg
  • Another view at the southern end of the island. I used to love walking in this direction, down the tussocky slope, with that beautiful seascape before me, and the chain of offshore skerries drawing my eyes out to the distant horizon and beyond. Although I greatly regretted not being able to return to my beloved Southeast Alaska there was more than adequate compensation with views like that, and a reminder that I can find a lot of inspiration from the natural world a lot closer to home.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland23.jpg
  • A sweeping panoramic view at the southern end of the island looking towards a chain of small skerries, that I paddled out to explore. I was camped on the other side of the rocks in the foreground on a grassy ledge overlooking a rocky cove. The cliffs on either side of the last fragment of the island were quite high and very precipitous. This is where I had my next dramatic viewing of basking sharks, because they were swimming very close to the base of the cliff so I was able to look directly down on them, and get a very good impression of their massive size. Once again it was one of those wildlife encounters that is so vividly etched in my memory forever. From my lofty viewpoint I could watch them swimming towards the island and then follow the base of the cliffs as they were feeding.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland22.jpg
  • A patch of wild celery on the northwest side of Isle of Lunga looking northwards towards the offshore skerries.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland19.jpg
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  • Alaska-vegetation32.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.
    Alaska-vegetation21.jpg
  • Borneo-Danum-Valley1.jpg
  • Borneo-Danum-Valley2.tif
  • Palawan-underground-river17.tif
  • Borneo-Danum-Valley3.jpg
  • Palawan-underground-river19.tif
  • This photo clearly illustrates the contrasting morphology of different plants that are adapted to surviving in a harsh of arid environment like the Baja Peninsula; the thick, waxy, prickly epidermis of the cactus contrasting with the amber peeling bark of the torote Colorado tree ( F.Burseracea – Bursera microphylla ).
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California19.jpg
  • I loved the almost anthropomorphic forms of some of the cacti. When you are so used to being around either coniferous or deciduous trees, it’s like being in a botanical dreamland or wonderland with such alien plant forms, and of course many of the cacti are much much bigger than you would expect to find in your local garden centre.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California17.jpg
  • I loved the almost anthropomorphic forms of some of the cacti. When you are so used to being around either coniferous or deciduous trees, it’s like being in a dreamland or wonderland with such alien plant forms, and of course many of the cacti are much much bigger than you would expect to find in your local garden centre.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California15.jpg
  • I loved the almost anthropomorphic forms of some of the cacti. When you are so used to being around either coniferous or deciduous trees, it’s like being in a botanical dreamland or wonderland with such alien plant forms, and of course many of the cacti are much much bigger than you would expect to find in your local garden centre.
    Kayaking- Gulf-of-California16.jpg
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  • Madagascar day gecko  (Phelsuma madagascariensis madagascariensis) is a diurnal subspecies of geckos. It lives on the eastern coast of Madagascar and typically inhabits rainforests and dwells on trees. The Madagascar day gecko feeds on insects and nectar. This lizard is one of the largest living day geckos. It can reach a total length of about 22 cm (8.7 in). The body color is light green or bluish green. The skin between the scales often has a light color. A rust-coloured stripe extends from the nostril to behind the eye. On the back there are brownish or red-brick coloured dots which may form a thin line along the mid back. These geckos do not have eyelids, and they have flattened toe pads.
    Kayaking-Madagascar-reptiles1.tif
  • Puerto-Princesa-festivals13.tif
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  • Palawan-invertebrates4.tif
  • Kayaking-Madagascar-vegetation14.jpg
  • Myanmar-Burma-people-events34.jpg
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  • This is the only reptile or amphibian that I ever encountered in Southeast Alaska. Where there are roads many newly transformed baby toads can be seen hopping across, especially during wet weather.
    Alaska-boreal-toad1.jpg
  • Palawan-underground-river46.tif
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  • Kayaking-Madagascar-vegetation16.jpg
  • Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) growing beside beaver pond, on the mainland just north of Petersburg, Southeast Alaska, USA.
    Alaska-vegetation31.jpg
  • Borneo-Danum-Valley4.jpg
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  • Lunga is the largest island in an archipelago of small islands and skerries that stretches roughly 7 kilometres (4.3 m) called the Treshnish Isles. Lunga is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of its abundant plant life. Many rare and endangered plants are native to the island. Plants include primrose, birdsfoot trefoil, orchids, sea campion, sea thrift, sea pinks, yellow flags, tormentil and the oyster plant. The Treshnish Isles are also designated as a Special Protection Area due to their importance for breeding seabirds such as storm-petrels, kittiwakes, Manx Shearwaters, guillemots, puffins and fulmars. They are also a marine Special Area of Conservation and grey seals can be found there along with basking sharks, as I was pleased to discover. I particularly enjoyed watching the seabirds nesting on the precipitous cliffs, and a dramatic sea stack called the Harp Rock separated from the island by a narrow passage. It was hypnotic to watch the real masters of flight like the kittiwakes and fulmars launching from their precarious nests and soaring in graceful arcs in front of the cliffs and above the rocks and meadows.<br />
Lunga was populated up until the 19th century, and to the NE of the island, and just around the rocks to the right of this photo can be found the ruins of the village, which was abandoned in 1857. I often used to sit in amongst the ruins looking out across the sea dotted with vegetated skerries towards Mull and the mainland wondering what it must have been like to live there. I camped there for a week, and it was a wonderful place to live during the good weather of the short Scottish summer, but I can imagine how challenging it must have been to eke out a subsistence life there in the past.
    New-Scotland17-Edit.jpg
  • Scottish highland cattle. I come from an agricultural county in the UK, Devon, that even has its own particular breed of cows, South Devons, with a reddish brown colour that almost matches the colour of the soil, not dissimilar to the colour of this distinctive Scottish breed, but that is where the similarity ends because they have been bred for climates at opposite ends of the UK weather spectrum. Whereas Devon enjoys the balmiest weather in the country, the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles, where highland cattle were developed, have the shortest summers and most extreme weather conditions in the UK. Highland cattle are known as a hardy breed due to the rugged nature of their native Scottish Highlands, with high rainfall and very strong winds. Breeding stock has been exported to the rest of the world, especially Australia and North America, since the early 20th Century. They have been successfully established in many temperate, and even in countries where winters are substantially colder than Scotland’s such as in central Europe and Canada. Their long hair gives protection during the cold winters, and their ability to find and graze on plants in steep mountain areas, or on plants, which many other cattle avoid helps them to survive. They have become established as one of the most distinctive trademarks of the wildest parts of Scotland, and one of Scotland’s most successful exports.
    Kayaking-West-Coast-Scotland45.jpg
  • “Muskeg” pond, pond in sphagnum bog, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska.<br />
<br />
The “muskeg” or sphagnum bogs were interspersed with black ponds with many water plants. The surrounding sphagnum bogs were are a Lilliputian world of miniaturized plants, like the vivid red of the nagoon berry visible in this photo, that only bears one berry; but it as big, sweet and succulent as a perfect raspberry and was always one of my favourite berries to search for.
    vegetation-8.tif
  • Scottish highland cattle. I come from an agricultural county in the UK, Devon, that even has its own particular breed of cows, South Devons, with a reddish brown colour that almost matches the colour of the soil, not dissimilar to the colour of this distinctive Scottish breed, but that is where the similarity ends because they have been bred for climates at opposite ends of the UK weather spectrum. Whereas Devon enjoys the balmiest weather in the country, the Scottish Highlands and Western Isles, where highland cattle were developed, have the shortest summers and most extreme weather conditions in the UK. Highland cattle are known as a hardy breed due to the rugged nature of their native Scottish Highlands, with high rainfall and very strong winds. Breeding stock has been exported to the rest of the world, especially Australia and North America, since the early 20th Century. They have been successfully established in many temperate, and even in countries where winters are substantially colder than Scotland’s such as in central Europe and Canada. Their long hair gives protection during the cold winters, and their ability to find and graze on plants in steep mountain areas, or on plants, which many other cattle avoid helps them to survive. They have become established as one of the most distinctive trademarks of the wildest parts of Scotland, and one of Scotland’s most successful exports.
    New-Scotland69-Edit.jpg
  • Sphagnum moss changing colour in autumn with dwarf blueberry, Port Houghton, Southeast Alaska, USA.<br />
<br />
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.
    vegetation-4.tif
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