Whales in the USA

A friend of mine told me that, being a child, he was aware that a hedgehog is a fantastic creature. And, when he saw a real hedgehog, his world has turned upside down. Something similar happened between me and whales. Intellectually, I knew that they do exist, but I couldn’t believe it in my heart.

Can you imagine an alive creature that has a length as a nine-story building? I’m not exaggerating: the average length of an adult blue whale is 22-27 meters, and in 1926 some bastards caught one that had 33 meters! A blue whale weighs about 150 tonnes - as much as 1800 adult men together, and his heart weighs about 600 kg. They can live without sleep for up to 3 months, hold their breath up to 12 hours and don’t eat for 8 months!

Silent. Dangerous. Magnificent. Meet the Leopard!

🐆 I am an epitome of stealth. I can arise from nowhere and vanish to nothing. I can even snatch a sleeping dog without being detected. And of course, non-sensitive two-legged creatures are able to see me only if I had a nice supper and am too lazy to move from my place. And if they stay windward and their smell and sounds don’t disturb me.

I am a simply perfect creature. I am a strong swimmer and, unlike other cats, I like water. I can run with the speed up to 58 km per hour,  leap 6 meters forward in a single bound, and jump 3 meters straight up. Having feline grace, I am the smallest and strongest from the big cats. Once I was spotted dragging a 100 kilograms young giraffe into the heavy brush to hide it.

Namibia, Cape Cross: the biggest colony of the fur seals

It is a town - not a city, of course, but the place which is the residence of 210,000 inhabitants might be considered as a town, doesn't it? The citizens eat and breed, give birth and die, bleat, bark and enjoy their life.

The noise and especially the smell is out of comments, so you should be a real wildlife admirer to stay there for some time. But if you are, this place is definitely worth to visit. As soon as you come here you will forget about everything, including the 2-3 hours of boring driving by the coastal road.

USA, San Diego: breakfast with cats

From my earliest childhood, I'm a cat admirer, so I didn't find it strange that the first place I've seen in San Diego was the Cat Cafe situated just in a couple of meters from my hotel.

Cats and their human staff was a hospital and unobtrusive: a cup of coffee, a couple of smiles and they leave me alone, gave me an opportunity to relax and observe their life as it was.

USA, San Francisco, Pier 39.

The first thing you gonna hear is "Wow, sea lions!" in all possible languages. And as you the view of the pier would open, you are bound to have the same reaction. Yeah, that's them!

Playing, fighting, sleeping, interacting- and all that without any cages or borders. Going up the stairs on the upper terrace you can find the center which deals with making researches and counting their quantity in the bay at the moment in time. Definitely, this is a unique place to watch those creatures in their natural habitat! 

Borneo, Sepilok: the People of Forest

“I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. 

That is the way of a whole human being.” 

(Abraham Lincoln)

It is told that the eyes are the mirror of the soul...

Of course I knew that, according to with the last scientific researches, the orangutans can experience complex feelings such are love, depression, etc.; that they are able to do a lot of things such are riding a boat or washing clothes, use and make some tools; that they express self-awareness and self- recognition and can solve complex cognitive tasks that previously considered to be possible only for humans.

But when I was looking to the eyes of the alive orangutan, I was seeing not only that. I've seen the intelligence and deep sorrow. I've seen the eyes of the creature which resigned himself with the fact that he is, probably, one of the last representatives of his ancient lineage.

Borneo, Sepilok: The Sun Bear Village

Everyone knows what a panda is, but do you know anything about sun bears?

I heard nothing about them until my visit to the Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, where I saw the sign that attracted my attention. Following the directions, I found a wooden platform from which one can observe a piece of the forest with these cute, little jet-black bears.

They took their name thank to a big pale patch on their chests is reminiscent of the rising sun. They are the smallest and rarest representatives of the bear family, with short tails and extremely long tongues that can reach 25 cm!

The adult male is about 150 cm long and 70 cm high, and the babies weigh just 280–350 g at birth; they are born hairless and blind, and for the first 18 months of their lives, they cannot survive without their mother.

Malta: Indigenous population of the Archipelago

It is believed that Maltese cats are only real indigenous inhabitants of Malta (first of all, cats themselves definitely assured in that). You can find cats in Malta are everywhere: they take a sunbathes on the car's hoods, meditate on the cactuses named "prickly pears", or "Bajtra" in Maltese, make a company to fishermen, adorn the shelves and almost all heritages of Malta.