Located on the western coast of Baja California Sur's peninsula, the Laguna San Ignacio is considered the last undisturbed breeding and calving lagoon of the Pacific gray whale. The protected whale sanctuary is also home to one of the world's most unusual wildlife encounters: here, curious whales regularly, and voluntarily, seek out contact with humans.

Every year from January to mid-April, thousands of gray whales arrive in the lagoon during a 19,300km journey from the icy waters of the Arctic to the warm waters of Baja California Sur to mate and give birth. While these are now safe waters for nursing and breeding, gray whales were once hunted here. Yet, the animals now seem to have learned to trust humans. In fact, during my recent whale-watching trip with Sanchez's eco-tourism company Pure Baja Travels, we witnessed mothers bringing their calves over to boats to present them like proud parents.

These unique encounters have influenced the conservation and protection of these gentle giants and spurred a thrilling – and responsible – whale-watching experience like nowhere else.

started a few days ago getting her acclimated while i walked beside the bike, and we took our first trip around the block today. she stood up a few times, but for the most part was comfortable lying down.

jean has earned 500 points in fast CAT since she started in february, so she got her DCAT title today (first was BCAT at 300 points). very proud of her! it has improved her recall and behavior around other dogs so much. 😊

[Video description: A record player playing "YMCA" by The Village people, camera panning to two depressed dogs lying on the floor. Cut to "Hold on, I'm Coming" by Sam & Dave playing; the dogs excitedly laughing at the camera.]

this is what peak performance looks like. 😎

but seriously, this lil' chihuahua mix runs like a greyhound!

photos by stirling hasen.

we have a looong way to go, but i like to keep video records of even the not-so-good practice sessions. she's really disengaged with me for a big portion of this video (probably because it's our first time doing this outdoors). hoping to eventually get her into rally obedience. :)

[Image description: our Australian shepherd gently and respectfully sniffs our newborn as I hold her for the introduction]

Sudo has been absolutely wonderful towards her - he'll come give the top of her head a small kiss when she gets fussy and then backs off to let us take care of the cause. I'll try to catch his =/ face the next time I tell him it's his turn to change the diaper

it's her absolute favorite activity in the world!

[Image description: a very fuzzy, day old yellow duckling warms up in my hand on a chilly morning.]

This little nugget decided to spend a few extra minutes in my hand after we found its mother. The temperature was hovering around 60F which is a little too chilly for a duckling this young.

[Image description: several ducklings inspect my toes for caterpillars, occasionally grabbing the toes instead]

One of them found an inchworm on my foot the other day and now whenever I stop moving they go nuts trying to find more. It's cute until one grabs a toe or the hairs and does a death shake.

[Image description: week old ducklings pile on top of one another, almost managing to be nestled under their watchful mother. One duckling is jumping to reach the top of the bunch.]

There's always at least one in every clutch that seems to prefer being the last one to the party just to be top cuddler.

[Image description: a dozen ducklings in various shades of yellow and brown rest under the potting bench in our greenhouse]

Y'all - I'm so excited. We had a disappointing first round of hatching with only three ducklings, but Pearl (tail pictured) hatched out a whopping twelve! We're five days from our niece and nephews coming up to visit during their vacation and the timing is incredible

[Image description: a female Muscovy duckling is feathering out in white, grey, and beige - a coloring called "lavender" among breeders. Her duckling down remains on her head in patches, creating a pattern of freckles around her face]

My boy is 6, and has been gassing for a pet for a long time. We want to get him something, but our parameters are pretty narrow:

• Can't be a cat or dog (allergies)
• No rodents/mustelids (wife: ew)
• No snakes (wife: ew)
• No birds (wife: ew)
• No Arthropods (Wife: ew)

Reptiles/frogs/amphibians are ok in our books.

Ideally, I would like something he could physically handle on occasion but that's not a deal breaker.

Fish are cool, but kind of boring to a 6 year old maybe.

Crabs are cool, but seem kind of cryptic.

Would be amazing if it didn't break the bank and was somewhat easy to care for

Thoughts appreciated if you have any.

[Image description: a very fluffy Australian shepherd lays on his back to ask for tummy rubs but we like to call it his factory reset or restore default settings]

Sudo reset

Two people were thrown into the ocean after a humpback whale landed on their fishing boat off the New Hampshire coast on Tuesday morning, and the entire incident was caught on video.

The Coast Guard also confirmed that the men who were on the boat were recovered by other boaters and brought to Great Bay Marina.

Edit: ghost archive

We went camping for the first time since getting the twin pomskis. They did so good! The fluffier pomski (Bliss) and the little havapoo (Poppy) were in a heated competition for who could bring home more of the forest floor.

[Image description: a tree frog smaller than a U.S. dime pauses momentarily on the tip of my finger before resuming their day]

Don't ask me how I spotted it, because I genuinely can't answer that.

Alt text: a close up image of a juvenile leopard gecko. There is a wooden stick to the left of him and a glass jar in the background. Underneath him is a bed of dirt and mulch.

When I come in to check on him, he walks right up to the door of his tank! I guess he knows I'm the food-giver, lol.