Hair, Hard News and a Hiatus

I've been growing my hair out for a while now with the specific intent of donating it to a charity who would use it to make a wig for a child with cancer. I really needed about two more months of growth to make a solid donation of 12 inches or more but fate seems to have made other plans for me.

Wigs for Kids

http://www.wigsforkids.org

Locks of Love

http://www.locksoflove.org

In January I started to experience ever increasing abdominal pain - after lots of medical tests and a short hospital stay my long story turns short into the hard news - I've been diagnosed with cancer. It's one of the most horrible and terrifying words I have ever heard uttered in my entire life. I start chemotherapy on April 8th and with luck and the hard work of the amazing doctors at the UCSF Hellen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center, after a few months, I will go into remission and get back behind the camera. So here's the hiatus part - I'll won't be posting again until I get this under control - I need to focus 100% of my energy on fighting this cancer.

Back to the hair: since chemotherapy often causes hair loss or at the very least hair thinning I thought it would be a good idea to chop off my locks and proceed with the donation just a little bit early. So last week I turned to my long term stylist Simon Mark who is a hair genius. As it turns out, I've been seeing Simon for the last 10 years - time certainly does fly!

Mr Pink whistle

http://www.mrpinkwhistle.com

My friend Dave Cattell was so awesome to give up his day to come with me and document the sheering process. I hope you enjoy his pics.

Wish me luck and I promise to do my best to get back behind the camera before you know it.

I wish you all good health, joyous laughter, golden light and lots of amazing friends to share it all.
-Rebecca

10 in of hair just waiting to be cut

Are you sure you want it SUPER short?

CHOP!

JJ models the pony tails - I think he'd make a great red-head!

Simon performing his magic

Super Short but I love it!! Hope it doesn't fall out too soon.

PS: For anyone trying to contact me, please have lots of patience. I am exhausted because of the pain medications I am taking... even before the chemo starts and so I am WAY behind in my correspondence. I will do my best to catch up with you soon.

And don't worry about the Ethiopian wolf book. The final proof has been approved and the printer is warming up as I type. In the next few days we'll be given the final delivery schedule. Will is ready to turn on the pre-order page the second we have that date in hand. The show will go on and I will be back!

Going Walkabout Penguin-Style

Just in case you are all tired of seeing still images of penguins... as if that could even be a possibility... I've put together a little bit of video footage from Antarctica. Hope you like it!

Walkabout Penguin Style from Rebecca Jackrel on Vimeo.

Language Lessons

And back to the Antarctic adventure! 

Hannah Point, Livingston Island 

 62°39′16″S 60°36′48″W

As we dropped anchor at Hannah Point I heard a familiar sound...  

"Baaaahhhhh-roop-roop-roop-roop Bleeeeeeeaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh - Graaaaaaa-runck, Gaaaaaaaaaa-runck - Auuuuuk auuuuuuuk AUUUUUUUKKKK"

That could mean only one thing! 

ELEPHANT SEALS!!

I was ready... all of my language lessons from the Marine Mammal Center here in California were about to pay off. Albatross may be top in my heart but elies are a close second.

I spent several hours leaning on the warm rocks and conversing with these weaners - every once in a while a female would lift her head and snort at us as if to say "Keep it down, I'm trying to sleep". Is there anything as cute as these huge black eyes gazing at you with wonder?

How about this little guy who wanted to be a walrus... or maybe he was just practicing his Vampire costume for next Halloween.

After a long while I moved off to explore more of the island. There are of course tons of Chinstraps - all showing off their beautiful new eggs.

Then I noticed two penguins that didn't quite fit in...

Right in the middle of all the Chinstraps....

MACARONI!!

Eudyptes chrysolophus 

The Macaroni Penguin is a new species for me so I was super excited to sit and watch them. The first couple I found was content to just sit and occasionally groom but the second was actively building their nest. The male dug deep into the mud to find a nice pebble to bring back to its mate. She seemed to appreciate all the hard work and found just the right spot for each small offering.

Walking around at Hannah Point one has to be very careful not to approach any high points because of the nesting Southern Giant Petrels. They are easily spooked and won't return to the nest after they've been displaced.  I found one spot I could crawl to without breaking the horizon and spy on a nesting petrel. Turns out they don't do much when undisturbed... just an occasional stretch. I was glad to leave her to the task of incubation.

Another area boasted 5 or six nests of the lovely Blue-eyed Shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps) Unfortunately a Kelp gull was also nesting nearby and didn't like me hanging around so I moved on rather quickly and found more elephant seals. 

It seems someone is always facing the wrong direction. 

At the end of the day I found a nice warm sheltered beach and settled down to watch a few juvenile seals push each other around in the shallow water. All this play now will prepare at least one of them to become a beach master... I wish them all luck!

Looking Back

Welcome to my 2012 Photo Review

When I think back on 2012 these are my images that stand out in my mind.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year as we welcome in 2013.

Photo: The wonderfully sweet and endangered West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) of Crystal River Florida are at risk not just from boaters but from changes in climate as well.

Filmed on location at Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, Crystal River, Florida courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Photo: A Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick on Midway Atoll asks us to stop smoking and stop plastic pollution. Unfortunately Midway is a victim of not only marine debris but of budget cuts as well. Reopened for tourism in 2008, Midway lost over 1 million dollars in funding and has had to eliminate it's visitor and volunteer programs as a result. It's up to those of use who have had the privileged of visiting and exploring this amazing location to let people know the plastic is still out there - it's still a fight worth fighting even if we can't see it first hand any longer.

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Photo: Remember the Keystone XL Pipeline? It's still looming out there and last March I visited the Platte River in Nebraska with the National Wildlife Federation. The Platte is an important area for migrating Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) and TransCanada wants to travel right through... an oil spill would be catastrophic. Two years after the Kalamazoo River Pipeline Oil Spill in Michigan the clean up is still not complete! That spill went largely unnoticed because all eyes were on the Gulf of Mexico. What's making this clean up so difficult, costly and time consuming? Tar Sands Oil. Still think Keystone XL is a good idea?

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Photo: Royal Lipizzaner Stallion at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. A lifelong dream come true was to visit the Spanish Riding School and see the beautiful white horses perform. They are far more more beautiful in person than the tapestry that hung on my wall as a child.

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Photo: Ah, Alaska! It just doesn't get much better than fall in Denali National Park.

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Photo: Swimming with Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the Kingdom of Tonga was an incredible experience. There's nothing in the world quite like having a creature the size of a city bus give you the eye and then leave you miles behind with one slow casual stroke of its fluke.

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Photo: A total geek-out-highlight moment of 2012 was being invited to join the California Science Center as they welcomed the Space Shuttle Endeavour to its new home in Los Angeles where it will continue in its mission to inspire children to reach for the stars.

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Photo: Return of the river otter (Lontra canadensis)! This gregarious and playful river otter showed up in the ruins of the Sutro Baths this year much to the delight of wildlife watchers. Once plentiful in the San Francisco Bay area the river otter was hunted and poisoned right out of the city. Sam gives us hope that nature can and will recover from our meddling.

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Photo: It doesn't get much cuter than a Weddell Seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) resting in the snow. One of my favorite Antarctic moments was lying in the snow near this guy waiting for a stretch or a yawn and occasionally being honored with a wink.

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Photo: If you've followed me for any length of time you'll already know that Albatross hold sway over my heart. I was so thrilled that weather conditions on our return voyage from Antarctica enabled us to visit Diego Ramirez Island just off the tip of Chile because it meant meeting the Grey-headed Albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma).

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