134. Mr Big
The photo is a front-on view of a very large giant cuttlefish – the biggest I ve seen in years, perhaps ever. Social media had reports of a large one – Mr Big – at Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, north Continue reading
Metazoan
Natural History and Philosophy
Latest posts
133. Rhythms and Fields, 2
This is the second in a series of posts about brains, rhythms, fields, and consciousness. Some of the photos in this post are from a visit to Heidelberg University in May for a workshop where I gave a talk on these themes. Continue reading
132. Rhythms and Fields, 1
In the book Metazoa, I connect the evolution of subjective experience (consciousness, in a very broad sense) to some ideas about nervous system activity. The main idea I look at is the possible importance of large-scale rhythmic patterns, some of Continue reading
131. Trio
I often search for Glossy Black Cockatoos. They re found in pairs, almost always in a particular kind of tree – casuarinas, or she-oaks. Although they are flowering plants, casuarinas look like pines, with needle-like leaves and small, cone-like pods that Continue reading
130. Another Watcher
Day 3 of the Fly Point dive trip. Another post to frame some photos of octopuses in shallow water. Heading into the shallows, in a flat seagrassy area, I saw a bit of old pipe that looked like a good Continue reading
129. Watcher
The day after the battleship octopus I went out at Fly Point again. It was quiet in most places. The coral garden seems beaten up and quiet. I came in towards the end looking for octopuses in the shallows. I Continue reading
128. Battleship
A few photographs of a great octopus, taken yesterday at Fly Point (Australia) – in the shallows at the end of the dive, in dappled glare, and with sand, weed, and everything else flying round. I came across her in Continue reading
127. Affection
Round this time of the year, Yellowtail Black Cockatoos come through more often than usual, sometimes in large numbers. They are amazing birds – enormous even by cockatoo standards, full of insistent faraway calls and eccentric behaviors. They settle high Continue reading
126. Spun of Light
Last week I returned to Fly Point, Nelson Bay, for a few days of diving. The site has been beaten up over the last few years by storms and floods, but conditions were good and it was great to be Continue reading
125. Tahoe Coyotes
Yesterday on a walk near Lake Tahoe (around where Alpine Meadows meets the Granite Chief Wilderness), I came across two coyotes. I saw the first about 100 meters away, trotting over the granite. Without much evidence, I ll describe her as a Continue reading