It's been such a long time since my last update and blog post. I apologize for not staying in touch with you all. I have been very busy with other responsibilities, but still found some time for photography. I have quite a bit more photos to edit; Santa Cruz Island, Anacapa Island (Gulls and their eggs - no hatching as of yet), and some other subjects I don't remember, but are all coming soon.

Next month I am off to San Juan Island to photograph the Orcas once again. I have been following the reports of J, K, L Pods. Its been quite interesting and definitely a learning experience. It will be nice to be on familiar territory this time around.

I have a lot of galleries that I updated with new photos taken in 2009, so here is the list:

"HUMPBACKS",
"GRAY WHALES",
"HARBOR SEALS",
"CA SEA LIONS",
"ANACAPA ISLAND",
"COMMON DOLPHINS",
"VENTURA",
"SEA OTTERS",
"PT MUGU TO SANTA MONICA ALONG HWY 1",
"MARINE BIRDS",
"BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS",
"DOLPHINS SEA LIONS WHALES OFF THE COAST OF NEWPORT BEACH,CA",
"PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS",
"FIN WHALES".

A couple of photos were uploaded that I took from the boat of "SANTA CRUZ ISLAND" when we had to drop passengers off at Prisoners Harbor.

A new post will be on "MY BLOG" by the end of tomorrow; Tuesday, May 19, 2009, check it out. Lots of fun info and photos.

Happy Memorial Weekend! Be Safe!

Michele

Please note that most of the marine life photos were taken in 2008 and earlier. I haven't posted any 2009 photos yet for marine life. If I have, it's only been a few. There are a few on my blog from 2009.

All my Best,

Michele

Hello Everyone and a special hello to Pinecrest School in Simi Valley.

For those of you that were on the 9:30a.m. whale watch trip on Wednesday, March 11 out of Ventura Harbor, the images will be on my website by the end of next week. If you want me to notify you when the photos will be posted, please email me and let me know. :)

Lots of Humpbacks, Grey Whales, Common Dolphins, Pacific White Sided Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Sea Otter photos coming soon. Furthermore, maybe by the time I post them, there will be some other marine life not mentioned above. :) Lots of strange occurrences happening this year in the ocean.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and it was nice meeting you all on the boat. Your 3rd graders were wonderful that day as well.

All my Best,
Michele

Hello Everyone.... Thank you all for your comments and visits to my website. As you can see, I have not been keeping my home page here up to date, but "My Blog" has been updated quite a bit over the last couple of months.. Lots of whale reports, photos of sightings, etc. Check it out for the most recent updates. I have a pile of images that need to be edited. Lots of Gray Whales, Humpbacks, Common and Bottlenose Dolphins, Birds, and some Harbor Seals including adorable Pups... Most of the photos from over the years are up on my website. I have just a couple more folders of images to go through, which the rest of them will be up over the next month. Some of the most recent images taken and posted is Anacapa Island, Common Dolphins, Bottlenose Dolphins, Grey Whales, and a few others. Hope everyone is doing good. Come back soon.... Regards, Michele Wassell

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on updating my galleries and completing them. I have uploaded about 75% of my photos that I have edited over the years. Some new ones from recent weeks. I have a couple of updates on "My Blog" as well. Check out the galleries, blog, leave a comment and let me know what you think. :) Hope you all have a lovely Valentines.

Till next time... :):)

I can't believe we are almost half way through January... Where does time go???

Just a note to let you know that I have an update on "My Blog" and lots of new photos in my gallery on my website: Transient Orcas that were seen in the Santa Barbara Channel at the end of December 2008 and Tehachapi Winter Photos from this last Christmas. Other photos are new to the gallery, but were taken over the last couple of years.

I have made a few changes to my website; mainly the gallery area. I have decided to use Smug Mug for my galleries since its so much easier and faster to upload new photos. My template website was just too time consuming, but the rest of the website is still the same. :):)

Coming soon: Anacapa Island and hopefully some Gray Whale photos. I am going to try to go out on Wednesday to see some Gray Whales. We will see what nature has planned... :)

Till next time... :):)

I sure hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I apologize for not putting up a greeting for Christmas and an update any sooner than today, but my computer has been down. I am using a borrowed one right now.

I am just letting you know that I am still around and have been photographing ALOT the last 4 days. Winter scenes from Tehachapi..... Orcas off the California Coast.... Anacapa Island in Channel Island National Park.... Common Dolphins... All coming soon, so check back in the next week or two and see what I have posted. :):):)

Hope you all have a Happy New Year!! May your new year be filled with joy and good health...

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.....

Every day I am so thankful for so many things, but during this time of year, I am even more Thankful for so much.... Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving full of blessings...

An update on my blog has been posted..."Traveling to Morro Bay" Enjoy... :)

Have a great weekend. :)

Spring in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park has been added and divided up into two separate galleries. When you choose to view the galleries as a slide show, both galleries are included into one. Hope you all have a great weekend...

I don't have the Spring in the Smokies up yet, but I do have some photos in the Animal gallery. Most recent are Giant Pandas, Hippos and Orangutans. I did a special piece on the Giant Pandas in "My Blog". Please visit to read about them and see more photos. Hope you all have a great weekend...

I can't believe my web site has been online for 20 days already and that I have only updated "My Blog" page. My how time flies. Today I am adding another gallery; "Fall in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park". I was there a year ago next week. The fall color was not the best, but I still found areas that were beautiful and flowing water. The wildlife is not as visible as in the spring, but it was a fantastic trip just the same. I hope to make it back there during a better fall color season, which I hear is a lot better this year. :) Hope everyone has a great weekend and thank you for all your comments.

I am back up and running after about 6 months. My website was about to expire at SmugMug and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I knew that I didn't want to renew my membership for another year, so I let it go. SmugMug was a great place to be for many reasons and I highly recommend it, but I really wanted something that I could edit and work on off-line and I couldn't do that with SmugMug.

Then I went on this amazing trip over the summer and fell in love with Orcas. Still not knowing what I wanted to do with my website, I found the answer on my trip. I am still not sure about a few things on my web site, and I have come to a blank on what to do with the home page, so for now, it will be used for messages to my viewers of what's new.

I have added a "blog" this year for you to read so you can keep up on my travels / photography outings. I will write about my trips, about different places, etc. So, please check back often.