It’s been months since we offered a web diversion in this blog. So, to follow up on the falcon-nest webcam we pointed out in May, here is an Orca cam off Vancouver Island. Check out a few of the video clips of highlights. The tapes from August 20, 2004 show the assembly of a superpod – a gathering of the clan from far and wide.
What’s interesting to me about these nature-focused webcams is that, compared with what we’re accustomed to observing through the media, nature cams are – well – boring. Nature is far less arresting, in cinematic terms, than nature shows, which distill hundreds of hours of footage down to the rare moments of excitement: hunts, migrations, fights. Nature’s pace is slow, even compared with the “slow news” trends of human development we discussed in Cascadia Scorecard 2004.
In his 1992 book The Age of Missing Information, Bill McKibben argues that the media have inured us to the subtlety and immediacy of real life.
I bet there are many other nature cams in Cascadia. Anyone have a favorite?
