Views of Sequim, the Olympic Peninsula. . .and beyond
I explored the Feiro Marine Life Center in Port Angeles recently. It is a small educational center with aquariums as well as several tanks that allow visitors to touch sea life. The Center offers a representation of the more typical marine life of our region: nudebranchs, echinoderms, and cnidarians. Tomorrow I’ll show you examples of some of these critters.
Two Dutch Shell oil drilling platforms are being readied to leave the Port of Port Angeles soon. This rig, Noble Discoverer, has been loaded onto the semi-submersible MV Blue Marlin for transport and will be the first to leave.
Polar Pioneer, which has been here longer, will be loaded onto its transport and is scheduled to depart next week. These rigs are enormous. I wasn’t able to get a clear shot but you may make out two rather large boats to the left of the rig.
Dockwise Vanguard is the semi-submersible transport ship onto which the Polar Pioneer will be loaded. Both rigs are destined for the North Sea. Their routes haven’t been announced but these rigs are too large to transverse the Panama Canal so they’ll probably take the long way round…Cape Horn and Tierra del Fuego in South America.
I don’t know if this support vessel will be part of the entourage. I titled this post “Parting is such sweet sorrow” because Port Angeles has been grateful for the business these rigs has brought to town.
We were in Port Angeles not long ago. Walking at the waterfront I came across the rock, above, on the sidewalk.
Later I found these rocks on the edge of a cement planter.
Then came this one nestled on a sculpture.
Finally, I found this.
The window of Port Book and News in Port Angeles suggested itself for this month’s City Daily Photo theme of “Shop Window.” I liked the holiday tree made from books. Although daylight precluded seeing twinkling holiday lights I liked the reflection of a nearby building.
Click here to see other interpretations of today’s theme from photographers around the world.
This oil drilling rig, Polar Pioneer, was parked in the Port Angeles harbor last April as it was outfitted in anticipation of a trip to the Arctic. Its subsequent visit to Seattle prior to its embarkation generated protests. By summer’s end its owner Royal Dutch Shell announced disappointment with its oil exploration efforts and subsequently abandoned the venture. Polar Pioneer is now back in the Port Angeles harbor to offload equipment and supplies. It’s expected to stay for perhaps a month or longer and its future destination has not been announced.
One of the larger industrial presences around here is Nippon Paper located in Port Angeles. This was one of those un-springlike days we’ve had recently, highlighted by gale force winds.
I don’t think I’d drive around in something like this. How about you?