Tiny dogs surf mighty waves in Imperial Beach during the 11th Annual Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition!
And now for something on the light side. Surfing dogs!
Enjoy these funny photos of tiny dogs riding “huge” ocean waves near the pier at Imperial Beach! This morning I swung by the 11th Annual Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition, just to check out the action. The first 10-minute heat featured smaller breeds. These dogs are some of the most talented surfing athletes you’re likely to ever see! Well . . . maybe. But they definitely appeared to be having fun!
All you non-dog athletes, take note! No aspiration is too lofty! No wave is too large!
A crowd gathers on the beach in the morning, as the very popular Surf Dog Competition is almost ready to begin!A pooch says “Hi” while hanging out with a few buddies. It’s going to be another great day in San Diego!This thoughtful dog is checking out the perimeter of the surf competition starting area, which is fenced off from those often interfering human types.We’re almost ready for the first heat! These small dogs pose atop their surfboards for photos and make the most of their superstar status.A line of people awaits the start of the Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition’s first 10-minute heat of the day!And these small surf dogs are off, making toward the Pacific Ocean with the help of a few human assistants!The excitement has built to a doggone unbelievable level. Which four-legged contestant will catch the best waves and impress the judges?The crowd watches these talented canine athletes as they take to the thundering waves!Those are awfully big breakers! Only the most skillful and fearless dogs will master this tough surfing competition.An amazing dog athlete has successfully caught the first wave! Here he comes! Great form!A tiny canine contestant receives encouragement as this year’s surf dog competition in IB gets underway.This innovative dog–I believe his name is Samson–doesn’t adhere to those old surfing traditions. He rides his surfboard backwards.Oh my goodness! Three dogs on one wave! Remember this moment, because you’ll probably never see it again!Two furry athletes vie for surfing supremacy!I’m thinking of submitting this amazing photograph to SURFER Magazine. I wonder if it might make the cover. (Just kidding!)Samson seems to have finally straightened himself out. Maybe he just wants to leap back onto dry land.These best buddy pals are happy just to walk along the beach. No need to show off their mad surfing skills.And these two sneaky dogs want to pretend they’re honest-to-goodness surfers. Can’t fool me!Tiny surfing dogs have mastered the mighty waves at Imperial Beach during the Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition. They are superstars, indeed!
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Beautiful ceramic mosaic artwork at Fletcher Cove Park in Solana Beach. The orange Garibaldi. By artist Betsy Schulz.
During my walk last weekend I headed from the Solana Beach Coaster station west a couple of blocks to Fletcher Cove Park. It was my intention to walk north along the ocean, then back east to Pacific Coast Highway. What I discovered as I neared the beach was incredibly cool.
The ceramic sea-themed mosaics you see in my photos were created by artist Betsy Schulz. I’ve documented another installation of her public art near the Santa Fe Depot. To see that, click here.
From the bluff at Overlook Park there’s a good view of Fletcher Cove and the blue Pacific Ocean. There are also four tables with more cool tile artwork by Betsy Schulz. The beautiful mosaics below in Fletcher Cove Park are found along the walkway that leads down to the beach.
Picnic tables along a path leading up through Overlook Park in Solana Beach feature more beautiful, sea-themed tile mosaics.A spiny lobster embedded in a picnic table at Overlook Park.Two beautiful fish are part of some sea-themed art in Solana Beach, created by artist Betsy Schulz.A crab is featured in this colorful mosaic of small ceramic tiles.Sculpture of a seagull near entrance to Fletcher Cove Park. According to one article I read, the sculpture was created in the 1940s, and the artist doesn’t seem to be known.Fletcher Cove Park, dedicated this day, June 16, 2007.An octopus on a low wall embraces citizens and businesses in Solana Beach who are part of this coastal community.Wonderful tile artwork includes shells, stones and a school of small silvery fish.Barred Surfperch.More ceramic fish along the public walkway that heads down through Fletcher Cove Park to the small beach.Red Octopus.A work of art depicting a few of nature’s wonders and human creativity.This oval seat is right next to the beach. We know a mermaid who lives here in the sea…And here is the mermaid. The stunning mosaic artwork has been worn by sand, wind and time.In a tide pool one might discover a Brittle Star.Upon the rocky ocean bottom, one might find Green Abalone.Brown Tube Snail and California Spiny Lobster.Shore birds one might see nearby include the Whimbrel and Marbled Godwit.Thousands of shells, waves rush to our shore, Search high and low tides, you’re bound to find more.White Amiantis.Many small sea creatures appear in amazing tile artwork in Solana Beach’s Fletcher Cove Park.This lifelike Cabezon seems to be looking directly at you!
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Cool people search under the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier for litter. I love a clean San Diego!
This morning I headed to the OB pier to take a bunch of photos. Some of them might end up being used in a book about the piers of California! (I’ll blog more about that later as events unfold.)
I was pleasantly surprised to see my visit to Ocean Beach happened to coincide with the Ocean Beach Pier Cleanup Day, which is organized by San Diego Coastkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation. I took some pics of awesome volunteers combing the sand for all sorts of nasty litter. Once again, I learned cigarette butts are a huge problem. One small team I spoke to collected literally hundreds of them from the beach.
Do you live in San Diego? Let’s help to keep our city clean and beautiful!
Many residents of Ocean Beach help to keep their community clean, collecting trash that damages the coastal environment.These guys using a metal detector were sifting the sand for precious treasure! In their own way, I suppose, they were helping to keep the beach clean, too!Plastic bags fill up with garbage as volunteers make Ocean Beach that more beautiful and inviting.These friendly volunteers found over 300 cigarette butts. Yikes. If only some people could be a little more thoughtful…Collected trash is recorded at the San Diego Coastkeeper station not far from the OB pier.Volunteers search the beach near the OB pier for litter during a cleanup day.
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Carefree kids jump while exploring the tide pools just south of the Ocean Beach Pier.
On Sunday I headed to Ocean Beach, for no particular reason. I like to walk out on the pier.
My visit happened to coincide with low tide, so I took advantage of an opportunity to explore the tide pools near the base of the pier. What did I see? Amazing life. Amazing beauty.
North of the Ocean Beach Pier there is a beautiful, very popular beach. Some rocks are exposed at low tide.Under the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, which is the second longest pier on the West Coast.Seagulls circle above people who are searching for natural wonders in the intertidal zone.A view of the Ocean Beach Pier and nearby tide pools. An easily accessible place to explore the seashore and make small discoveries.People explore fascinating tide pools near the foot of the OB pier during low tide. The rocks can be very slippery.At low tide, the exposed sandstone rocks south of the pier contain many depressions, the home of algae and small sea creatures.There are many interesting photo opportunities at the tide pools. Down on hands and knees, you’re going to get a little slimy and wet!A complex, natural mosaic in the rock.Hidden channels and eroded surfaces in the irregular, pitted sandstone.Kids stand near the sea wall at the end of one water-sculpted, crevice-like channel.I believe this little guy is a troglodyte chiton. Thousands can be seen in their own tiny sandstone burrows in the intertidal rocks. They can live 20 years in the same spot!Lots of amazing discoveries to be made!One can see pink encrusting coralline algae and surfgrass in this saltwater-filled channel.I can see why this is called sea lettuce! It’s actually a type of green algae.Another view of the tide pools immediately south of the OB pier.Bright green surfgrass, reddish algae and blue ripples of incoming ocean surf make a strangely beautiful photograph.More pink coralline algae and surfgrass at the OB tidepools.A small empty shell among some sea lettuce.An unusual photo at the tide pools. Nature is an infinitely prolific artist.A cool photo composed of accumulated shell pieces.Limpets large and small on one rock form a beautiful pattern.Adventures in progress.Tiny miracles of nature in the soft sandstone.A sample of the surprising beauty you might encounter at these tide pools.A periwinkle, or sea snail.More beautifully patterned limpets, and I think I might see a few barnacles.Right up next to the sea wall. The tide pools continue a good distance to the south.A sea anemone covered with shell fragments, among sand and algae in one tide pool.An aggragating anemone, safely closed up at low tide so that it doesn’t dry out. Many small stones and shell bits have collected upon it.Another watery scene in a life-filled Ocean Beach tide pool.There’s a lot of exploring to do!Looking under the OB pier as I climb up its stairs for an overhead view of the tide pools.Looking down from atop Ocean Beach Pier at the nearby tide pools. People out on the rocks search for wonders in the intertidal zone.
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People enjoying the beach by the Ocean Beach pier are joined by a mythical god and two sunning mermaids!
If you’re in Ocean Beach this week, there’s a good chance you can still enjoy a fantastic sand sculpture created by a talented street artist. Just head down to the base of Newport Avenue!
I don’t know the artist’s name. I did learn that he doesn’t have a website. His buddy was watching over the artwork when I walked past it. He said people should just drop on by and check the sand sculpture out! I thought all that inspired work deserved a nice tip!
Very cool!
The sea wall at the end of Newport Avenue, north of the OB pier, is a good place to see a variety of street performers.Two sand sculpture mermaids created by a talented street artist near the Ocean Beach boardwalk.Neptune is popping up out of the sand at Ocean Beach!
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Outrigger canoes, ready to be pushed out into the deeper water of Mission Bay, San Diego’s recreational paradise.
Today I went for another relaxing walk around beautiful Mission Bay. I was fortunate enough to watch San Diego’s Kai Elua Outrigger Canoe Club launch four boats from the beach. They have opened up a few recent Saturday practice sessions for anybody who might be interested in learning the sport of outrigger canoe racing.
The good-sized group paddled out into Mission Bay this morning just after nine o’clock, near Vacation Isle’s North Cove Public Beach.
Here are a few fun pics. I’ve got more photos coming from today’s long walk!
Looking across a small section of Mission Bay, toward the Ingraham Street bridge, which connects Vacation Isle to Pacific Beach.Members and guests of San Diego’s Kai Elua Outrigger Canoe Club carry a large boat across the beach toward the blue water of Mission Bay.Vacationers watched from the public beach and the nearby cottages of Paradise Point Resort, as the outrigger canoes were carried to the water.Some people enjoying stand up paddleboarding on Mission Bay also viewed the fascinating launch.The four outrigger canoes are soon manned and afloat. They head out for a day of racing practice.Flip-flops left in the sand near two beached outrigger canoes.
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A bronze hero stands guard on the sand in Ocean Beach. The long OB pier stretches out into the Pacific Ocean in the background of this photo.
Not far from Ocean Beach’s main lifeguard station, a hero stands day and night with unblinking eyes focused on the nearby water. This noble hero is made of bronze.
The bronze lifeguard statue, created by artist Richard Arnold, was installed in 2013. It commemorates the creation of the San Diego Lifeguard Service after 13 people tragically drowned in dangerous rip currents off Ocean Beach in 1918.
The sculpture represents a typical lifeguard, with head up scanning the Pacific Ocean surf. It’s a very fine addition to a very cool beach neighborhood.
Colorado sculptor Richard Arnold, who grew up in OB, at one time was a junior lifeguard.
The muscular bronze lifeguard statue holds a rescue tube and a pair of swim finsColorado artist Richard Arnold created this bronze sculpture. It memorializes 13 tragic drownings in 1918, and the subsequent creation of San Diego’s lifeguard service.Beachgoer with two boogie boards passes between the bronze sculpture and the main Ocean Beach lifeguard station.A couple of surfer dudes carrying surfboards approach the memorial plaque, a few feet from the lifeguard tribute statue.Today, lifeguards in San Diego rescue between 4000 and 6000 people every year. They are real-life heroes.
The sun glows behind a pair of palm trees at the edge of Mission Bay.
Late this morning I headed to the Pacific Islander Festival, which took place in the grassy Ski Beach Park near the center of Mission Bay. I’ll get my photos ready and blog about it shortly!
On the way to the festival and afterward, I took a long, leisurely walk. Mission Bay might be the best place in San Diego for an easy saunter through sunshiny paradise.
When I say Mission Bay Park is a paradise, that’s no exaggeration. Grassy parkland, beaches, islands, resorts and marinas are found everywhere you go, whether by foot, bicycle, roller skate, car or boat. Its 4,235 acres make it the largest man-made aquatic park in the nation. Roughly half land and half water, what was originally a lagoon at the mouth of the San Diego River has been transformed into one of our city’s most popular destinations. Especially during the summer.
But summer is over and the crowds have thinned. Perfect for a quiet, thoughtful walk.
Here are a few random pics…
A fisherman rows a kayak near sailboats docked at Paradise Point Resort on Vacation Isle.Mission Bay Park is the largest man-made aquatic park in the United States. Its 4,235 acres is a wonderland of blue water, islands, beaches, resorts, marinas, and tree-shaded grass.Skateboarding over the Ingraham Street bridge between Vacation Isle and Dana Landing. A seagull on every lamp post!Looking down from the bridge. It’s a quiet Sunday after Labor Day, and many benches are empty. Mission Bay is a perfect place for a long, sunny walk in San Diego!Light reflected on water contrasted with shore rocks.A small pleasure boat glides through South Cove and is ready to pass under the Ingraham Street bridge.A colorful sail and reflection on smooth water at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Marina.Fishing on a Sunday by the bridge north of Quivira Basin. It crosses over Mission Bay Channel and leads to nearby Mission Beach.Broad blue water and folks recreating on Mission Bay. Kayaks, paddle boards, peddle boats, sailboats, windsurfers and fishing boats can be spotted on any given day.
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Photo of guy surfing near the pilings of the awesome Ocean Beach Municipal Pier.
The Ocean Beach pier is one of my favorite, favorite places in all of San Diego. Why? Check out these photos!
The beach near the foot of the OB pier is a favorite place in San Diego for tourists and locals alike.Climbing up to the high pier from the beach boardwalk below. This is almost like a stairway to heaven!Guy at top of the steps looks down to greet surfer on the sand below!Loads of surfers are out on the Pacific Ocean on this perfect late summer day. The water is warm and the waves have nice form.Looking down the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier, my own favorite pier in San Diego. It’s long and always jammed with cool sights!Kids gaze over the rail at surfers directly below. The action is amazing today!Two surfers wait for a good wave.This guy caught one, and is riding it in toward the shore, just south of the pier. That low wall you see on the right belonged to the long-defunct saltwater Plunge.Pick a wave any wave! The OB vibe is laid-back and life-loving!Photo of someone on the foaming crest of a curler.Two surfers share a wave side-by-side. They went completely under the pier and came out the other side!This surf dude caught himself a sweet liquid ride!While surfers catch cool waves, people farther down the OB pier try to catch some big fish!These fishermen at the t-shaped end of the pier are trying to catch bass, bonito, mackerel, or just about anything that bites!When you stand at the very end of the Ocean Beach pier, you feel like you’re far out on the ocean. I love it!Someone’s got something big on their line! A kid leans way over the rail to see!He’s got a nicely sized bonito! Everyone likes catching this active fish closely related to the tuna. It puts up a good fight!And these guys caught a really big Calico bass! The fish are definitely biting today!
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Volunteers remove litter from beautiful Ocean Beach during Coastal Cleanup Day.
Today is Coastal Cleanup Day! This huge environmental undertaking, involving thousands of energetic volunteers, is I Love A Clean San Diego’s biggest event of the year!
Over 7,600 people participated in San Diego County last year. Over a hundred tons of nasty garbage was removed from our beaches, bays and inland waterways!
This year, in Ocean Beach, a small army of volunteers fanned out along the shore looking for litter and other debris. The items they collected were carefully recorded. I saw many families, organizations and community-minded businesses participating. Everyone was having a great time.
San Diegans, who feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful corner of the world, are very keen on maintaining a clean environment. What’s good for Mother Earth is good for us, as well!
Many local organizations helped during I Love a Clean San Diego’s Coastal Cleanup Day, including the Surfrider Foundation.Speaker of the California State Assembly Toni Atkins had a team helping to clean up the beach!Many Coastal Cleanup Day volunteers assembled for a photograph, with the Pacific Ocean and long Ocean Beach Municipal Pier in the background.This guy came in after surfing some fine waves this morning, just as the cleanup was getting started.Someone found a piece of trash under lifeguard tower number one!The friendly lifeguards were cruising along the sand making sure everyone enjoying the warm water was safe.A lone guitarist performs a duet with the mighty ocean.This cool kid showed me a bit of plastic he picked up with his nifty grappler.People were combing the beach for trash of every kind, including styrofoam, plastic wrappers and cigarette butts.Someone was nice enough to let me photograph their trash! This is what they’d found so far.Lots of smiles were seen all over Ocean Beach during the trash removal event.Someone found a piece of garbage by some kelp near the foot of Ocean Beach’s popular pier. I definitely love a clean San Diego!
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