Look at those two big shark cages! I spotted them during my early morning walk along San Diego’s Embarcadero.
The Sharkwater marine research vessel of the organization Fins Attached is now docked in San Diego!
I didn’t see any crewmembers on deck, and when I looked at their social media this evening, I couldn’t tell whether they’re in San Diego for a particular reason. I did see on their website that a special online fundraising event is coming up.
The mission of Fins Attached is primarily the study of sharks and their preservation. If you’d like to help this cause, visit their website to learn more!
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Dozens of sea creatures make their home on the side of a building in Ocean Beach!
Should you walk down Cable Street a little north of Niagara Avenue, you might think you’re passing small specimens of sea life in a big aquarium!
Swimming in blue and white watery tiles you’ll find schools of fish, seahorses, octopi, eels, rays, sea turtles, whales, sharks and even sand dollars and nudibranchs!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
The historic OB Wonderland is depicted in a happy Ocean Beach mural that was painted by kids back in 2014.
Wonderland was San Diego’s very first amusement park, operating in Ocean Beach from 1913 to 1916. Read more about this short-lived beachfront attraction here.
The children’s mural also features whales, dolphins, sharks, seahorses, eels, jellyfish, snails, parrots, pelicans and mermaids! And hearts and sunken treasure! And the OB Pier! And the Old Point Loma Lighthouse! And Hodad’s! And a whole lot more!
Last weekend I took the following photos of the Fantasy Seascape Children’s Mural.
The faded mural is painted on a long fence by Sunset Gas and Market, at the corner of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Point Loma Avenue.
Fantasy Seascape Children’s Mural. Designed and provided to the community by Young At Art Children’s Creative Center . . . Inspiring, Encouraging and Providing Opportunities in Art to All Children.
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If you haven’t been to the Maritime Museum of San Diego for a long time, this summer would be a good time to go.
Now that most of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions have been lifted, the museum is fully open. Fantastic exhibits are plentiful. And a completely new exhibit of historical photographs awaits your eyes inside the Gould Eddy Gallery!
This special exhibition is of The Nancy Dubois Collection of Historic Maritime Photographs. According to one sign: “In 2017 Nancy generously donated some 200 historic and artistic photographs of ships, boats, port scenes, harbors and coastline to the Maritime Museum of San Diego…” Featured are a good many of these vintage photos, which were taken all around the world, many over a century ago.
A few of the photographs have no record of what they depict, and visitors are asked to help the museum curator identify the locale!
If you’re world traveler, a history buff, love photography or have an interest in all things nautical, you really should feast your eyes on this extraordinary exhibit. Then check out the rest of the museum and its collection of world-famous ships!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
I like the message in one newly painted mural that I spotted last weekend as I walked through Imperial Beach.
A lady surfer is catching a wave with a pod of dolphins, and written above are the words: “From the land to the sea, we are connected, you and me…”
This mural can be found near the corner of Palm Avenue and 3rd Street, on a wall behind the Pacific Realty parking lot. The art was created last month “for Katy” by Marissa Quinn (@marissaquinn).
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
People driving west down Palm Avenue through Imperial Beach will probably spot several murals depicting local sea life. One fantastic mural painted this year can be found on the side of the California American Water building.
This beautiful public art features a sea turtle, several rays, leopard sharks and a sea lion swimming inside a watery kelp forest. It was painted by San Diego artist Carly Ealey.
Does that leopard shark coming straight toward you seem familiar? It’s on the San Diego Zoo kids website here!
You can enjoy photographs of a similar mural in Imperial Beach by the same artist here.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
The Surfing Madonna in Encinitas, California. A mosaic by artist Mark Patterson.
Have you heard of the miracle of the Surfing Madonna? Many in San Diego have witnessed the miracle. Indeed, the miracle is known around the world.
Next to the Encinitas Boulevard sidewalk, just east of Coast Highway 101, there’s a tiny open courtyard with a beautiful ocean mural and a shrine-like mosaic titled Surfing Madonna. The 10 by 10 feet mosaic depicts the Virgin of Guadalupe on a white surfboard, praying.
When it was first installed anonymously in a public place the artwork was considered illegal. Permission had not been granted by the city of Encinitas. The artist, Mark Patterson, was discovered and fined and the mosaic removed.
But a miracle happened.
After much controversy and legal uncertainty, and after having been moved from place to place, the unusual but beautiful mosaic, beloved by many in the beach community, finally found a home in Surfing Madonna Park, which you can see in my photographs.
To learn more about the miracle of the Surfing Madonna, read the words on the plaque beneath it.
The small Surfing Madonna Park in a nook beside busy Encinitas Boulevard. The park is just a short walk east of Moonlight State Beach.
A plaque details the history of the Surfing Madonna.
The plaque reads:
On Good Friday, April 22nd, 2011, the community of Encinitas was gifted with the Surfing Madonna mosaic, Our Lady, Star of the Sea.
Local artist, Mark Patterson and his good friend Bob Nichols, dressed up as constructions workers and hung the beautiful Surfing Madonna mosaic with its “Save the Ocean” theme. The mosaic was originally mounted underneath the train bridge, across the street from its current home.
The mosaic received international attention while the artist remained anonymous for months until discovered.
Although beloved by the community, she could not stay there and eventually found her way here, to her permanent home.
Mark Patterson sought to raise awareness of the value of the world’s Oceans. Through his vision he created the Surfing Madonna mosaic to spread a message of environmental awareness of Mother Ocean.
The mosaic gave birth to the Surfing Madonna Oceans Project which has continued to serve the Ocean and community through funding of local arts, environmental awareness, and by introducing special needs youth and their families to the joy of surfing and living with the Ocean.
Join us in celebrating the beauty of our world’s Oceans.
A beautiful environmental mural shows Garibaldi fish and other local sea life, by Encinitas artist Kevin Anderson.
Brick pavers, some with religious themes, in the small courtyard. The pavers have raised money for programs that help the Earth’s oceans.
The unique Surfing Madonna and a prayerful message: Save the Ocean.
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Check out these two cool murals in Pacific Beach! Both can be found on the east side of Mission Boulevard, just north of Emerald Street.
The first super colorful mural features tikis, a green-eyed octopus and a happy blue bird. This one really grabs your attention! While walking up Mission Boulevard, I noticed it a block away! The imaginative artwork was painted around the entrance of Cheba Hut, by artist @BayneGardner.
The second mural shows an underwater scene teeming with beautiful marine life. The ocean, below palm trees and breaking surf, is the home to fish, coral, a swimming turtle, dolphins, sharks and more! You can find this fantastic street art, created by D. Longenecker, on the north wall of Taco Surf Pacific Beach.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
A gigantic octopus is standing on the grass near the Seaport Village carousel!
Today I enjoyed many cool sights–and tastes, too!
As I walked through Seaport Village, I noticed a giant octopus had crawled out of the bay and was standing on its eight tentacles beside the carousel.
Seriously? Okay, the big inflatable octopus has been placed there for the international Ocean Sciences Meeting at the nearby San Diego Convention Center. A variety of events will be taking place in Seaport Village, including a funny environmental wrestling match! See the photo of the sign that follows for all the information!
When I arrived at the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market, a sea lion was barking and surfacing near the pier enjoying tossed fish scraps. Which made me hungry.
So I walked a few steps along the pier to Loaf and Fish, where the super friendly folks happened to remember I love fish burritos. Because they had some tortillas on hand, they made me a special one!
While fish burritos aren’t a normal menu item at Loaf and Fish, I bet there’s a good chance they’ll fix you one if you ask! You won’t regret it! All sorts of tasty spicy stuff is jammed inside, along with lots of freshly caught fish! Their fish sandwiches, soup and tacos are all unbeatable!
Ocean Optimism – Art Interpreting Science – is an event at Seaport Village corresponding with the Ocean Sciences Meeting at the convention center.
These cool guys in a small boat in Tuna Harbor were scooping up trash with nets!
Fresh fish is cut right on the boat at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.
People on the pier near the fishing boat Kaylee H are staring down at the water with cameras.
Something really has this crowd’s attention!
It’s a playful sea lion! It was hanging out, eating occasional fish scraps tossed its way.
All sorts of locally caught seafood can be purchased on Saturday at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.
Someone orders lunch at Loaf and Fish. I already ordered a special fish burrito!
The fish burrito was super! So were these smiles from the friendly folks at Loaf and Fish!
Another small scene on the pier at Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
If you’ve ever driven down Pacific Highway south of Old Town, there’s a good chance you’ve spotted an enormous whale!
That whale was painted by muralist Chris Konecki in 2016 for PangeaSeed Foundation’s environmental project Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans. (Many more amazing murals were created by other artists during this same citywide event.)
The big, colorful whale mural is on the side of BJ’s Equipment Rentals, between Wright Street and Estudillo Street. The title of this mural is Just Passing Through. Look closely and you’ll see scuba divers around the whale, either spray painting graffiti on the whale or removing it!
Vandalizing a beautiful living whale would be a horrible thing to do. Endangering these magnificent creatures with pollution in the oceans would be just as reprehensible.
Let’s keep Earth’s oceans clean!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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