Billowing Bait is a kinetic sculpture on Shelter Island, mounted near the entrance of Nielson Beaumont Marine. I spotted it during a recent walk in Point Loma.
The sculptor is Jon Koehler. His shimmering work of art features over 300 small stainless steel elements that move together but independently with the wind. Created in 2013 according to its webpage (2012 according to the nearby plaque), the sculpture is part of the Port of San Diego Public Art Collection.
The shining sculpture is meant to resemble a school of small bait fish . . . or a billowing spinnaker sail. You can learn more about it here.
If you ever walk past 2420 Shelter Island Drive on a breezy day, pause to watch Billowing Bait come alive!
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A magnificent Osprey stood guard upon its large nest high above Shelter Island. It was turning its head, watching the world below and all around. That’s what I observed the last time I walked along Shelter Island, a short distance from the Japanese Friendship Bell.
A sign across the street from the high nest-supporting platform provides interesting facts concerning the Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) and its nest. Included:
In flight, Ospreys wings are angled slightly backwards. They have drooping “hands” giving them a gull-like appearance.
Ospreys collect sticks to build large nests in high trees and on rocky outcrops and poles.
Ospreys are year-round residents of San Diego Bay. This medium-large raptor is particularly well adapted to diving for fish, with reversible outer toes, closable nostrils to keep out water during dives, and backwards facing scale on the talons which act as barbs to help hold its catch.
Board of Port Commissioners and their Environmental Advisory Committee funded construction of this nesting platform for the Osprey.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Many beautiful flowers are now gathered near the base of the Tunaman’s Memorial on San Diego’s Shelter Island.
Last weekend, the annual Tunaman’s Memorial Mass and Celebration began at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Point Loma. A procession was then made through Roseville to the Shelter Island memorial where a service was held.
The many flowers remember tuna fishermen, particularly of Portuguese descent, who were lost at sea.
Even yesterday, almost a week later, the flowers were still bright and colorful.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The Japanese cherry trees are in bloom on San Diego’s Shelter Island around the Japanese Friendship Bell!
Beautiful pink cherry blossoms now surround the traditional bronze bell, forged in Japan and given to San Diego in 1958 by its Sister City Yokohama.
The Sakura Grove (sakura in Japanese means a flowering cherry tree) was planted during the Japan-U.S. Nationwide Centennial Cherry Blossom Tree Planting in 2012. A nearby plaque explains the grove is a living symbol of friendship between the people of Japan and San Diego.
In 2022, I experienced the sublime ringing of the almost two and a half ton Japanese Friendship Bell. That doesn’t happen very often. If you’d like to read about the bell ringing and see those photographs, click here.
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
The Point Loma Association’s volunteer Mean Green Team must have been busy lately. Because look at all the beautiful, bright spring flowers planted along Shelter Island’s long Shoreline Park pathway!
I took this series of photographs today as I walked along the edge of Shelter Island beside San Diego Bay…
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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Looking for something great to do this coming Father’s Day weekend? The 33rd Annual Wooden Boat Festival is taking place next Saturday and Sunday on Shelter Island!
Sons, daughters and fathers will enjoy exploring dozens of beautiful wooden vessels, large and small, docked at the Koehler Kraft boat building company. There will be a wide array of incredible vintage wooden boats that have been beautifully maintained and restored.
It’s the premier event of its kind in Southern California. Visitors will be able to board many of the wooden craft and be awed by the fine craftsmanship.
Tickets are very affordable and kids are about half price, so you can bring the whole family. There will be artists, live music, food and raffles, and all proceeds from the event go to benefit the Sea Scouts.
Visit the Wooden Boat Festival website here to learn more!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.
Shelter Island is one of the most beautiful spots in sunny San Diego.
Today, as I walked along Shelter Island’s linear Shoreline Park, I noticed two volunteers working around colorful blooms in a flower bed. They were making the bayside park even more beautiful!
Theresa and Steve are both members of the Point Loma Association’s volunteer Mean Green Team. When they saw me taking photographs of the flowers, they immediately greeted me with big smiles.
I learned that they and other Mean Green Team members maintain about ten garden spaces along Shelter Island. They not only work to make this part of Point Loma more beautiful, but they brighten the world that we all live in.
I learned Theresa was born in China, grew up in Taiwan, and is very grateful to live in the United States. She’s an author! One of her books, titled Americans the Beautiful, provides portraits of many wonderful friends. In her book’s Acknowledgments, she writes: Thank you for showing and sharing how you applied yourself to achieve wonderful dreams for humanity, creativity, entrepreneurship, independence and inspiration.
Two tours in one! That’s what it felt like today when I explored San Diego’s harbor on a SEAL Tours boat with wheels!
It was my very first time experiencing one of these unique tours.
Passengers boarded the amphibious SEAL vehicle at Seaport Village and started down Harbor Drive along San Diego’s beautiful Embarcadero. We passed the airport and Spanish Landing and entered Point Loma. All the while, our tour guide (the boat’s first mate), provided a fun and spirited narration. My love of San Diego was renewed once again.
At the Shelter Island boat ramp we seamlessly entered San Diego Bay and headed out across the sparkling water!
Of course there were amazing views of downtown San Diego across the gentle water. And, of course, we had to swing by the bait dock near the entrance to the bay where sea lions entertained kids with their antics.
We saw several Navy facilities and were surprised to learn how super high-tech robot ships are autonomously interdicting drug smugglers. We also saw where the Navy trains sea lions and dolphins to detect underwater objects. And we saw the R/P FLIP, a very long, very strange Scripps research vessel that plunges 90 degrees into the ocean to become a sort of floating tower! There was so much cool stuff to see, I couldn’t begin to describe it all.
The tour was a lot of fun. Our guide, Bret, was a ham and everyone was always smiling and laughing. Personally, I learned quite a lot about my city that I hadn’t known before.
Are you a San Diego resident? This month–January–Old Town Trolley Tours is offering locals free rides. That includes the SEAL Tours, which they operate!
If you do partake of this harbor experience, make sure to bring a jacket. The wind out on the bay can be quite chilly!
Here’s a tiny taste of the experience…
Both the captain and first mate were really nice. As we got started visual aids helped to explain the coming attractions.Two huge cruise ships were docked on the Embarcadero today.Passing the beautiful, historic Star of India, world’s oldest active sailing ship.We’ve arrived at Shelter Island, where we saw many boats moored in America’s Cup Harbor.About to enter San Diego Bay! How cool is this?The transition to water is so smooth you hardly notice it.Another perfect San Diego day.Hello!The bait dock had everyone taking a million photos. Those sea lions are digesting their breakfast.How cute!A bunch of cormorants were hanging out on this section.A view of downtown San Diego skyscrapers over the large naval air base on Coronado’s North Island.That narrow ship on the right operates autonomously. If it detects a drug runner out on the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard is notified.Here’s where sea lions are trained by the U.S. Navy. We learned they are actually a bit more intelligent than dolphins.Here comes another SEAL Tour! That’s Harbor Island behind it.Back to land! Before heading again down city streets, our captain checked for seaweed caught in the wheels!
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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!
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!
Those who participated in this walk for peace were invited up in groups of four to ring the large bell, which was forged in Japan. The bell was given to San Diego in 1958 by the city of Yokohama, its Sister City, as a token of eternal friendship. The bell symbolizes the hope for everlasting peace.
The traditional bronze bell, six feet high and almost two and half tons, was cast by Masahiko Katori, who has been called a Living National Treasure by the government of Japan.
I was expecting a loud booming clang when the swinging wooden pole struck the bell, but the sound was surprisingly low and mellow. It was a dignified, subtle, spiritual sound. The bell spoke with a voice that was strangely sublime.
Before the ringing of the Japanese Friendship Bell commenced, the taiko drumming group Genbu Daiko performed nearby.
In groups of four, people approach the Japanese Friendship Bell on Shelter Island.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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 very special event was held today on San Diego’s Shelter Island. The Pacific Rim Park Friendship Walk brought together many people who desire a better world, where everyone everywhere lives in peace.
The Friendship Walk was created by the Ilan-Lael Foundation, which was established in 1982 by world-renowned local artists James Hubbell and his wife Anne.
As we walked along Shelter Island’s Shoreline Park, led by the fun Chunky Hustle Brass Band, we saw several works of public art created by James Hubbell, and inspiring messages, and a sparkling view of San Diego Bay.
We started at Hubbell’s fanciful Pacific Portal, passed his female sculpture Pacific Spirit, and ended at the amazing Pearl of the Pacific. The Pearl of the Pacific is one of several Pacific Rim Parks uniting many nations, all inspired by Hubbell and built with many volunteer hands.
As you can see in the upcoming photos, we also passed the Shelter Island Pier and the Tunaman’s Memorial.
An awesome Japanese taiko drumming performance by Genbu Daiko was followed by many honorary speakers, including from a group that traveled to San Diego for the event from South Korea, and Drew, son of James Hubbell.
After checking out a couple of food trucks and an Ilan-Lael Pop-up Gift Shop, it was time to head over to Shelter Island’s historic Japanese Friendship Bell, to hear it ring. I’ll be blogging about that coming up!
I was told this was the first ever Friendship Walk. I hope there are many more to come!
Friendship begins with a smile.
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Thank you for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!
I post new blogs pretty often, so you might want to bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and check back from time to time.
You can explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on this website’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There’s a lot of stuff to share and enjoy!
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!
Cool San Diego Sights! 