Over the past year I have visited the Farallon Islands three times. Located approximately 30 miles west of  San Francisco’s  Golden Gate Bridge  these  craggy rocks  lie within San Francisco county: it is hard to believe as they are  a wild  place, the home or resting place to numerous birds and  marine mammals.

I  spent  a couple  weeks to a month  in each of South East Farallon Island’s  (SEFI) three  research seasons  working part-time as an intern for Point Blue (PRBO) helping to collect a variety of data to add to their long-term data sets. The remainder of  my time  was devoted to  photographing and sketching the wildlife, primarily birds in the fall and spring, in winter  much of my focus was on the seals and sea lions. As we head into October, the  shorter days combined with the slightly crisper weather, my thoughts have turned to the couple weeks I spent on SEFI during  last fall’s migration season.

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My latest children’s book, Far from Shore: Chronicles of an Open Ocean Voyage, was  released in June.

Far from Shore: chronicles of an open ocean voyage

It was a long time in the making and at times I wondered if I would ever finish it. But it was also thoroughly enjoyable to make an excuse for myself to paint and write about all those fantastic creatures found in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, a part of the ocean I have come to love.

Recently the book received complimentary reviews in the NY Times and the Washington Post.

I hope all the positive press  helps the  book reach a wider audience and become the inspiration for  our future marine and wildlife biologists.