Gallery - Hokkaido Birding in Winter

Hokkaido birding in winter in the unspoiled Shiretoko National Park is amazing and humbling at the same time. The Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) is a raptor that has been around since before the last ice age, never needing to evolve. Steller’s Sea Eagles are the perfect predator in no small part due to huge razor sharp beak and talons. They prefer a diet of salmon and trout as well as other fish, but when the fishing is slow, Hokkaido locals keep their pets indoors and small children are watched closely when venturing outside. It’s not uncommon fawns to become prey during slow fishing times, and I have countless film and photos of predation from Africa and other parts of the world, but I don’t ever share them because I find them distasteful. It’s my personal belief that photography, especially wildlife photography should be G-rated unless expressly used for educational purposes, then I’m in full support of it. Actually, my media has been used for such purposes, but in each case the film and photographs were prefaced with a warning regarding their content. Thinking about my own reservations for graphic media posts, I can’t believe the state of today’s social media. When I scan through it, I see polar bears attacking a seal or lions making a kill. My first question is, “Where is the supervision for these posts?” It’s scary how easily social media age restrictions can be spoofed and that there’s next to no oversight on the posts themselves. Eventually, if concerned community members speak up, posts will be flagged and taken down, but by that time, the damage has already been done. Based on what I’ve been seeing lately, my feelings are that society has turned upside down. My mentors have never and would never share such photos or ‘reels’ where a young audience could view it without supervision, such as today’s social media. We were born and raised at a different time.