Conservation Stories From Behind the Lens

Each of the 75 photographs featured in our International Conservation Photography Awards exhibit tells a unique and compelling story about a beautiful moment in nature. One that we, as viewers, individually interpret based on our life experiences and understanding of the natural world.

From photographs of tiny creatures to enormous environmental changes, I couldn't help but want to know more... What inspired the photographer to seek out this moment in nature? What is the message they want to convey with their work? How did they get that amazing shot?

I sat down with several of the award-winning photographers and asked if they would be willing to share their story. Here's what Seattle-based bird and wildlife photographer Paul Bannick, Victoria, British Columbia-based photographer TJ Watt, and South Africa-based photographer Cheryl-Samantha Owen each had to say:

Arctic Emissary


Cape Gannet Rescue


Last Stands


Posted by Cathy Britt, Digital Communications

What do YOU want to protect?
From the bird’s nest in your backyard to that spot on the hiking trail where you feel totally alone… from the tiny park down the block to a tree frog half a world away… what matters to you? Share your photo in our Conservation Candids Flickr group!

Animals in the Spring

Although we have had some blustery weather over the last few days in the Seattle area, there is no doubt that spring is arriving. Not only are flowers and leaves peeking their way back into the landscape, but Washington state animals are starting some interesting activities as well. Here are a few things to look for around your neighborhood and around the Puget Sound.

Wood Peckers: You may have noticed already this spring that woodpeckers are pecking your house, trees and other parts of your neighborhood. There are a couple of different reasons why woodpeckers “drum” on houses. Searching for food is one reason, but did you know they may also be trying to attract a mate?

That’s right, drumming is used to communicate with other woodpeckers, and they tend to be at their loudest during their breeding season in early spring. In order to get the point across and make the drumming even louder, woodpeckers have been known to drum on flashing around chimneys (thus the rooftop noise), siding and even metal street lamps!

Hairy Woodpecker, photo by Stuart MacKay

Once a woodpecker has found a mate, your house will likely go unnoticed by the neighborhood woodpeckers.

Male American Robins: Is a robin attacking your windows every morning? It may be startling, but the bird is not injuring itself. Instead, this noisy and disruptive behavior is due to a male robin seeing his reflection in the window pane. Male robins get particularly territorial during their mating season in early spring, and will come back repeatedly to your windows to check up on this “invader.”

Male American Robin, photo by Stuart MacKay

Just like the wood pecker, this behavior only lasts for a short period of time. However, for your sanity, click here to find out ways to reduce reflections on your windows.

Orcas: The three pods that inhabit Puget Sound, known as the southern resident killer whale population, return to the area in May to follow salmon runs until October. Popular routes for the Puget Sound’s three orca pods in the spring are generally around the San Juan Islands. If whale watching boats aren’t your style, people often see orcas from the state parks on the islands.

Orca Whale, photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/ephotion/255115491/

Eastern Cottontails: If there are rabbits that hang out in your backyard or neighborhood park, you may see some interesting mating displays. Eastern cottontails, common in the Seattle area, have a mating season of February-September. The males fight each other and do dance-like courtship displays. These displays include group chases and lots of jumping, including females jumping over males.

Eastern Cottontail

Keep an eye out for these interesting creatures and enjoy your spring!

Posted By: Andrea Barber, Communications

Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners announced

Posted by: Julia Swan

Congratulations to the 2008 winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

While each of the selected finalists took remarkable photographs, I am most intrigued by the "Ten years and younger" category. This photo by an Italian boy named Alessandro Oggioni , for example, is quite impressive for such a young lad:

To see who won the overall award and was named the Wildlife Photographer of the Year, click here.

Wildlife photography: Is it art?

Posted by: Julia Swan

The Burke loves wildlife photographers. We love them so much, in fact, that we frequently dedicate our temporary exhibit spaces to their work. In the past few years we’ve shown the work of Subhankar Banerjee, Florian Schulz, Keith Lazelle and the Wildlife Photographers of the Year. Next week, we premiere an exhibit featuring the work of Steven Kazlowski, who photographs polar bears in the Arctic. Later this year, we open Arctic Wings and Irreplaceable, which both use wildlife photography to look at the critical issue of climate change.

Photography is a form of art. It is traditionally displayed in museums as artwork, and is often celebrated for its aesthetic qualities. However, photography is a rich medium and has the power to deliver not only aesthetic satisfaction, but content. Photography captures real moments in time and preserves them. When photographs are placed in a museum, they have the ability to transport a visitor to a different time or place.

The Burke Museum is not an art museum, yet we constantly display works of art. From cultural artifacts to stunning wildlife photography, we take art work and place it in an entirely different context. Our exhibits are typically driven by content and message, and place less emphasis on pure aestheticism, yet I really believe that much of the work we bring into this museum of natural history and culture is just as beautiful and aesthetically engaging as the classic Impressionist paintings currently on view at the Seattle Art Museum.

So I urge visitors to the Burke Museum to take in the messages of conservation and environmental awareness that we promote through exhibits like The Last Polar Bear, but to also consider the brilliant, vibrant wildlife photographs that adorn our gallery walls as objects of art, worthy of recognition as much for their artistry as for their powerful message.

- Julia

Photo left: An artistic shot of a beech tree by Luca Fantoni & Danilo Porta. Featured in Wildlife Photographer of the Year at the Burke in 2006.

Photo right: Two visitors enjoy the beautiful photography of Florian Schulz in Yellowstone to Yukon in 2007.

A new fish family?

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham

It looks like this handsome fellow...

...might just represent a newly discovered family of anglerfishes, according to Burke Curator of Fishes Ted Pietsch, one of the world's leading authorities on anglerfishes.

Though its missing the tell-tale prey-attracting lure that usually sprouts from anglerfishes' heads, the fish's eyes, flat-face, and leglike pectoral fins clued Dr. Pietsch in that this is most likely an anglerfish.

Pending DNA and morphology studies to confirm this classification, this fish could represent the first new family of anglerfishes described in a long, long time. In fact, according to Dr. Pietsch, in the last 50 years, scientists have described only five new families of fishes and none of them were even remotely related to anglerfishes.

Read more about its discovery over at uwnews.org.

- Rebecca

Photo by M. Snyder, starknakedfish.com/divingmaluku.com.

Introducing the Hoh River

Posted by: Julia Swan

In just less than a month, a new environmental photography exhibit opens on April 24, 2008 at the Burke called Fast Moving Water: The Hoh River Story. The exhibit showcases 14 framed color photographs of the Hoh River by acclaimed nature photographer Keith Lazelle.

I have to admit, until recently I knew very little about the Hoh River. I grew up in the backyard of the mighty Columba River, so 50 miles of flowing water in the Olympic Peninsula seemed more like a stream to me. Of course, once I started learning more about the Hoh River, I realized that this small river, tucked away in one of the most beautiful places in the Pacific Northwest, has quite a fascinating story.

The Hoh River helps support one of the planet’s last intact temperate rainforests, the Hoh Rain Forest. Enormous Sitka spruce, western hemlock, and western red cedar trees tower at up to 300 feet and are part of a rich and diverse ecosystem of plants and animals. Bald eagles, northern spotted owls, Roosevelt elk, black bears, bull trout, and salmon are just a few of the species that can commonly be found in the Hoh Rain Forest.

The Hoh River plays a crucial part in sustaining this luscious forest habitat. The waters of the river, and its tributaries, are an important life source for nearly all of the living creatures and green plant life in the forest. That’s all fine and well, but the truly unique feature of the Hoh River is that it is one of the only rivers in the contiguous United States that is in pristine condition—in other words, the Hoh River and its floodplain has escaped the onslaught of damming, logging, and other sorts of development that has affected so many American rivers.

In an age when untouched natural environments are increasingly vulnerable, the Hoh River is an important symbol of why conservation matters. Luckily, groups such as the The Hoh River Trust, our partner in bringing this exhibit to the Burke, have worked hard to protect and preserve the river and the land that surrounds it. One look at the gorgeous photos from Fast Moving Water, and I’m sold. In fact, once that sun comes back out, I might have to a plan a little venture into the rainforest!

- Julia

Photos by Keith Lazelle, on view in Fast Moving Water: The Hoh River Story, April 24-June 6, 2008, Burke Museum.

Wilderness Conference coming up

Posted by: Rebecca Whitham

How do we preserve wilderness for future generations in a world where environmental and social change is occurring more rapidly than ever?

If you are interested in meeting the many people who have created and protected the wilderness areas of this region or if you want to learn more about how change impacts local wildlife, you should check out the 2008 Wilderness Conference, April 3 – 5.

From sessions on global warming, to bridging political divides through environmentalism, to indigenous perspectives on wilderness, there’s a lot to take from this event.

Of special interest to Burke fans:

Steven Kazlowski, the photographer behind the Burke’s upcoming exhibit The Last Polar Bear, will be there signing books with publishers The Mountaineers Books. Stephen Brown, editor of Arctic Wings, on which the Burke’s upcoming fall photography exhibit of the same name is based, will be featured as the Saturday night Banquet Speaker.

Details on registering can be found online at the conference home page. It’s not too late to register and there are some affordable options.

A number of the Burke staff will be attending the kickoff event on Thurs., April 3 at Kane Hall on the UW campus – a presentation by award winning photo-journalist Gary Braasch, author of Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World. See you there!

- Rebecca