Pure white Beluga whales feeding on hooligan in the Kenai River in Alaska.
Hooligan? I’d pay to watch that.
Hooligan, as in the little smelt that swarm coastal rivers in Alaska every spring.
I’ve seen a quetzal and a half (the bottom half was blocked by a branch). People come from around the world to see them, and many don’t manage it, so of course my husband and I (who didn’t care much) saw several.
I see and hear loons every summer, which are officially threatened.
I’ve seen bald eagles in the wild, in Maine. Their nests are huge, and their call is a much softer, more melodious chirp than I would have expected.
That’s great that you helped save those birds. I’ve heard of the Kakapo. A flightless parrot, who would’ve thunk it. That Tuatara sure is a freaky animal. An eyespot on the top of it’s head? A 13 month time period for the egg to hatch. By the way, what do you call the gestation period of an egg, and what is the record for the animal kingdom?. Plus, the eggs are laid up to 5 years after mating. I guess that’s a pretty strong evolutionary advantage.
Blue whale
Fin Whale
Sperm whale
Humpback whale
Orca
manatee
Harbour Porpoise
Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (rare) 300?
I have seen all of these super up close.
For birds
Short-tailed Albatross rare
Black-footed Albatross
Laysan Albatross
I have seen all five kinds of Aucklets (And a good Sibley story)
I saw the largest Northern Fulmar colony in the world. Not a rare bird but an exceptionally isolated in travel place.
Fur seals
sea lions
and many nesting birds that usually don’t always share the same place all on the same island
Even touched them in the wild.
A cougar in Colorado
I saw a glaucous winged gull perched in a living spruce tree before. I don’t think I have ever seen a gull in a living tree before or after that. it just seemed odd.
A snowy Owl (not rare but I have only ever seen one and it was on the shoreline)
Hmm…
I really think there are some other notables but I cant seem to think of them now.
Big on my list is to goto Iliamna Lake. And see one of only two populations of freshwater seals in the world. And the mysterious fish. The Lake Iliamna monster if it in fact exists.
I am a little upset that my chances of seeing a Polar Bear are slim in my foreseeable future.
I second the suggestion to read Douglas Adams book. It is great
I saw an American Crocodile in the Everglades (though apparently the population has been upgraded to “threatened”, according to Wikipedia).
Also a pair of Whooping Cranes (about 370 living in the wild) at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
There was a bald eagle’s nest near my grandparent’s cottage in northern Wisconsin when I was a kid.
Unfortunately there are no chances left to see the Baiji Dolphin mentioned in the book as it is now functionally extinct.
Being a Floridian I’ve seen plenty of Bald Eagles in the wild. I’ve also handled four of them at a wildbird rehab facility. I’ve seen some other unusual birds there, like a Whooping Crane, but I guess they don’t count because they weren’t in the wild.
I’ve seen manatees, too.
I’ve also seen a sea turtle but I wasn’t certain of the species because it was in the water and I was on a boat. I mostly saw the top of the shell and head when it surfaced for air.
John Carter of Mars says
Not likely, unless you’re old enough to remember the oil burning Cutler Ridge power plant, next to the Turkey Point nuclear plant. Turkey Point does not discharge any heated water. Instead it has miles of closed circuit cooling canals. These happen to be habitat for the endangered American crocodile. About 1/3 of the total US population lives in and around the Turkey Point site. A good friend of mine is in charge of Florida Power & Light’s crocodile maintenance and protection program.
The FPL plant at Ft. Pierce, also on FLs east coast and about 100 miles north of Miami, does discharge heated water. It also has a manatee observation area where dozens of them can be seen in cooler months. This is perhaps the place you remember.
Colibri, you’ve worked with some fascinating species! I don’t think you “have me beat” at all. Maybe someday I’ll get to NZ-- it’s certainly on my short list.
Lots of other people have posted some fabulous sightings too. It’s great to know how many people have such vivid memories of wild animals.
When I was a kid, I saw many horned toads.
Yes, they are really “horned lizards.” But they are much rarer in Texas than they used to be.
I’m even old enough to remember going to a County Commission meeting to protest its construction.
You’ll note I did say I’m not current with things there. Must have been the oil burner I remember attracting the manatees, 'cause it sure did put a lot of hot water through that little canal!
temporary hijack/ I remember it that way myself. We must be contemporaries. Hum a few bars of Thanks for the memories… /end hijack with apologies
Laid out on the tundra for about an hour one afternoon amid a herd of a dozen musk ox.
A huge Canadian Lynx crossed the road in front of me during a snowstorm. Was close enough to clearly see the size of his paws.
Mountain lion crossed in front of us near Eagle’s Nest, N.M. one evening.
Sat on a mound with a family of Arctic Fox one afternoon. It was their den and eventually all the young uns’ came out to sun/play.
Had a wolverine come up and “investigate” us on the Slope. He’d been pursuing a wounded Caribou. Had to fire a shot overhead to get him to leave.
Giant Sea Turtles, Viper, Monitor Lizard (Malaysia)
Lion Fish, Giant Clam, Pagonlin, (Indonesia)
Condor (Peru)
I saw a condor while I was in Peru also. The thing was in captivity, a breeding program we were told but I have my doubts. Anyway the thing must have been about 3 to 31/2 feet tall. I have never seen a bird that large before. I can’t imagine how big the wing span would have been on that sucker.
Lots of Florida sightings in this thread, including mine: Bald eagles, manatees, otters, armadillos (some of them still alive!), and once, a white deer.
I’m always fascinated to see the wildlife when I travel. I’ll be excited to see even a squirrel, provided it’s a different kind of squirrel than the ones I’m used to. I saw the greatest variety of critters when I visited California, including a fox, a coyote (I think), and the sea lions. Wow!
The nukupu’u in Hawaii. Of course, I cannot/**will not **tell you where. Yellow body, with black beak. :eek:
Or they’ve moved to cooler climes. 
My parents’ house has/had an armadillo burrow right close to the AC unit.
Manatees by the FPL plant discharge, a panther in Fakahatchee Strand, Wood Storks in a canal by my apartment, an American Crocodile in the canal by my previous apartment, Eagles in various local parks, and Armadillos in pieces by the road.
I saw a Great Crested Newt when I was a kid. It was under a stone, and I thought it was a butterfly which had been somehow crushed by the stone when I saw its bright belly.