Southwestern End of Ciboux Island from the West

Photo #1, taken from the western side of the island, shows the long “prow” of the “submarine” at the southwestern tip of Ciboux Island, only a portion of which was shown up close from the eastern side in this essay. At the far right and through the gaps at the top of the “submarine” the shores of Boularderie Island can be espied.

Perspective is a strange thing: the blocky, squarish, chunkiness of the high rock at the far right in photo #1 contrasts mark­ed­ly with the much thinner and more rec­tangular shape in photo #2; even the angles of the tilt in the two photos appear to be dif­ferent! It took me a bit of convincing, but they are indeed the same feature: it’s just that the bottom view was taken with a tele­photo setting from a bit fur­ther south and east than the top view taken with a wider angle setting (compare the GPS coör­di­nates of the two photos).

Photo #2 also demonstrates the very precarious state of that feature: very little support is present beneath the protruding rock. How much longer will it continue to be found as one sees it today? And what has happened to the rock which must once have been beneath it holding it up? And why did it disappear before the rock on top? So many mysteries, at least for one who is not a geologist!

The bare rock slopes of the southwestern tip are very popular with birds: one sees several clusters of birds along its length in photo #1 and gets a better idea of their identity in the close-up in photo #2. The vast majority are cormorants, though a gull can be seen at the far left in both photos. Note the group of five coromorants on the rock below the gull in photo #2; they are easy to miss as they blend well with the colour of the rock behind them.