Space Sunday: to orbit, to orbit!

Posted on by Inara Pey
An enhanced image of the International Space Station showing how it will appear when six iROSA solar arrays have been deployed over three pairs of the the station’s existing primary arrays. Credit: NASA

It’s getting to be another busy period at the International Space Station, with a lot of comings and goings, together with the on-going upgrade work.

In June, NASA / SpaceX launched the CRS-22 resupply mission to the station carrying 3.2 tonnes of equipment and supplies. A part of that cargo comprised a pair of new “roll out” solar arrays (i.e. they are stowed as a tube, and then unfurled when mounted on the space station). Their arrival marked the start of a major plan to completely overhaul the station’s power generation capabilities by supplementing the current arrays.

Referred to as iROSA, the new arrays were installed over pairs of existing panel which have been getting steadily less efficient in converting sunlight into electrical power. Once the work has been completed – there are two more pairs of iROSA arrays to be delivered in upcoming resupply missions – the station’s ability to produce electrical power via sunlight will be increased to ~215 Kilowatts, well about the  ~160 Kilowatts needed to power it at the moment.

How the ISS looked after the departure of the CRS-22 Cargo Dragon. Credit: NASA

The CRS-22 Dragon vehicle actually departed the ISS on July 10th, leaving two Russian Progress resupply vehicles (77/MS-16 and 78/MS-17), the Soyuz MS-18 crew vehicle and the Endeavour Crew-2 Dragon vehicle docked at the station.

On July 21st, the Crew Dragon Endeavour, which carried NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur and Thomas Pesquet and Akihiko Hoshide (ESA and Japan’s JAXA respectively) to the station, also undocked, but not to return to Earth. Instead, it was piloted around the station to be re-attached to the International Docking Adaptor 3 port vacated by the CRS-22 Cargo Dragon, in order to make way for the upcoming CST-100 Starliner test flight to the ISS, of which more below.

Caught from a camera on the ISS, Crew Dragon Endeavour, with its nose cone open to expose the forward docking mechanism and hatch, makes a soft dock at the IDA-3 docking port of the ISS, July 21st, 2021. Credit: NASA

The next ISS launch to take place came out of Russia on July 21st, when a Proton-M booster lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 14:58 UTC, carrying the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module (MLM) on its way to the station.

Designed to provide dedicated space for Russian activates on the ISS, the 20-tonne module – the largest component of the ISS built and launched by Russia, combines additional living space with working space, cargo storage, a dedicated external robotic arm courtesy of the European Space Agency, and attitude control system to supplement those already on the station. It is also around 14 years overdue, having originally been intended for launch in 2007 – and parts of it are approaching 30 years of age, having been originally built in the 1990s as the Functional Cargo Block-2 (FGB-2), built alongside the station’s Zarya module.

A Proton-M lifts-off on July 21st carrying the Nauka MLM on its way to the ISS. Credit: Roscosmos

Following a 9-minute ascent to orbit, Nauka successfully detached from the booster’s upper stage and deployed its solar panels and communications arrays at the start of an 8-day flight to rendezvous and dock with the ISS. This lengthy rendezvous being designed to allow ground engineers to carry out a range of checks ahead of the module reaching the station.

After the launch, reports circulated that the module had encountered assorted problems with its automatic docking system, various sensors and its motors. Neither Roscosmos nor NASA have commented on these reports, other than Roscosmos stated the module was in a safe orbit, and there has been no change in the planned rendezvous and docking date of July 29th.

British skywatcher Martin Lewis snapped this picture of Nauka passing over southern England some 6 hours after launch. Credit: SkyInspector
Ahead of that, the Progress 77/MS-16 vehicle will depart the station, taking the Russia Pirs docking / mini- science module with it. Once clear of the station, the Progress vehicle will de-orbit, burning up in the atmosphere with the 20-year-only Pirs. The module has already been subject to an EVA by Russian cosmonauts on the ISS, who severed all non-essentially connections to the module and ensured it was ready for the undocking manoeuvre.

The undocking / detachment had originally been scheduled for Friday, July 23rd, but was postponed for twenty-four hours, ostensibly to give the the Russia crew on the station more time in which to complete tasks in preparation to detach Pirs. As it is, the undocking / detachment is now expected to occur on Monday, July 26th.

The Nauka MLM being prepared for launch integration. Credit: Rsocosmos

CST-100 Demo 2 Set To Launch

Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner is ready to make its second attempted to make an uncrewed rendezvous with the ISS.

If all goes according to plan, the flight will commence at 18:53 UTC on Friday, July 30th, 2021 when an Atlas V rocket will lift-off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. once in orbit, the capsule – which will be used alongside the SpaceX Crew Dragon to ferry crews to / from the space station – will be put through a series of tests prior to performing an automated rendezvous and docking with the ISS.

The flight – called Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), comes after an 18-month delay in the Starliner programme, in part the result of the OFT-1 having to be aborted without any rendezvous and docking with ISS after a software issue caused things to go slightly awry, although the capsule did make a successful return to Earth an landing (see: Space Sunday: Starliner’s First Orbital Flight).

The CST-100 Starliner due to fly the OFT-2 mission is moved from Boeing’s vehicle preparation facilities at Kennedy Space Centre ahead of integration into its United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle. Credit: Greg Scott

Following that flight, an extensive review of Boeing / NASA CST-100 flight operations resulted in a wide-ranging series of recommendations being made, including that of a second uncrewed test flight and rendezvous.  Originally, it had been hoped OFT-2 could be completed by the end of 2020, but several factors – including the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic – put paid to that. Even so, while “late”, the July 30th target launch date is ahead of the August / September period NASA had been looking at.

After launch, the Demo-2 flight should see the capsule reach its initial orbit some 31 minutes after lift-off, allowing the initial in-flight tests to be carried out under the eyes of ground control. After this, the vehicle will proceed to catch-up and rendezvous with the ISS, with docking scheduled for `9:06 UTC on Saturday, July 31st.

If all goes well, I’ll have an update on the flight in my next Space Sunday update.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: to orbit, to orbit!” →

Socialites, felines, and wizardry in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Sunday, July 25th, 13:00: Tea-Time At the Movies: The Philadelphia Story

The tea-time team return to 1940 and George Cukor’s romantic comedy starring starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, and Ruth Hussey. It’s also the film – believe it or not – revived Hepburn’s career after she’d inadvertently found herself on a list of Hollywood actors considered to be box office poison after appearing in a series of flops.

Based on the successful Broadway play of the same name, the film follows Tracy Lord (Hepburn), the elder daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia socialite family. Having divorced her first husband, yacht designer C.K. Dexter Haven (Grant), she is now set to marry the  nouveau riche “man of the people” George Kittredge (played by John Howard). The wedding has drawn the attention of the printed media, and reporter Macaulay “Mike” Connor (Stewart) and photographer Liz Imbrie (Hussey) are dispatched from New York to inveigle their way into the the Philadelphia  socialite circles with the aid of Dexter Haven, in order to get the scoop on the nuptials.

Whilst not in the least bit fooled by the subterfuge Dexter Haven attempts to use to introduce “Mike” and Liz into their world, Tracy nevertheless is disarmed by “Mike” and realises he has admirable qualities. At the same time, it is evident that her mother feels Dexter Haven is still very much part of the family, allowing him back into Tracy’s orbit. As a result she starts to find herself torn between feelings for Dexter Haven, “Mike” and poor George.

Things then get really complicated on the evening before the wedding, and spill over to the morning of the wedding itself, prompting a crisis when George walks out on Tracy. Will there be a scandal, or will the situation be rescued – and if so, by whom – C.K. Dexter Haven or the honourable Macaulay “Mike” Connor? Join Corwyn Allen, Gloriana Maertens, Caledonia Skytower, Da5id  Abbott, Kayden Oconnell & Elrik Merlin to find out!

Monday, July 26th 19:00: The Weigher

A world ruled by sentiment big cats where the rule of law is enforced by the Weighers, a combination of judge, peacemaker and accountant through a brutal code of honour and combat. Without their violent intervention in things, all-out war and anarchy would ensue.

When two human explorers – fragile, weak and potentially easy prey – arrive on that world, Slasher, a Weigher of skill and talent in physical combat, finds herself defending them. In doing so, she finds herself a disgraced outcast.

Join Gyro Muggins as he read the story by Eric Vinicoff and Marcia Martin.

Tuesday, July 27th, 19:00 Hogwarts An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide

a collection of J.K. Rowling’s writing from the Pottermore archives: short reads originally featured on pottermore.com. These eBooks, with writing curated by Pottermore, will take you beyond the Harry Potter stories as J.K. Rowling reveals her inspiration, intricate details of characters’ lives and surprises from the wizarding world.

Wednesday, July 28th, 19:00 Defence Against the Dark Arts

“From Gilderoy  Lockheart to Madeye Moody, and summat in between” – with Caledonia Skytower.

Thursday, July 29th,

19:00 We Continue, from The Book of Dragons

Finn Zeddmore takes the story floor with this tale by Ann Leckie and Rachel Swirsky.

21:00 Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary sci-fi-fantasy from on-line sources such as Escape Pod, Light Speed, and Clarkesworld, with Finn Zeddmore.

Friday, July  30th, 14:30: Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals

Football in Ankh-Morpork is not as we might know it. Rather than being comprised of rules and played within a recognisable ground, it is far more akin to the somewhat violent mob football of medieval Europe.

Not that this is a concern for the elderly, mostly indolent and (some might be tempted to think) somewhat inept old wizards making up the faculty staff at the city’s school of wizardry, the Unseen University. Until, that is, their very handsome annual endowment becomes subject to their playing the game themselves.

Thus, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully sets out a two-pronged strategy: to ensure the city’s version of football is restructured with proper (and favourable?) rules, and to put team preparations at the university in the hands of the talented candle dribbler, Mr. Nutt and his assistant, Trevor Likely, the son of the city’s most famous (if deceased – did I mention the game can be violent?) player, who are in turn supported by Glenda Sugarbean, who runs the university’s night kitchen and her assistant Juliet Stollop.

Except Mr. Nutt soon discovers he has problems of his own to deal with, and Trevor has promised his Mum he’ll never get involved in the game.  Meanwhile, Glenda has the daily responsibility of baking the Discworld’s best pies, and Juliet is about to find herself whisked towards the heights of fame as a fashion model, thus potentially leaving the team a little short on practical advice…

Join Caledonia Skytower as she presents the 37th novel in the Discworld series, and possibly one of its greatest satirical undertakings encompassing football, academia, traditions, the fashion industry, politics, love, fandom, and which mixes in more serious themes of identity, crab mentality and self-worth.

 

Luane’s lost world in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021 – click any image for full size

It’s been a while since I’ve visited Luane’s World, the estate held and operated by LuaneMeo, but a recent blog post by Rig Torok of the estate’s main Full region – Le Monde Perdu (The Lost World)- gave me pause to take a jump back and take a fresh wander.

Le Monde Perdu is a beautiful, romantic Island far away from everything. A place where you can find inner peace, enjoy and relax. Landscaping by LuaneMeo and Gorba McMahon.

– from the region’s About Land description

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

I first visited the region in 2016, and then again in 2018. At the time of both of those visits, Luane’s world occupied a different location as an estate with two regions encompassing public spaces, Luane’s store and Luane’s Magical Garden. Today, the estate comprises five regions  – the main public region of Le Monde Perdu, and four residential regions gathered to the north of it, and both the store and Luane’s Magical world have shifted into the sky, reachable via teleport.

The ground level of Le Monde Perdu presents itself as a rugged island with a high horseshoe of hills skirted from south to north via the west coast by a sandy beach, with the eastern side falling to a narrow ribbon of rocky, shingle waterfront sitting between cliffs and shallows. At roughly the mid-point along the island’s south side, the hills break, allowing the sand to flow inland and cup the waters of a freshwater pool at the heart of the island, fed by falls that tumble down the cliffs that form the pool’s north side.

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

Within this setting there a a lot to see and capture, thanks in part to a use of altitude and landscaping – the hills aren’t all of a single height but offer stepped rises that present natural shoulders that present spaces which Luane and Gorba have used to the fullest. To the south-east, for example, the hills rise from the entrance to the inner pool to offer a choice of routes: one around the statue at the top of the rise and then down to a ribbon lake that sits on a lower shoulder, or left along a cobbled path that branches at the foot of a further rise.

The right branch of this path curls up around the the next rise of the hill reaching its top and the small farmhouse sits there alongside a sparkling, fast-flowing stream that tumbles down along the spine of the hill to help feed the freshwater pool below via its own falls. The left branch of the path, meanwhile, descends along a gentle slope to where a dining table has been set out beneath a net awning that also overlooks the central lake. The path to this dining area also offers a way down to (or up from) the lake via steeply-set steps, so giving visitors a further route of exploration.

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

The top of these steps is also home to a zipline that spans the mouth of the southern cutting, giving a means to reach a cabin that sits above the beach to the south-west, nestled under a truncated peak that feeds another stream that runs around the ridge of the hills to reach the north side waterfalls..

The shelf on which the cabin sits runs west and north around the island to reach a cavern, passing steps that climb up to it from the beach, whilst also offering visitors a further option to go horse riding within the region (there is one at the landing point, alongside a bicycle rezzer, although options for comfortable riding are a tad limited due to the lie of the land).As a further attraction, a little pond sits just down from the cabin, the home to a family of otters.

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

These otters are just a touch of the wildlife to be found across the island, and part of the fun in exploring is that of coming across the various animals and birds / waterfowl. Some are easy to spot, others might require keen eyes; some might even appear a little threatening / intimidating – the shark casually swimming alongside a part of the beach where paddling is clearly encouraged, and the bears within one of the island’s caverns (the second of these runs through the western hills between inner and outer beaches).

The richness of detail across the region cannot be over-emphasised; wildlife, plants, overall design, placement of buildings and structures, and places to sit have all been carefully considered to present Le Monde Perdu as a perfectly natural environment that flows from point to point, whilst also offering numerous individual locations that are either highly photogenic or offer places to sit and appreciate the surroundings – or both. And if you want to catch a different perspective of the island and its surroundings, try hopping up to the hot air balloon that floats serenely above it.

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

Finally, don’t forget that there is also Luane’s Magical World awaiting a visit in the sky overhead as well. You can reach it via the SLurl here, or via the experience-based teleport sign alongside the ground-level landing point for the region. I’m not going to delve into that here; suffice it to say it is another engaging setting, and I’ll leave a little taste of it with an image.

Captivatingly set and with a lot to see (and do), Le Monde Perdu remains a thoroughly engaging visit.

LLuane’s Magical World – Le Monde Perdu, July 2021

SLurl Details

Le Monde Perdu is rated as Adult.

The Scale of Love in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Carbone Gallery: Milena Carbone – The Scale of Love: Agape

The Scale of Love is the title of Milena Carbone’s latest solo exhibition, which is now open at The Carbone Gallery in Second Life. It is something of a refresh of her 2020 exhibition, The Nine Levels of Love, presented at Noir’Wen City, but which I failed to blog about at the time – so I hope this makes up for that oversight.

The central theme of the exhibition is a visual exploration of the various types of love as espoused by the ancient Greeks; but as with the majority of Milena’s work, the canvas she paints within this compact installation is – quite literally – cosmic in scale, and carries with it some religious undertones that indirectly link the piece back to one of Milena’s central themes: the nature of “god”.

The Carbone Gallery: Milena Carbone – The Scale of Love: Pothos

To address the art first – as this can be appreciated quite  independently of any more complex cogitations if one so wishes. This is set within a marble-walled structure stand nine large format images, each representing a state of love as defined by the ancient Greeks.

Each image interprets the selected ideal of love through a simple statement utilising posed avatars pictured against white backdrops and then processed to be presented in soft, neutral tones and / or monochrome (with a single notable exception). The result is a single frame encapsulation of their subject that has a depth of structure about it that is captivating.

Take, for example, Harmonia, with its two figures joined in form by dance both in the foreground and through their shadows (which in turn have amore nuanced meaning, to which I’ll return in a moment). It perfectly and simply encapsulates the idea of harmonious love – two souls united, able to move as one, sharing outlook and motion, a concord of expression.

The exception to the general approach of soft tones and monochrome – each of which offers a subtle statement on both the positives of love: gentleness, lightness of mood and touch, and the negatives: broodiness, possessiveness – is that of Eros, which Milena defines simple as “flesh love”, but which might be more correctly seen as primal lust, and the form of love the ancient Greeks saw as the most base and frightening, involving as it does a loss of control. To represent this, Milena utilises a sea of red washing around her two lovers, symbolising the heat of passion (and which may perhaps also be looked upon as having more subtle undertones).

The broader aspects of the installation revolve around the origins of love, both as a human concept and as a part of the cosmos as a whole.

The latter involves considerations on the universe as a whole, how everything we can see, everything we know, everything we are, is the result of particles coming together under the force of gravity, the one seemingly immutable and universal force of attraction. Thus, given that love – in all its forms, including its expression through our various religions – is an immutable part of human life, might it not be a continuance of that universal theme of mutual attraction?

Bound with this is a consideration of Aristophanes‘ speech from Plato’s symposium on the origins of human love. Intended as a humorous morality tale, the speech as referenced here is used to draw a further line through the idea of human love being part of the natural state of attraction found in the universe as a whole. At the same time, Milena perhaps offers a subtle reference to the speech through the positioning of the figures in Hormonia, I commented on earlier; note how they appear to be conjoined to form a double-headed, eight-limbed creature as imagined by Aristophanes whilst considering the nature of love.

The Carbone Gallery: Milena Carbone – The Scale of Love: Harmonia

One might niggle over Milena’s selection of types of love – where is Ludus or Pragma, for example? When considering their definitions, are not her Agape and Charis one in the same, both effectively referencing unconditional love? But the fact is, there are multiple ways to look upon the ancient Greek concepts of love; as such, it’s likely not advised to get too hung up on definitions or individual references.

What is worthy of appreciation is the art itself, even if you don’t follow the broader themes contained within it, because The Scale of Love is beautifully executed. The art is exquisite, while the setting offers a Greco-religious theme suggestive of both a temple and a church that are in keeping with both the focus of the exhibition and its broader themes: the marble and Doric columns echoing the former, the central hall and end rooms echoing the nave and crossing of a church. And in the latter regard, make sure you look down the “nave” from one end towards Agape at the other, and the marvellous way it has been framed (and consider the subtext within that framing).

As always with Milena’s Work, The Scale of Love engages the eye and mind on multiple levels, the art and setting alone making it visually appealing, the themes and ideas contained within them making it cognitively rich.

SLurl Details

2021 TPV Developer meeting week #29 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
La Vallee, April 2021 – blog post

The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, July 23rd, 2021.

These meetings are generally held every other week.  They are recorded by Pantera Północy, and her video of the meeting is embedded at the end of this report – my thanks to her for allowing me to do so – and it is used with a transcript of the chat log from the meeting and my own audio recording to produce these notes.

SL Viewer

The Fernet Maintenance RC viewer, version  6.4.21.561414 and dated July 14th, was promoted to de facto release status on July 19th. This leaves no current RC viewers in the pipeline and the official project viewers unchanged, thus:

  • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26, 2020.
  • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.
  • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, dated November 22, 2019.
  • 360º Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, dated July 16, 2019.

General Viewer Notes

  • The next RC viewer that should be appearing is likely to have the next round of Chrome Embedded Framework (CEF) media handling updates.

360º Snapshot Viewer

Work has now officially re-started on the 360º Snapshot viewer, and there will be some simulator-side updates in support of this will be going out in a simulator RC release in week #30 (commencing Monday, July 27th, 2021). it is to ensure the simulator sends the viewer all of the information it needs to correctly render a 360º field of view around the camera prior to the 6 snapshots being taken (which are then stitched into a completed 360º image). No date is available for when the updated 360º Snapshot viewer will be available.

Alexa Linden offered a peek of playing with the updated viewer via Twitter.

Graphics Work

  • The focus for the Graphics team continues to be on integrating the Tracy debugger / system analyser for cross-platform graphics development into the viewer.
  • This will be used to look for performance “hot spots” in the rendering code. This is liable to continue to be the case for the next couple of weeks.
  • When completed, the work will be compiled into a static library within viewer repositories, but will not be enabled by default – it will require and explicit command line call during a viewer build process.

In Brief

  • Apparently, script-to-viewer messages sent via llRegionSayTo that start with “@” are never displayed in local chat. It’s not clear if this is by accident or design, but the request has been made to leave the functionality that way to assist with RLVa-specific commands send via llRegionSayTo not being spammed in open chat.
    • The broad response from Vir and Rider Linden was that the history behind the code in question (CHAT_TYPE_DIRECT) is unclear to them, but if changing it would potentially be damaging to existing content, then it is unlikely to be changed.
  • It’s again been noted that there can be a significant performance impact on the viewer due to the presence of Linden Water “that isn’t there” (that is, you cannot see it, because it is overlaid by terrain, for example). It is hoped that improved occlusion capabilities (i.e. “if you can’t see it, just don’t render it”) might eventually be a performance win in overcoming this.
  • Not strictly viewer-related, but Rider Linden proposed a new function via the forums – llIsFriend – on July 22nd, which sparked a lot of discussion via the forum thread, specifically around the question of privacy (having scripts from others – say a merchant or club owner  – able to read your Friends list) and the potential for abuse. Having had time to consider it, Rider noted the following during the TPVD meeting:
The more I think about it, the more a perms check is called for on that; [it is] probably not a perm that would be auto-granted in an experience, either. I’d set-up a new permission [that would] ask the person running the script, “may this script have access to your friends list?”
The more I think about it, the more I think it is not something that should be allowed invisibly behind the scenes under any circumstances … the added complexity does push it further back, tho. If a script wants to access your Friends list, it needs to be up-front about it. 

Next Meeting

  • The next meeting should be on August 6th, 2021.

Leloo’s land of the sea in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021 – click any image for full size

‘Twas off back to Leloo’s World, a corner of Second Life offered for public enjoyment by LeLoo (LeLooUlf), for me during the week, as I wanted to witness the latest of her designs following a suggestion from Shawn Shakespeare for the poke!

The last time I visited, a scant two months ago, the quarter-region parcel offered an inland setting that put me in mind of Old Mexico, with high canyons and desert environment. The new setting – Tierra Mer Mar – retains a sense of high rocky walls, but rather than being the walls of canyons, they are now the faces of the high cliffs of a coastal area that cup within their arms a small bay as they face a sandy island rising out of the blue sea.

Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021

To the south, the cliffs are set far enough back to allow for a shelf of land to sit between them and the waters below. This shelf is home to the parcel’s landing point. It also provides the first area of exploration, with a gacha area tucked into the trees to the west, and narrow walk along the foot of the cliffs that runs to the east, the land dropping away along one side, the path itself eventually coming to a blunt end.

A set of rope steps runs down from the end of the path to offer a way down to a shallow bay that otherwise sits almost completely hidden from the rest of the setting courtesy of a low headland. Thee steps down to this little bay might be missed, thanks to clearer wooden steps and platforms leading the way down to the water’s edge at the head of the larger bay, and a floating deck topped by a shaded piano. A further route down to the water’s edge can also be found closer to the gacha / landing area, where stone steps offer the way down to another floating deck.

Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021

Those wishing to make their way to the north side of the bay can do so by following the track from the landing point and through the gacha before doubling back along a hanging footbridge that runs above the rocks of the bay’s edge and alongside a series of tanks in which sharks watch visitor progress. After turning to run along the base of the western cliffs, the footbridge provides access to the the north-side beach and headland.

As well as being an eye-catching setting, Terra Del Mar is home to a host of wildlife. Seals play in the shallows or bask on the shore and on floating platforms – the latter practically thumbing their noses (so to speak) at the orca swimming nearby. Dolphins also play on or close to the surface of the water, whilst the dorsal fins of sharks can also be seen cutting through the the waves in places.

Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021

On land, bears are also enjoying the sun, and a couple of sea turtles appear to have been carried up from the water and unfortunately left on a deck well above the water. Birds and waterfowl are also much in evidence; gulls fly overhead, and pelicans and cormorants have found perches along the water’s edge, doubtless keeping at least one eye on the waves lest a meal swim into the shallows, whilst sandpipers scuttle back and forth on the sand.

There are more creatures to be found in the water as well – fish, sharks, rays, the aforementioned orca and dolphins, more turtles – all of which make spending time in / under the water strongly recommended. Indeed, swimming and puttering about on the water is encouraged: there’s a dive point at the end of a pair of logs extending from one of the over-water platform and float rezzers await use, while boats can also be found that offer sit points. If you have a swim option on your AO or a dedicated swimming system, then this a a place to put it to good use!

Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021

Staying on land offers a lot to discover as well – such as the secluded bay mentioned above, where shoreline snacks can be enjoyed or a shark balloon obtained and played with. There’s also the various decks and narrow stretches of beach where seats can be found for sitting one your own or with a friend or friends, with more shaded by the inland trees and swings are awaiting passengers here and there.

Once again rich in detail and demonstrating you don’t necessarily need the space of a full-sized region to create an engaging and noteworthy setting, Terra Del Mar at LeLoo’s World is deserving of a visit and offers multiple opportunities for photographers.

Tierra Mer Mar, LeLoo’s World, July 2021

SLurl Details