School’s out in a couple of weeks. And summer camps? Who knows. So for that moment when your child has had enough, or when you have, here’s a little something. After stomping, running, punching a pillow or sounding your barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world, pull up one of these webcams and let it all slip away.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s otters spiral so deliciously through the water, they might inspire you to go out and roll on the grass. There are 10 webcams and some let you pop into some exhibits for a live feeding.
The aquarium created the most soothing experience this side of a hammock on the beach with a series of videos from the jellyfish cam. There’s the live cam above, and a meditation series with music and guided breathing invitations.
The Oakland Zoo has two grizzly bears and two brown bears who drink and play in the water near the grizzly webcam. The zoo also has animal cams watching black bears, sun bears and sometimes others.
The penguins at the California Academy of Sciences are impossibly cute. And now there’s a Pocket Penguins App, which lets you watch the African penguins on your phone while you’re — oh, I don’t know — waiting for 30 minutes to get into a grocery store.
You’re not likely to see much movement on the koala cam at the San Diego Zoo, because they sleep for 18 to 22 hours a day, but koalas manage to be adorable just dozing. And honestly, it’s nice to see these little ones resting peacefully despite the pandemic. Click on the photo to be taken to the site.
With EarthCam, you can take a full orbit around Earth from the International Space Station. The ISS completes a full orbit every 90 minutes, with a dramatic sunrise or sunset every 45 minutes. But you may have to be patient — when the ISS loses signal, the screen will be dark. You can still see the day’s visual highlights in a photo gallery on the site. Click on the photo to be taken to the site.
Never seen Old Faithful, the iconic geyser in Yellowstone National Park? Take a visit to the geyser’s livestream, one of nine webcams that show you what the park is looking like while it’s closed to the public.
Maybe it’s late at night, and all of the other live cams have gone dark. You can always find a live stream on Africam with an intimate view of watering holes across the continent. These oases attract all kinds of animals from big cats and antelopes to crocodiles and storks. These live cams have night vision capabilities, so there is always a chance to spy on the creatures taking refuge near the water.
Finally, we can’t forget the beloved peregrine falcons raising three fuzzy chicks in their nest atop UC Berkeley’s Campanile. The Cal Falcon Cam is maintained by five organizations, including the Raptor Observatory.
The falcon chicks aren’t expected to take their first flight until late May, said Allen Fish, director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, and they’ll likely stay close to the nest well into July. So no matter what’s happening with the coronavirus pandemic, you can still watch these baby raptors grow up.