Did You Know . . .
The California Swell Shark swallows large amounts of water, swelling its body to twice its normal size, to scare off potential predators. Those teeth are enough to scare me!
posted by markus at 1/31/2006 10:37:00 AM
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
The California Swell Shark swallows large amounts of water, swelling its body to twice its normal size, to scare off potential predators. Those teeth are enough to scare me!
Monday, January 30, 2006
Fish Food . . .
• Now that's what I call knitting.
• A Fisherman's Wife's Wet Dream...
• A new baby Toga on the way!
• More Snakeheads! I know Brenda will be happy...
posted by markus at 1/30/2006 10:07:00 AM
Sunday, January 29, 2006
That Shark Was Out For Blood!
Andrew Barnett and his crewmate were the target of a crazed shark attack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. when a 12 ft shark began repeatedly ramming into the hull of their tiny two-man boat trying to sink it! Andrew hid in the cramped cabin listening to loud cracking sounds every time the shark hit the boat... eventually the shark gave up and swam away. Phew!
posted by markus at 1/29/2006 12:02:00 PM
A Mighty Wind
More than 150 swimmers had to be treated for bluebottle stings at Sydney beaches over the weekend. Lifesavers on nearly every Sydney beach reported swimmers being stung! Apparently, the north-east winds deliver a flotilla of unwelcome stingers every summer...
posted by markus at 1/29/2006 11:28:00 AM
Saturday, January 28, 2006
One Less Mouth To Feed
A rare Megamouth Shark died Thursday after accidentally getting caught in a fishing net in the Philippines. The very first Megamouth (pictured above) was discovered in Hawaii in 1976 and was named Megamouth because of it's huge mouth that extends behind the eyes and has approximately 50 rows of tiny on each jaw!
posted by markus at 1/28/2006 02:24:00 PM
If The Aquarium's Rockin', Don't Come Knockin'
Apparently, when hurricane Wilma swept through town, knocking out the power at the McGinty Aquarium for several hours, the sharks knew what to do when the lights went out... and when they came back on. They went at it every day for 2 weeks straight! Six weeks later a female who hadn't laid eggs for 2 years began laying eggs two at a time for five days.
posted by markus at 1/28/2006 01:52:00 PM
Friday, January 27, 2006
Monster Sharks In New Zealand
Yes, sharks. A couple of big ones! Some fishermen got the fright of their lives when a 20 ft great white shark swam under their boat! Then, at Raglan beach, about 100 people quickly got out of the water when a kid spotted another giant shark cruising past him while he was swimming.
posted by markus at 1/27/2006 10:46:00 AM
Can Somebody Get The Lights?
As if getting attacked by a shark wasn't bad enough... this poor guy was barely able to swim back to shore. His friends drove him to a nearby clinic where they discovered his wounds required extensive surgery so he needed to get to a hospital. But get this... mauled and bleeding, he had to watch his emergency air ambulance circling above him for more than an hour, because no one was around to switch on the landing lights and the door was locked! When the rescue aircraft started running low on fuel, a doctor grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed open an airport window to flip the light switch.
posted by markus at 1/27/2006 09:45:00 AM
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Small Fish, Big Pond
Scientists have discovered the world's smallest fish on record in an acidic peat swamp in Indonesia. It's a member of the carp family and only grow to 7.9 millimeters (0.31 inches) and the males have giant pelvic fins for getting it on. The previous record was an 8-millimeter goby.
posted by markus at 1/26/2006 10:57:00 AM
Surf Or Die
Despite a shark sighting at an Oahu beach yesterday, surfers continued to hang ten. Helicopters spotted a 15 to 20 ft shark but when a lifeguard jet skied along the beach to warn people about the shark some surfers just kept right on surfing.
posted by markus at 1/26/2006 10:24:00 AM
Another Step In The Wrong Direction
A 10 year old girl was attacked by a stingray yesterday when she stepped on it. That's twice in 2 days!
posted by markus at 1/26/2006 09:58:00 AM
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Condition: Used
A bogus watering can has been removed from eBay following complaints from the group that tried to rescue the Thames River whale -- and then put its own genuine watering can online. It's currently going for over $200,000!
UPDATE: Ew, I can't read! It's only going for $18,000. Now that's a steal! Thanks, Anonymous!
posted by markus at 1/25/2006 10:18:00 AM
Watch Your Step
This guy stepped on a 3 ft wide stingray Sunday and got barbed in the groin! (That's him holding the swab that shows how far the barb went in.) "It went in cleanly and pulled a bit of stuff out of my leg." Ew.
posted by markus at 1/25/2006 09:52:00 AM
What's In Your Backyard?
An Australian man was surprised to find a saltwater crocodile in his backyard goldfish pond. He knew something wasn't right when one of his fish was minus some scales and two of his goldfish were missing. Then he felt a splash alongside him. The pros were called in and were able to catch the croc and tape its mouth shut.
posted by markus at 1/25/2006 09:46:00 AM
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Million Dollar Vomit!
A family on South Australia's west coast discovered a rare specimen of whale vomit on the beach that's worth over $1 million! The specimen, known scientifically as ambergris, is sought after by perfume companies and worth about $20 per gram. Dang! I've been wasting all this time looking for sea glass!
posted by markus at 1/24/2006 05:52:00 AM
Doggone Crocodile
Police are hunting for a 9 ft crocodile that attacked a dog on a beach on Melville Island on Sunday. A resident reported seeing the crocodile drag the dog from the beach. You know that croc will be back for more...
posted by markus at 1/24/2006 05:39:00 AM
Monday, January 23, 2006
R. I. P. Harley
Harley, Minnesota Zoo's newest dolphin, died Saturday afternoon after jumping out of his pool and fracturing his head on the concrete deck! Poor Harley was only 7 months old.
posted by markus at 1/23/2006 10:30:00 AM
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Shark Alert!
Beachgoers in Australia were warned yet again to watch theur backs when 3 different sharks sightings occured yesterday!
posted by markus at 1/22/2006 12:26:00 PM
Saturday, January 21, 2006
R. I. P. River Thames Whale
The lost whale seen swimming up the River Thames died today as rescuers tried to help it back into the sea.
posted by markus at 1/21/2006 05:50:00 PM
Friday, January 20, 2006
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Giant Octopus Tries To Eat Submarine!
A giant octopus almost ate a submarine when the it invaded its territory. Apparently, the 18-foot sea monster wrapped its tentacles around the sub and tried to bite through it! When they finally got the octopus to let go and got the sub to the surface, they found two pieces of tentacle, each as thick as a man's arm, still attached to it.
posted by markus at 1/19/2006 10:12:00 AM
"Fin"der Bender
A family had to abandon ship yesterday after their boat bumped into a whale! Luckily, they made it into their life jackets in under 40 seconds and into an inflatable dinghy. The boat sank in 10 minutes.
posted by markus at 1/19/2006 09:57:00 AM
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Go Deep
Shark experts say that swimming in harbours and rivers could be even more dangerous than swimming in the ocean! Between mid-December and late January bull sharks usually hang out in Sydney Harbour, as well as in other inland rivers and waterways. So... if you're splashing around in some shallow water, just rememember... there's probably a hungry shark nearby.
posted by markus at 1/18/2006 09:43:00 AM
You're Not From Around Here, Are You?
A couple was suprised when they reeled in an 8 ft bull shark yesterday in New Zealand. Apparently, bull sharks have never been seen in New Zealand waters before. They must be looking for new digs after all the bad publicity they were getting in Australia...
posted by markus at 1/18/2006 09:24:00 AM
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Name That Fish
An unidentified fish was discovered in the Cayman Islands last weekend... any takers?
more on this at Dr. Fong!
posted by markus at 1/17/2006 11:02:00 AM
Crocs Gone Wild!
A 13-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man have been killed by crocs in Papua New Guinea in the past two weeks! The girl was washing in the river on January 5 when a large crocodile dragged her under the water as her mother tried to pull her from its mouth! Then, on January 11, a man was swimming in the river when a large crocodile attacked and dragged him under, later resurfacing with the man's body in it's mouth.
Meanwhile, there has been an unconfirmed report of another woman and a 10-year-old boy being killed in separate crocodile attacks last week. Somebody should feed those crocs some TrimSpa.
posted by markus at 1/17/2006 09:32:00 AM
Monday, January 16, 2006
"Sea Monster" Closes Beach
A strange, jelly-like creature with tentacles and a really bad smell was discovered at an Australian beach on Saturday. The beach was closed for most of the day until they could figure out if the thing was dangerous or not. Turns out the mysterious "sea monster" was actually just a cunjevoi (a common sea-squirt) with seaweed stuck to it.
posted by markus at 1/16/2006 09:49:00 AM
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Blame It On The Fish Guts
Fishermen cleaning their catch at a boat ramp and throwing bloody scraps into the water might have caused last week's fatal shark attack. Reports say that fish remains were thrown into the water moments before the attack and the waters there were teeming with sharks. I guess they didn't feel the need to mention this before the attack.
posted by markus at 1/15/2006 12:31:00 PM
He'll Live . . .
A man was attacked by a 10 ft shark yesterday while diving with friends off a reef near Perth, Australia. The shark snuck up on the guy and grabbed his elbow! The diver couldn't I.D. the shark but thinks it was a great white saying it was a lot bigger than him and had big head with a lot of teeth. He used his spear gun to defend himself while hiding in the reef until friends came to save him.
posted by markus at 1/15/2006 11:04:00 AM
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Back For More
Sixteen people were stung at New Zealand beaches yesterday by small Portuguese man-of-war. So what do people do? They go back for more! Several more people were stung today at one of the same beaches...
posted by markus at 1/14/2006 01:38:00 PM
Shark Steaks For Everyone!
When two men diving for lobsters in the Bahamas noticed a giant 10 ft tiger shark stalking them and realized they were about to become it's next meal, they did what they had to do...
posted by markus at 1/14/2006 01:02:00 PM
Not On My Turf
While Ashrita Furman was attempting to set a new world record for underwater juggling at an aquarium in Malaysia, a pesky shark kept getting in his way. Apparently, the juggler was in the shark's favorite resting spot. Eleven minutes short of the record, the juggler gave up.
posted by markus at 1/14/2006 12:26:00 PM
Friday, January 13, 2006
Sleep With The Fishes!
Construction begins next month on Hydropolis, the underwater luxury hotel located in Dubai. It's rumoured that rooms will go for around $3,000 per night. But this ain''t the first underwater hotel ever built... you can stay at Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida for less than $300 a night.
posted by markus at 1/13/2006 11:07:00 AM
R. I. P. Kandu
Kandu the killer whale who entertained customers at Marineland for decades, died this week at the age of 27.
posted by markus at 1/13/2006 10:42:00 AM
Thursday, January 12, 2006
The 2006 San Francisco Ocean Film Festival!
Too bad I don't live in San Francisco... if I did I'd definitely check out the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival where you can see films like Ivan, The Return of the Stingrays, City of Mermaids, and Devil's Teeth.
Thanks Anhoni!
posted by markus at 1/12/2006 11:23:00 AM
