Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Friday, April 13, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Monster warning to protect oceans
The landing of a colossal squid by New Zealand fishermen earlier this year offered a rare glimpse into the mysterious world deep beneath the waves. Scientist Mark Norman uses this week's Green Room to argue that it also shows how marine life is being destroyed before it is understood.
I cannot see this as a highpoint of scientific discovery drawn from the distant reaches of our wild oceans
In the era of super science, nothing shows up how little we know of our own planet as finding massive "sea monsters".
LINK
I cannot see this as a highpoint of scientific discovery drawn from the distant reaches of our wild oceans
In the era of super science, nothing shows up how little we know of our own planet as finding massive "sea monsters".
LINK
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
That Gunk on Your Car: A Unique Guide to Insects of North America
That Gunk on Your Car: A Unique Guide to Insects of North America I thought this a hilarious title for a book and had to post it here. I first saw it at one of my favorite science blogs A Blog around the Clock
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Shrimp Boat Captain Survives Run-In With Bull Shark
The sharks are challenging our place at the top of the food chain, and I won't take it anymore!
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. -- The crew of a Fort Myers Beach shrimp boat said they are lucky to be alive after a bull shark attacked their boat.
Fort Myers is one of the largest shrimping ports in the nation. The area nets over $60 million for the local economy.
Captain Roger Schmall said he had one of the biggest scares of his life when a 14-foot bull shark broke the boat's tail shaft, leaving Schmall and his crew of two adrift about 100 miles off the coast.
"It was just sad, you know, sitting there watching it," Schmall said of his boat, Christy Nichole, which he had for 12 years.
Historians say bull sharks are the most dangerous in the world -- very aggressive and territorial with more testosterone than any other creature on the planet.
"We get hundreds of sharks following the boats when we're working, and it gets pretty scary sometimes," Schmall said. "Throwing trash over and watching them in a feeding frenzy."
Schmall said he and his crew felt a slam at 3:30 a.m., but that it was nothing unusual because sharks had been known to get caught underneath.
Schmall said the boat could go in neutral, but the problems started after the shark bogged down engine down, and snapped the tail. He said the Christy Nichole rapidly began taking in water.
"It was just getting out of hand," a fellow shirmper and captain, Henry Gore, said. "The water was coming in faster than the pumps were keeping up."
Schmall radioed Captain Gore for help and two hours later, the frightened shrimpers had no choice but to watch their 36-year-old boat sink with sharks all around it.
"The crew just -- their eyes were this big! They threw their gear on my boat, and just abandoned ship," said Gore.
Schmall told NBC 6 that he would probably be back on the water but that he was going to take some time off first to see his family.
LINK
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. -- The crew of a Fort Myers Beach shrimp boat said they are lucky to be alive after a bull shark attacked their boat.
Fort Myers is one of the largest shrimping ports in the nation. The area nets over $60 million for the local economy.
Captain Roger Schmall said he had one of the biggest scares of his life when a 14-foot bull shark broke the boat's tail shaft, leaving Schmall and his crew of two adrift about 100 miles off the coast.
"It was just sad, you know, sitting there watching it," Schmall said of his boat, Christy Nichole, which he had for 12 years.
Historians say bull sharks are the most dangerous in the world -- very aggressive and territorial with more testosterone than any other creature on the planet.
"We get hundreds of sharks following the boats when we're working, and it gets pretty scary sometimes," Schmall said. "Throwing trash over and watching them in a feeding frenzy."
Schmall said he and his crew felt a slam at 3:30 a.m., but that it was nothing unusual because sharks had been known to get caught underneath.
Schmall said the boat could go in neutral, but the problems started after the shark bogged down engine down, and snapped the tail. He said the Christy Nichole rapidly began taking in water.
"It was just getting out of hand," a fellow shirmper and captain, Henry Gore, said. "The water was coming in faster than the pumps were keeping up."
Schmall radioed Captain Gore for help and two hours later, the frightened shrimpers had no choice but to watch their 36-year-old boat sink with sharks all around it.
"The crew just -- their eyes were this big! They threw their gear on my boat, and just abandoned ship," said Gore.
Schmall told NBC 6 that he would probably be back on the water but that he was going to take some time off first to see his family.
LINK
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
4-legged duck puts best foot forward in Britain
Webbed feet run in Stumpy's family, but he's the first to have four of them.
A rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on. Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.
"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.
LINK
A rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on. Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.
"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.
LINK
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Whaling ship fire ends the slaughter
The Australian understands the Nisshin Maru has suffered damage to its engines, generating system and communications gear but the owner has not decided whether it could make its own way or would need to be towed into port.
Commercial whaling is forbidden under a 20-year-old International Whaling Commission moratorium.
However, Japan uses a loophole that allows whaling for the purpose of scientific research. It sells the meat from its research - about 5300 tonnes last year - for eating.
MORE
Commercial whaling is forbidden under a 20-year-old International Whaling Commission moratorium.
However, Japan uses a loophole that allows whaling for the purpose of scientific research. It sells the meat from its research - about 5300 tonnes last year - for eating.
MORE
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Muir Glacier (Alarming photos)
On the left is a photograph of Muir Glacier taken on August 13, 1941, by glaciologist William O. Field; on the right, a photograph taken from the same vantage on August 31, 2004, by geologist Bruce F. Molnia of the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
According to Molnia, between 1941 and 2004 the glacier retreated more than twelve kilometers (seven miles) and thinned by more than 800 meters (875 yards).
Ocean water has filled the valley, replacing the ice of Muir Glacier; the end of the glacier has retreated out of the field of view. The glacier’s absence reveals scars where glacier ice once scraped high up against the hillside. In 2004, trees and shrubs grow thickly in the foreground, where in 1941 there was only bare rock.
LINK
According to Molnia, between 1941 and 2004 the glacier retreated more than twelve kilometers (seven miles) and thinned by more than 800 meters (875 yards).
Ocean water has filled the valley, replacing the ice of Muir Glacier; the end of the glacier has retreated out of the field of view. The glacier’s absence reveals scars where glacier ice once scraped high up against the hillside. In 2004, trees and shrubs grow thickly in the foreground, where in 1941 there was only bare rock.
LINK
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
