Tuesday, July 29, 2003
Fangtooth. Gulper eel. Goblin shrimp. The animals that live deep in the ocean look as creepy as they sound. In June 2003, scientists bagged all sorts of bizarre creatures that dwell in the depths while taking a research cruise between Australia and New Zealand. The specimens found include a sea spider with organs in its legs, a shark with sandpaper skin and a squid with a big eye and little eye -- one to find prey, the other to avoid becoming it.
Let me not remind you of how ewe these creatures are, weird, crazy, mutant? Describing them is almost impossible so we provided images courtesy of cnn ----»
Can you guess what image belongs too what creature?
To guess just simply click on the thumbnail to view the larger image then fill out the answers in the below form and send away, we'll email you your results so please include a valid email....
Results of the highests scorers will be provided with a link back to their webpage/blog etc....
Match the name of the creature with its photo..
The truth is out there......... Good Luck!
ANEMONE HERMIT CRABS
Anemone hermit crabs often live inside the coral relative called zonathid, where the soft crustaceans can be safe. The zonathid also benefits from the relationship, as the crabs move them to places where food can be found
FANGTOOTH
The fangtooth is tough, but even the biggest is only the size of a human hand. Its two biggest bottom teeth are so long that, when the fish closes its mouth, they slide into two upper sheaths running along the sides of the fish's brain.
FINNED OCTOPUS
The finned octopus flaps a pair of fins to move, earning it second name, Dumbo octopus. It scoots along the bottom of the sea, using hairs to sense prey on the floor.
GOBLIN SHRIMP
Goblin shrimp take their name from their twisted faces. Heavily armored, they are found on the sea floor.
HUMPBACK ANGLERFISH
The female humpback anglerfish is similar to a tennis ball in size, but its black color, sharp teeth and expandable gut make it a nasty creature to meet deep in the sea. The female has a glowing rod hanging off its head as well, to lure its prey.
JEWEL SQUID
The jewel squid hangs at a 45 degree angle in the water, looking up at prey with one eye that is much bigger than the other, which looks for predators. Also, tiny light-producing organs project downward, making the squid hard to see from below.
PRICKLY SHARK
The strangely shaped prickly shark has sharp skin instead of scales, making it feel sandpaper-like instead of smooth. A large liver filled with oil creates buoyancy and lets the shark hang in the water without swimming.
SEA SPIDER
Sea spiders -- which are marine animals and not real spiders -- have bodies so small that they store some of their organs in their long legs. Some of the biggest ones are those found deepest in the ocean.
STONE CRAB
The stone crab has long spikes for protection and claws for crushing. A relation of the hermit crab, its red color helps it disappear in dark water.
UMBRELLA MOUTH GULPER EEL
The umbrella mouth gulper eel can open its mouth to pelican-like proportions. The fish waves the glowing tip of its tail inside its mouth to capture undersea prey.
    
    
Posted at 08:07 pm by NN Team
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Great White Trapped In Australia
A Great white shark has become trapped in a fish cage off Port Lincoln (east of Boston Island).
The shark became trapped on the morning June 29th in a cage being used by the SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and its research partners.
PIRSA Director Fisheries Policy Will Zacharin said that PIRSA, SARDI and staff from the Department of Environment and Heritage spent much of yesterday and today on site assessing the situation and trying to establish whether the shark could be released without losing the fish within the cage.
“It is thought the white shark bit its way in through the bottom of the fish cage,” Mr Zacharin said.
A seal was also spotted inside the cage yesterday but has not been sighted today. The cage has 2.5 m high anti-seal nets and electric fences to discourage sharks and seals from accessing the cage above the water.
“This morning, SARDI and PIRSA staff again tried to release the shark through the underwater transfer gate,” Mr Zacharin said.
“A number of options have been considered including dropping the net and releasing the fish inside the cage however SARDI and its research partners have invested close to $1 million in the fish being held in the fish cage.
“At this stage, the shark is not causing any problems; it is calm and not agitated and swimming at the bottom of the cage and we will assess the situation again tomorrow.
“No authorization to destroy the shark has been given,” said Mr Zacharin
An Update is pending...
Nemo News
Posted at 07:37 pm by NN Team
Thursday, July 10, 2003
Dead Porpoises Disrupt Berlin Whaling Meeting
BERLIN - Greenpeace activists stretchered three dead porpoises to the site of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) yesterday, disrupting the meeting to highlight the threats marine mammals face.
The three harbor porpoises had been ensnared and drowned by fishing nets in the Baltic Sea. The activists urged the world whaling organization to tackle the problem of so-called bycatch, which environmentalists say kills 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises a year.
Activists bearing the porpoises, about 1-1/2 meters (3 ft 3 in) long, marched on to the grounds of the hotel where the IWC meeting was taking place.
The demonstration was timed to coincide with a coffee break in the meeting. Some delegates booed when they saw the dead porpoises.
This week's annual meeting has exposed the deep splits in the IWC between pro-whaling nations, led by Japan and Norway, which are keen to allow limited whale catches, and those such as the United States and many European states pushing to give greater protection to the planet's biggest mammals.
Anti-whalers succeeded Monday in backing a measure to set up a conservation committee, a sharp shift for the 57-year-old Commission hailed by environmentalists.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
Posted at 07:46 pm by NN Team
Clown fish farms create thousands of Nemos away from coral reefs
FORT PIERCE, Florida — Before a diver scooped Nemo from his ocean home in a Disney animated movie, researchers here devised a way to grow the clown fish in tanks thousands of miles from the Pacific.
The "Nemo" grown by Oceans Reefs & Aquariums has orange and white stripes as vibrant as those born around the Great Barrier Reef and no imperfections — unlike Nemo, who has a nubby right flipper.
"I wish I could go out and find a fish with that deformity. It would be the $100,000 fish," said company president Kevin Gaines.
Demand for clown fish has been booming since Finding Nemo was released last month. Last weekend, the movie about a father's search for his son, who was nabbed from the sea and placed in a dentist's aquarium, regained the top spot at the box office.
Pet stores and wholesalers are stocking up on the funny-looking fish, known for bouncing around like a ball in the water.
"Everyone who comes in says they want Nemo," said Michael Diaz, manager at Jewels of the Sea in West Palm Beach, where clown fish sales have more than doubled. The store has ready-made tanks starting at $90, with coral mimicking the movie set and a pair of fish that look like young Nemo and dad Marlin. It sells both farm-raised and wild-caught fish.
Plenty of clown fish are still harvested from the Pacific, but Gaines said farm-raised fish like his are grabbing a larger corner of the market, particularly in the last few years. Farms in Florida have raised the clown fish since the 1970s, but until five years ago, they often turned out small and pale.
Researchers at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach, created an improved diet for the larvae and young clown fish with carotenoids, which are similar to the carotene pigment that makes carrots orange. The fish thrived, keeping their vibrant colors through adulthood when they were fed the enriched diet.
Oceans Reefs & Aquariums, a subsidiary of the marine research institution, adopted the new technology and began breeding the fish, marketing them as a hardier, more environmentally friendly alternative to fish collected from the Pacific's coral reefs.
At least 95 percent of the saltwater fish bought and sold in the aquarium hobby come from the wild, most from the waters around Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, and other Pacific islands.
The industry has grown tremendously in the last two decades, with the value of exported fresh and saltwater ornamental fish increasing from $40 million in the 1980s to $182 million in 2000, according to a study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
Many fish, such as the regal blue tang named Dory in Finding Nemo, can only be bought from the wild. The tangs release their eggs behind them into the sea, and they float and hatch near the surface, unlike clown fish eggs, which stick to the bottom until they hatch.
Associated press June 2003
Posted at 07:34 pm by NN Team
: Keikos Story :
1977 or 1978: Keiko is born in the Atlantic Ocean near Iceland.
1979: Keiko is captured and brought to Saedyrasfnid, an Icelandic aquarium.
1982: Marineland in Ontario, Canada, buys Keiko, where he begins his training and performs for the public. Skin lesions first appear.
1985: Marineland sells Keiko to Reino Aventura, an amusement park in Mexico City, for $350,000.
1992: Warner Bros. Studios begins filming "Free Willy" on location in Mexico City. The plot of the movie has a young boy saving a killer whale, portrayed by Keiko, from an unscrupulous marine park owner.
1993: "Free Willy" is a surprise hit at the theaters, especially with millions of schoolchildren around the world. That support, along with a magazine story detailing Keiko's unacceptable living conditions at the small amusement park in Mexico City, prompts the movie company and the park to begin a search for a new home for Keiko.
1994: Earth Island Institute, an environmental advocacy group for marine animals, begins discussions with the Oregon Coast Aquarium. After the aquarium meets preliminary requirements, the institute begins negotiations with the aquarium. The Free Willy Foundation is formed in November with a $4 million donation from Warner Bros. and an anonymous donor.
1995: The Mexico City amusement park donates Keiko to the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The foundation announces Keiko will live at a new $7.3 million rehabilitation facility at the aquarium, with the hope he eventually will be returned to live in the North Atlantic some day. Craig McCaw and the McCaw Foundation are revealed as the anonymous donors of $2 million that helped start the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The Humane Society of the United States donates $1 million to the foundation, and children around the world begin sending in money for Keiko's freedom. "Free Willy 2" is released on home video, each video carrying a request for donations to be sent to the Free Willy Keiko Foundation. The pool at the aquarium is filled with water in December, in anticipation of Keiko arriving on the announced target date of Jan. 7, 1996.
1996: United Parcel Service delivers Keiko to the aquarium on Jan. 7. Weighing just 7,720 pounds, Keiko is placed in his new pool and experiences sea water for the first time in 14 years. Keiko gains more than 1,000 pounds by year's end, and his skin lesions begin to fade.
1997: Keiko's staff begins introducing him to live fish in May, in an effort to teach him to hunt for food. His skin lesions have all disappeared. At first he does not eat the fish, but brings them to his trainers. He catches and eats his first fish in August. A filtration problem causes a halt in the live-fish release in his tank, but the program resumes early in 1998. After 18 months in Newport, Keiko is lifted from the water and weighed in June. He weighs 9,620 pounds, a gain of 1,900 pounds. The staff of the Free Willy Foundation sets a goal of releasing Keiko into a pen in the North Atlantic by 1998. Keiko suffers from a possible liver ailment and respiratory infection but responds to treatment.
1998: A medical staff panel announces Keiko is healthy and exhibiting normal behavior patterns of a killer whale. In April, Familian Industrial Plastics in Washougal begins building a bay pen for Keiko. The components are shipped to Iceland, where they will be assembled. Keiko is eating live steelhead weighing from three to 12 pounds, eating up to half of his daily intake of food. On September 9, Keiko is lifted from his tank in and transported by C-17 directly from Newport to Vestmannaeyjar Iceland. Late September, the staff and keiko face their first winter storm. Winds of over 130 mph lash the baypen. Staff and Keiko come through unharmed. Baypen repairs continue through the winter months.
1999: During his first full year back in his native Icelandic waters, Keiko continues comprehensive physical and behavioral training to prepare him for his potential reintroduction to the wild. An essential component of his program is moving his attention from above to below the surface of the water. In doing so, Keiko depends less on his human caretakers for stimuli and develops greater interest in the surroundings of his natural environment.
2000: As the New Year progresses, Keiko must achieve significant milestones in the Ocean Futures conditioning program if he is to be successful in his natural marine habitat. They include gate training, which will provide Keiko access from the bay pen into Klettsvik Bay, and eventually into the open ocean off Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland. Other important activities Keiko must master are tone recall training, renewed live fish training, learning to be led by boat to the open ocean and performing open ocean "walks" with the Ocean Futures support vessel. Mastery of these steps will help insure that Keiko can be free, fulfilling his destiny as an animal."Born to be Wild." Posted at 07:30 pm by NN Team
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