The fossil impression of a prehistoric land-based whale

Early whales hunted at sea but spent the rest of their time on land, suggest two newly-described fossil whales — one of them a pregnant female — believed to represent a transitional species between earth- and water-bound behemoths.

Dating from 47.5 million years ago, the whales had large teeth suited for consuming fish, and flipper-like limbs that could support their weight on land, albeit awkwardly. The fetal skeleton was positioned for head-first delivery, typically seen in land mammals. Modern whales give birth tail-first.

“They clearly were tied to the shore,” said study co-author Philip Gingerich, a University of Michigan paleontologist, in a press release. “They were living at the land-sea interface and going back and forth.”

Gingerich’s team dubbed the whales Maiacetus inuus. Maicetus means “mother whale,” and Inuus was a Roman fertility god.

“About 40 to 50 million years ago, the ocean was very rich with life, fish and other creatures, in shallow water,” said Brian Huber, a Smithsonian Institute paleontologist, during the opening of an M. inuus-featuring exhibit last fall.  “Mammals were diversifying on land, and there was a lot of competition for food. So, some mammals began living part of their lives in the ocean, just to feed. At some point, they began living all of their lives in the ocean.”

source: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/02/earlywhale/

But the Swedish expedition team that took the plunge surfaced with more questions than answers – and certainly no solution to its origins.

The divers found that the object, which some have likened to the Millennium Falcon because of its unusual round outline, was raised about 10 to 13ft above the seabed and curved in at the sides, giving it a mushroom shape.

An aerial view of the alleged UFO and landing strip

They added that the object has ’rounded sides and rugged edges’

‘First we thought this was only stone, but this is something else,’ diver Peter Lindberg said in a press release.

At the center of the object, which has a 60-meter diameter, has an ‘egg shaped hole leading into it from the top’.

Surrounding the hole, they found a strange, unexplained rock formation. Adding fuel to the speculative fire, they said that the rocks looked ‘like small fireplaces’ and the ‘stones were covered in something resembling soot’.

Divers found strange rock formations littering the area

‘Since no volcanic activity has ever been reported in the Baltic Sea the find becomes even stranger,’ Mr Lindberg continued.

A brief video clip of the dive was released to Swedish-language paper Expressen and can be viewed on Gizmodo.

‘As laymen we can only speculate how this is made by nature, but this is the strangest thing I have ever experienced as a professional diver.’

The soot also proved cause for concern for Mr Lindberg’s colleague on the Ocean X explorer team, Stefan Hogeborn.

‘During my 20-year diving career, including 6,000 dives, I have never seen anything like this. Normally stones don’t burn,’ Mr Hogeborn said in the release.

Located in the Baltic Sea

‘I can’t explain what we saw, and I went down there to answer questions, but I came up with even more questions.’

Another find that they saw in person for the first time was the 985-foot trail that they described ‘as a runway or a downhill path that is flattened at the seabed with the object at the end of it’.

The object was first found this month last year, but because of a lack of funding and bad timing, they have were not able to pull a team together to see for themselves – just the strange, metallic outline, and a similar disk-shaped object about 200 metres away.

As it was before the recent dive, the story behind the object is anyone’s guess.

‘We’ve heard lots of different kinds of explanations, from George Lucas’s spaceship – the Millennium Falcon – to “it’s some kind of plug to the inner world,” like it should be hell down there or something,’ Mr Lindberg said.

The UFO looks similar to Star Wars’ Millenium Falcon ship

Speaking to Fox News, he said: ‘We don’t know whether it is a natural phenomenon, or an object. We saw it on sonar when we were searching for a wreck from World War I. This circular object just turned up on the monitor.

While the Ocean Explorer team is understandably excited about their potentially earth-shattering find, others are slightly more sceptical and are questioning the accuracy of the sonar technology.

In the past, such technology has confused foreign objects with unusual- but natural- rock formations.

Part of the trouble they face, however, is that they have no way of telling what is inside the supposed cylinder- whether it is filled with gold and riches or simply aged sediment particles.

They’re hoping for the former, and history seems to be in their favour.

The Baltic Sea is a treasure trove for shipwreck hunters, as an estimated 100,000 objects are thought to line the cold sea’s floor.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2160297/Pictured-The-UFO-shaped-object-the-Baltic-Sea–covered-soot-little-fireplaces-lying-end-1-000ft-runway.html#ixzz2MShpZRAK

Watch the documentary

Mermaids have been a popular subject of art and literature for centuries. The legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a woman and the tail of a fish appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, China, and India.

On May 27, 2012, Discovery’s Animal Planet aired “Mermaids: The Body Found”, a two-hour special that paints a somehow convincing picture of the existence of mermaids, what they may look like and why they’ve stayed hidden… until now.

This documentary details the events three scientists witnessed and they believe they found evidence, both physical and vocal, of mermaids. Throughout this documentary, the scientists explain the theory of how mermaids came to be.

Knowing that Discovery Channel is the world’s #1 nonfiction media company, we thought that there may be truth about the revelation.  Like you, we all are all skeptical about it, Discovery also quoted, “What if there’s a kernel of truth behind the legend of this mythic creature? Is the idea of mermaids really so far-fetched? Maybe so, maybe not.

Watch the YouTube clip and you decide.. Note any interesting similarities between the ‘beginning’ of mermaids, and us scuba divers?

- See more at: http://www.myamazingearth.com/2012/08/do-you-believe-in-mermaids/#sthash.kZXBjoFH.dpuf

Are we turning sharks into circus animals? Or simply showing a gentler side?

Last week, we posted a picture to our wall of lover of the sea, Ocean Ramsay, riding on the fin of a Great White Shark. It seemed to receive mixed responses. From ‘good on her’, to ‘that’s just dangerous’, and especially ‘how disrespectful to the animal’.

Ramsay has also had similar interactions with Tiger Sharks (pictured) and Bull Sharks 

What are your thoughts on this? Is riding on the fin of a Great White Shark, or any shark, disrespectful? Are we turning them into, as some have said, ‘circus animals’ by doing these acts?

On the flipside, does riding and interacting with these apex predators help to educate society about the nature of sharks, and that they are not always killing machines? Ramsay states that she enjoys riding sharks ‘as a way of showing the world the animal’s gentler side’.

Patting an apex predator

Here is Ocean’s story from the Daily Telegraph, where you can also watch a video of the encounter:

THERE must be easier ways to get around underwater than hitching a ride with a great white shark.

But for Hawaiian shark conservation advocate Ocean Ramsey, it’s a way of connecting with nature and getting the world to take notice of this apex predator’s gentler side.

Ramsey, a free-diving expert, recently took a risk few others in the world have dared – swimming in open water with several adult great whites.

She told The Daily Telegraph yesterday the experience, which occurred off the coast of Mexico, was one of the highlights of her lifelong diving career.

“The goal was to go and find some great white sharks and collect video footage of their natural behaviour, but also, if the opportunity arose and the conditions were right, to actually interact with them,” she said.

“We wanted to show that this is what they’re really like – not the Hollywood movie where you put a drop of blood in the water and the animals go crazy.”

Ramsey got what she was hoping for and more.

After two days observing the white pointers from a cage, she ventured into open water, kicking slowly towards a 5m female before grabbing its dorsal fin.

The feelings coursing through her body at that moment were a mixture of “incredible joy and breathtaking emotions”.

“There is an instinctive fear, knowing what the animals are capable of, but it’s hard to describe what it’s like to be in the presence of such a magnificent animal,” she said. “I felt extremely privileged to have such a close encounter.”

Ramsey likened the connection she felt as she patted the sharks and rode on their backs to her experiences with horses.

Sydney Sea Life Aquarium aquarist Amy Wilkes said that swimming with great white sharks was clearly a dangerous proposition.

“It is risky – she is swimming with a very large predator, but the important thing to remember is that sharks are not always swimming around, trying to eat people,” Ms Wilkes said. “She has gone to a great deal of effort to avoid threatening behaviour or scaring the sharks, so it’s a calculated risk.”

Ramsey, a former marine park sharks curator who has also swum with tiger sharks and bull sharks in Australia and the South Pacific, said she had years of experience interacting with the animals and reading their body language and behaviour.

“I wouldn’t recommend or encourage people go out and go freediving with these animals,” she said.

“They are wild animals and they need to be respected as an apex predator – they can only ever be so predictable.”

Sea Shepherd have been declared ‘pirates’ under international maritime law after continued attacks on Japanese whaling vessels. Here, Japanese whaling vessels claim the Sea Shepherd is ramming one of their ships.

A US court has declared the conservation group Sea Shepherd to be “pirates” and ordered it to stop its aggressive actions against Japanese whalers.

The ruling was issued on Wednesday by chief judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th US circuit court of appeals.

In his 18-page-opinion, he wrote: “You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch. When you ram ships; hurl containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powered lasers at other ships, you are, without a doubt, a pirate, no matter how high-minded you believe your purpose to be.”

The Sea Shepherd uses a variety of ‘guerilla attacking tactics’ in an attempt to force Japanese whaling ships back to port.

The lawsuit was brought by a group of Japanese researchers who hunt whales in the Southern Ocean, collectively referred to in the judgment as “Cetacean”. Their legal action to halt Sea Shepherd comes after years of clashes at sea.

The appeals court also sharply criticized judge Richard Jones who presided over the original case. His decision raises “doubts as to whether he will be perceived as impartial in presiding over this high-profile case”, Kozinski wrote. Kozinski also wrote that Jones was “off base” when he concluded that the protesters’ tactics were nonviolent because they did not target people, just ships and equipment.

As a result of Wednesday’s ruling, which grants Cetacean an injunction against Sea Shepherd, the American branch of the conservation group has severed ties with its Australian counterpart. Cetacean currently faces legal action from Australia, which has banned all whaling in its waters, a fact which Judge Kozinski noted, but reasoned: “It is for Australia, not Sea Shepherd, to police Australia’s court orders.” A Sea Shepherd official told KIRO Radio on Tuesday that because the U.S. branch had separated from its Australian counterparts, the ruling had no bearing.

Sea Shepherd crews throw smoke bombs onto an incoming whaling ship.

Scott West, a spokesman for Sea Shepherd, told the Guardian that Kozinski’s opinion is “only an opinion”, and that the label of “pirate” is “ludicrous” given that “there is no personal gain, and there’s no violence”. The case will be transferred to a district court, though Sea Shepherd may choose to appeal against the injunction.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s fisheries minister, has reaffirmed the country’s stance on whaling to the AFP, stating: “So why don’t we at least agree to disagree? We have this culture, and you don’t have that culture.”

Whaling ships use harpoons to injure whales before dragging them onboard

Although an international has banned commercial whaling for 25 years, certain countries have permits to legally hunt whales for scientific research, including Japan and Norway. Sea Shepherd contends that “no reputable scientist will say this is scientific research”, but international laws on open waters remain divisive and murky in practice.

Sea Shepherd argues that no reputable researcher could call the purpose of whaling ‘research’

This case comes in the shadow of a larger debate on whaling, dolphins and commercial fishing, as the WTO ruled that the US must end its “dolphin-safe” label program or grant exemptions by 2014, a decision that has sparked a row between conservation groups.

What are your thoughts on this issue and the actions taken by the US court?

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/27/sea-shepherd-pirates-us-court

The 41-year-old has, who traveled to the Bahamas several times a year for the past decade, has built a relationship with the Tiger Sharks which now get so close that he can rub his face against theirs.

Eli, pictured, has a developed a close relationship with the Tiger Sharks.

But despite the amazing level of trust he employs to engage with the Tiger Sharks, renowned not only for their beauty but also commonly feared as the third most dangerous shark in the world, the diver says he never forgets what they are capable of and why they have a reputation as being one of the top predators in the world.

He said: ‘They are wild animals so you can never get 100% comfortable – they are deserving of the respect the other divers and I show them.

Eli kisses the Tiger Shark on the head

‘I’ve been going to the same spot for the last 10 years and after a few repeat interactions they know the drill but I must not forget what they’re capable of.’

“We’re usually surrounded by two to four tiger sharks plus around 40 lemon sharks and close to 60 reef sharks – they’re a bit smaller and more feisty but you have to respect them all the same.”

Eli and other divers are often surrounded by four Tiger Sharks at a time, and numerous Reef Sharks

He added: ‘I’m able to get them to roll 180 degrees in the palm of my hand.

‘They are really calm creatures unless they feel threatened so it’s important none of us did anything to alarm them – they know we are not in the water to harm them.’

Eli respects the Tiger Sharks at all times

However, over the last 4 days, when that alarm has begun to beep, I have been 30m deep far out in the Coral Sea surrounded by some of the most beautiful marine life I have ever seen. Yep, the Sarah Shark crew and I were on the Mike Ball Liveaboard out at Ospray Reef.

It was such a remarkable, larger-than-life trip and what’s more is that it was also full of so many remarkable people. The food was absurdly good, the crew were charming and fun – and always up for a chat under the starry night sky. Some of the highlights were; the freshly hot towels at your dive station after the dive, my special requested chocolate mousse (thanks Chef Jade), the private ‘hard n shoot’ dive (by ‘shoot’ they mean ‘film’ – not literally shoot) led by the knowledgeable Shae, the night dives, the perfectly toned wakey wakey song by Kerrin, and Sarah Shark’s Tim doing his discovery scuba with stud instructor Mark.

Below the waves we made friends with potato cods, huge morays, ~10 giant bumphead parrot fish, human-sized tuna, schools of the beautiful oriental sweetlips, beautiful soft corals and gorgonian fans, hunting giant trevally at night and of course the stars of the trip – white-tip, silver-tip and grey reefies, and a hammerhead!

Sarah Shark

Here’s a few pics from the trip:

Annnnd some more sharks

Sneaky Reefies

Mike Balls Spoilsport

Snorkeling Happy Snaps

Snorkelling selfies

Shooting the token Sunset shot

Bait prep with first mate Shay

Interviewing team Sydney about the worth of Sharks

BTS of our Aropec wetty shoot

Last night champagne at Ospray

“Oh crap, this plane is a little smaller than I thought!”

Team SS

The Crew

Filming at Lizard Island

A dancing flat worm on one of our night dives

The light of my life

Marine Biology student, Jenny Oliver, 25, had an encounter that she will never forget!

Jenny Oliver was diving in Fiordland, New Zealand, when she was bitten on the head by a shark. Ms Oliver only escaped the clutches of the Seven-Gill Shark after her dive partner repeatedly punched the shark in the nose.

As a masters student in Marine Biology at Victoria University, Ms Oliver was part of a dive team assisting in an operation to remove pest weed from Sunday Cove when the shark approached her. The Seven-Gill Shark  made several attempts to bite Ms Oliver’s oxygen supply, before taking her head in its jaws.

Department of Conservation marine ranger Richard Kinsey, who was diving with Ms Oliver, captured the frightening episode on his video camera.

Ms Oliver told Fairfax she was “more surprised than scared” when the shark first bit her regulator.

“[I] felt that staying calm and letting him figure out that my dive gear wasn’t food would be better than aggravating him,” she said.

However, the shark would not leave Ms Oliver alone. It gave up biting her regulator, only to start biting her head and she became trapped in its jaws.

Luckily, with the cold waters of Southern New Zealand, she was wearing a thick wetsuit hood.

Ms Oliver’s dive buddy acted quickly, punching the shark in the nose.

“Clearly, I was nervous when the shark was shaking the top of my head in its jaw, but it was all over so fast there was barely time for me to react,” she said.

Ms Oliver stated that the experience had not put her off diving in Fiordland. “I’m looking forward to the next trip. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to dive and spend time in such a special place”.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/8197488/Shark-had-divers-head-in-its-jaws