The Make: Magazine blog has a couple of links to a Do-It-Yourself underwater camera housing using an inexpensive Igloo™ cooler. Probably not a good idea to take this thing to any kind of depth, but useful around the pool. And only about $50 in materials.
We had a shark bite in Sarasota Bay recently. A hapless New College student went night swimming and got nibbled on by a (suspected) bull shark. She is expected to recover after receiving several dozen stitches. If you care to see the damage, she has posed for inspection. 
Remarkably, it is only the seventh reported unprovoked1 shark bite in Sarasota County since 1882. These statistics are literally kept on file at the International Shark Attack File. They advise not being in the water during darkness or twilight hours when sharks are most active and have a competitive sensory advantage. Indeed. My buddy SB and I didn’t follow that advice in our undergrad days either. We took a couple turns snorkeling along Lido at sunset. But the severed head of a stargazer and a disemboweled cownose ray were pretty good clues we weren’t alone.
Of course, I kind of like the notion put forth by NBA star Gilbert Arenas. He recently opined that there are no such things as shark attacks:
There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack. I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as. We’re humans. We live on land. Sharks live in water. So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.
A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack. When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”
Perhaps the co-ed would have been less attractive had she slathered on some Shark Defense. This is a new sun tan lotion that purports to also repel sharks. Testing for the product took place at the Bimini Biological Field Station. This is also the location where a classic Mythbusters segment was filmed, one dealing with the notion that sharks can smell one single drop of blood in a thousand drops of water. It’s a shame Discovery hasn’t cottoned on to the idea of letting users embed their video into posts, a la Comedy Central. But you can follow the links below to see how Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman used condoms and syringes to bust this myth.
Unprovoked attacks are defined as “incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark.”
[via digg]
Design palettes inspired by the Great Barrier Reef available over at COLOURlovers.
COLOURlovers is a resource that monitors and influences color trends [and] gives the people who use color…a place to check out a world of color, compare color palettes, submit news and comments, and read color related articles and interviews.
[via Plankton forums]
Reports of an unusual “albino” sand tiger shark (aka, grey nurse, Carcharias taurus) are coming in from Austalia. Pictures and videos available by following the links.
This rare albino grey nurse has been spotted at Australian’s best known diving and fishing spot Fish Rock.
The photo of the 2.2m male was taken by Fish Rock Dive Centre owner Jon Cragg 2km off South West Rocks.
Mr Cragg was speechless when the amazing creature swam past him.
“I saw the big white shadow in the water with two other sharks then when I saw it I couldn’t believe it, it was like a ghost coming out of the darkness,” Mr Cragg said.
“No one has ever seen one like this before - it was pretty exciting.”
Must be something in the water down under, because this is not the first albino shark found there.
![Carnival Of The Blue [100x100, 7K]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1148/531775421_125285bc74_t.jpg "Carnival Of The Blue")
The third Carnival of the Blue is hosted over at Rick MacPherson’s blog. Although I am still not sure if his blog is properly called Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets or Coral Notes From The Field. Anyone?
By the way, the Carnival of the Blue icon is available in a variety of sizes and colors.
Susan Scott writes a weekly column for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin called Ocean Watch. She started the column in 1987. You can search the online archives back to 1996. Below are a couple selections.
The Prelinger Archives are a great source for royalty free videos. They have many vintage instructional films and ephemra.
Its goal remains to collect, preserve, and facilitate access to films of historic significance that haven’t been collected elsewhere. Included are films produced by and for many hundreds of important US corporations, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, community and interest groups, and educational institutions.
I recommend checking out two selections from the extensive archive. The first is the Hanford Science Forum, featuring “science student of the week” Doyle Burke, circa 1950s:
Television program (one of a series) sponsored by General Electric Company for telecasting to residents of the Richland, Washington area. This interview with Dr. Richard F. Foster, manager of the Aquatic Biology Division at the Hanford plutonium plant, presents his research that the plant’s radioactive effluents have no effect on aquatic life in the Columbia River.
![Screen grab from the Prelinger Archive, Fish from Hell [160x110, 10K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070724_Prelinger1945.jpg "Prelinger Archive: Fish From Hell")
You might also want to check out one of my personal favorites, Fish from Hell Part I and Part II. Some might argue that our attitudes towards the oceans have not changed much since then.
Essentially, this “film” is just murky stock footage of men on a fishing trawler. What transforms it into an epic tale of Man vs. The Sea is an amazing narration by somebody named Wilfred Lucas. Mr. Lucas pulls no punches; in this violent world, decent men kill every fish they meet. But that’s okay, because — as Mr. Lucas explains — fish are evil and deserve to die. A manta ray gets a harpoon in its skull because it’s a “devil fish,” and a “terror of the deep.” An octopus barely escapes with its life, even though it’s a “slimy, death-dealing monster” and a “black-hearted scoundrel.” Even porpoises are slandered, being derisively referred to as “clowns” and “good for lubricating oil.” As if this weren’t enough, a whole section of this film is devoted to a battle between a whale and a swordfish, which is the whale’s “greatest enemy” (something many ichthyologists would be interested to learn). As the camera cuts rapidly between stock shots of a leaping swordfish and completely different footage of a sleeping whale, Mr. Lucas tells us that “no one has ever been lucky enough to photograph a scene like this before.” Truly a triumph of style over content; great fun to watch. Look for the cameo by Wumpy the parrot.
![Educating Young People About Water [91x117, 8K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070530_EYPAW.gif "EYPAW")
Looking for ways to make a difference by beginning or improving a youth water education program? Educating Young People About Water (EYPAW) is a searchable oline database of over 150 water-related curricula. The fine folks at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Environmental Resources Center have cataloged all of them according to topic, format and education goals.
Glance at them all at once, or focus in on selections like Liquid Explorations or Your Impact on Salmon/Fish: A Self-Assessment.
But don’t wait too long to check these out. You want to be ready for World Water Monitoring Day, which is only two months away!
LiveScience reports on new research by Dr Roger Hanlon which suggests that squid are oblivious to the ultrasonics of whales. It was theorized that whales might use ultrasonic blasts to stun their prey. Instead, it may be that whales capture thier prey by creating a super suction by flexing their bodies.
The researchers played recorded ultrasound whale clicks to several long-finned squid (Loligo pealeii) swimming in a water tank.
The ultrasound clicks were broadcast at up to 226 decibels, which is about the most intense whale echolocation click a squid would be exposed to in the wild. If the clicks were at a frequency humans could hear, they would be as loud as a rifle shot heard from three feet in front of the muzzle.
But not only were the squid not knocked senseless, they did not react at all to the ultrasound bursts, and actually swam in front of the speaker as if nothing were happening.
Hanlon is also the scientist who filmed the disappearing octopus video.
![Flickr:kidcadaver, Kaiyukan - Manta Ray [240x160]](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/177/439458964_b61efe9e64_m_d.jpg "Flickr:kidcadaver, Kaiyukan - Manta Ray")
[via Tony Wu]
Watch the birth of a baby mantra ray literally unfold.
Video of the world’s first live birth of a manta in captivity. Healthy baby female, about 1.9 metres across, born at the Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan. Video is from a TBS news broadcast.
I am curious to know if the animal mated and reproduced in captivity or if it was captured while pregnant.
UPDATE: The story at Japan Probe and Yahoo News suggests that the parents mated while in captivity.
UPDATE II: Sadly, the baby manta has died. 
Keepers believe the baby died of bruises and cuts, apparently caused by its abusive father that constantly chased after the baby, often slamming into it, the aquarium said.
The reason for the father’s violence was not immediately known, and the baby’s death was still under investigation, the aquarium said.
The American Fisheries Society is offering a free custom spellchecker/dictionary of the common and scientific names of North American fishes. Currently compatible only with Microsoft Word documents.
[via tastyblogsnack]
Sad news. The Georgia Aquarium has lost another whale shark. Norton is the second whale shark to die at the facility.
ATLANTA (AP) - Norton, 1 of the original whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium, died early today, the aquarium’s second whale shark death in five months.
Aquarium officials said in a statement that in the last few months, Norton had stopped eating and showed erratic swimming behavior. The Georgia Aquarium hosts the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia.
Husbandry staff noticed a decline in Norton’s swimming behavior yesterday and blood work confirmed a decline in his health.
Norton had been placed on a 24-hour watch. Officials said early this morning, the whale shark stopped swimming and settled to the bottom of his tank.
![World Oceans Day logo [8K, 393x142]](http://cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060608_wod.gif "Celebrate World Oceans Day!")
Today is World Ocean Day.
Whether you live along the coast or far inland, each one of us is connected to the world’s ocean. Make your ocean connection on June 8th!
Today also marks the start of the first Carnival of the Blue.
More events and activities will be posted here later today soon. Stay tuned.
![Ocean Book of the Month: Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl [158x257, 34.8K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070606_OBOTM.gif "Ocean Book of the Month: Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl")
Now that schools out, it’s time to enjoy some summer reading. And the folks over at The Ocean Project make it a bit easier for the ocean enthusiast. They have monthly Ocean Book of the Month recommendations.
Each month, The Ocean Project will highlight a book focused on our blue planet or environmental sustainability. Books for all age groups will be covered, non-fiction and fiction, prose and poetry.
If you have a suggestion, let them know.
Backside of a fossil sharks tooth, one of the largest ever excavated in Florida. On display at the Paleo Preserve (www.paleopreserve.org).
The Florida Museum of Natural History will soon open a new exhibit called Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived
At about 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived. The dominant marine predator vanished 2 million years ago, but its story inspires lessons for ocean conservation today.
Visitors enter a full-size sculpture of Megalodon through massive jaws. Once inside, they will discover this shark’s history and the world it inhabited.
The exhibit opens June 16 and runs through January 6, 2008.
[via FMSEA]
[via SHARK-L]
Here is some more video of a live goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni). It is a WMV file hosted at Tokai University’s School of Marine Science and Technology. Think this is the same specimen from a couple months ago? It’s in Japanese, so I can’t be sure. Here’s a nice, gnarly picture too.
Also, there’s a Flash movie featuring pics of a captured megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios), which is another rarely seen species.
![I'm a sucker for the Cephalopodcast, science edu+ocean info, cephalopodcast.com [180x150, 39K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/cephalobanner1.jpg "Cephalopodcast Fans")