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.”
Naturally enough, cephalopods provide a lot of inkspiration when it comes to tattoos. Over at TONMO they did a reader survey to find out what motivates people to go under the “pen.”
The most popular location for a cephalopod tattoo is the lower back, with four (25%) tattoos residing there. The left arm was a close second (3), followed by a 3-way tie for right arm, left leg, and upper back (2 each).
So why do people choose to get a cephalopod tattoo over something different? Here is some of the insight provided by our responders. It’s interesting to note the prevailing observation that cephalopods are so “alien”-like.
When I was a kid my uncle took me scuba diving, and I held a small octopus on that arm [where I got my tattoo]. It was such an amazing experience…
I’m a scuba instructor, and they’re my favorite…
my favorite animal since i was a kid
Cephalopods are my favorite creatures on the planet. They are not only highly intelligent and full of personality, but they are both entirely alien looking (compared to all other animals) and adorable at the same time.
I like cephs a lot, and have devoted a lot of time to them. More importantly, I found an image of a ceph that resonated with me, and seemed to reflect other aspects of my life besides cephs.
…you can’t really sail to French Polynesia and not get a tattoo, so i got one of an octopus…
I love cephalopods - the last (known) living sea monsters, intelliegent, and alien to us - but given that most of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, they’re probably more abundant than even all 6 billion of us. Their colors and elegance of motion make them living art (to me, anyway).
Reports of an albino dolphin photographed near Lake Charles, LA.
[S]potted and photographed by Capt. Erik Rue of Calcasieu Charter Service on June 24th, 2007 during a charter fishing trip on Calcasieu Lake….
It appears to be an uncanny freak of nature, an albino dolphin, with reddish eyes and glossy pink skin. It is small in comparison to the others it is traveling with and appears to be a youngster traveling with mama.
[W]e observed dispalcement of water, gathering birds and a slick in the distance, close to shore off the North end of the island, almost in the channel between the mainland and the Island itself.
Big splashes, red water and big struggling pinniped of some sort.
Then the water erupts again, [i]ts a large male (subadult) stellar sealion with a california sealion rag-dolled in its mouth like a pit bull with a chihuahua.
The stellar sealion just destroyed the juvenile common sealion (Zalophus).
What’s stranger still is that the stellar sealion was not only dismantling the sealion but eating it.
This has only been reported a few times and was the first time any of us had witnessed it.
Here [are] pictures taken with my little 7.5 mp Olympus digi, they are now up on our image archive:
Back in my LFS days, we gave new customers this rule of thumb: one gallon of water for each inch of fish. So these little lighbulb aquariums wouldn’t make good starter tanks. But they are tiny and cute. And now you can learn how to make your own.
Continuing our series on weird aquariums, here is a video showing a combo deep fryer and goldfish tank.
Because oil floats on water, despite the massive heat (163 degrees Celsius) the goldfish simply stay away from the surface and all is well. They eat the crumbs of croquettes and other fried foods that fall to the bottom, and can live in there for 5-10 years as they happily clean away, ignorant to the fact that certain death awaits any potential escapees.
Fish ‘n Flush is a hard-acrylic aquarium that holds 2.2 gallons of water and wraps around a separate 2.5-gallon toilet tank. The kit, from AquaOne Technologies, costs $299 and includes the aquarium and flushing systems, including filters, pump, two artificial plants and a guide. An LED light costs $25 extra.
Scientists say they have discovered one of the world’s most important blue whale colonies off the coast of Chile, where the endangered animals appear to be staying for the summer instead of migrating south to the Antarctic to feed according to their traditional migratory patterns.
On the trip, 65 blue whales and 51 humpback whales were sighted “which confirms the existence of one of the most important whale habitats in Chile and the planet…”
A goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni), considered a living fossil by scientists, was caught by a trawler of the coast of Miura, Japan. The 1.3-meter, 4-kg fish is a rare bottom-dwelling species of shark. Catching the shark in the relatively shallow waters around the mouth of Tokyo Bay is considered highly unusual. (via)
The wife and I recently went exploring through our little piece of the local watershed. It’s really just a man-made ditch that runs north-south along the property line. It appears to be under tidal influence. Nonetheless, we found an alligator snapping turtle in the depression of a culvert outfall. I would not have expected it. During all my years living on a lake, I never actually saw one of these. They are so prehistoric looking.
It reminded me of a childrens’ book I came across last year by Holling C. Holling called Minn of the Mississippi. Just like the turtle, I am surprised I never came across his books while growing up.
Cephalopodcast.com - The Ocean Podcast: Featuring science education and information about our oceans. Produced in south Florida, it includes news and ideas for marine educators and those who wish to learn more about the other 71% of our planet.
![my tattoo, by colinj [100x75 , 10K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070897_colinj.jpg "my tattoo, by colinj")
![aquahobby.com, Lightbulb Fish Tank [80x80, 1.5K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_070330_AHlightbulbtank.jpg "aquahobby.com, Lightbulb Fish Tank")
![[64x54, 4K]](http://www.cephalopodcast.com/img/pic/pic_060326a_pinktentacle.jpg)
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. Just like the turtle, I am surprised I never came across his books while growing up.
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