The Real Moby Dick. [Picutres] [VIDEO]

So we finally did it. We found the real Moby Dick. He is an albino humpback whale.

Migaloo, the only documented albino humpback whale in the world, thrilled cruise passengers on Saturday, when he was spotted off Cairns, Australia:

“The famous whale enjoyed clear skies and low winds and dived repeatedly into the blue depths before surfacing every 10 to 15 minutes GBR Helicopter Group director Deborah Ross said the footage taken by cinematographer David Farmer and pilot Chris Rose, of Chris Rose Flying Films, would be given to the BBC, which is producing a documentary on Migaloo. ‘We’ve made it a professional goal to make sure we get Migaloo recorded so we can help protect him because he is so precious,’ she said. ‘This is the first time Migaloo has been filmed anywhere professionally in the world.'”

 

 

Migaloo, which means “white fellow” in one of Australia’s indigenous languages, was first spotted in 1991, when he was believed to be less than 5 years old.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com/2010/08/worlds-only-documented-albino-humpback-whale-reappears.html#ixzz1YQkh7V4g

 

New Species Of Dolphin Found In Australia. [PICTURES]

(CNN) — Australian researchers have discovered a new species of dolphin living right under their, uh, bottlenoses.
A population of 100 dolphins in Port Phillip Bay and 50 in the Gippsland Lakes on Australia’s southern coast have been proven to be genetically unique from dolphins anywhere else in the world, Monash University doctoral researcher Kate Charlton-Robb said in a university release.

“We’re very pleased to announce that yes it is a new dolphin species, and I have called it Tersiops Australis,” Charlton-Robb said in an interview with Radio Australia.
The new species has been given the common name the Burrunan dolphin, meaning “large sea fish of the porpoise kind” in Aboriginal languages, she said.

The Burrunan dolphins were originally thought to be one of two bottlenose species, but researchers used DNA and skull comparisons to establish they were a new species.
Only three new dolphin species have been recognized since the late 1800s, Charlton-Robb said.
“This animal has been living right under our noses for so many years, and just with combining those two different technologies, with looking at the skull morphology and the DNA, you know there’s still really exciting discoveries to be made,” Charlton-Robb told Radio Australia.
She said the discovery highlights the importance of conservation efforts.

“It would be a shame to discover something and then and lose it. So we really are working hard to try and protect and conserve these animals,” she told Radio Australia.
And if you want to get a look at the new species, head to Port Phillip Bay.
“The animals that you would see out in the bay on a normal occasion would be this new species type,” Charton-Robb told Radio Australia.

When The World Gets To Hot Just Follow The Animals And Head North [GLOBAL WARMING]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Animals across the world are fleeing global warming by heading north much faster than they were less than a decade ago, a new study says.

About 2,000 species examined are moving away from the equator at an average rate of more than 15 feet per day, about a mile per year, according to new research published Thursday in the journal Science which analyzed previous studies. Species are also moving up mountains to escape the heat, but more slowly, averaging about 4 feet a year.

 

The species — mostly from the Northern Hemisphere and including plants — moved in fits and starts, but over several decades it averages to about 8 inches an hour away from the equator.

“The speed is an important issue,” said study main author Chris Thomas of the University of York. “It is faster than we thought.”

Included in the analysis was a 2003 study that found species moving north at a rate of just more than a third of a mile per year and up at a rate of 2 feet a year. Camille Parmesan of the University of Texas, who conducted that study, said the new research makes sense because her data ended around the late 1990s and the 2000s were far hotter.

Federal weather data show the last decade was the hottest on record, and 2010 tied with 2005 for the hottest year on record. Gases from the burning of fossil fuel, especially carbon dioxide, are trapping heat in the atmosphere, warming the Earth and changing the climate in several ways, according to the overwhelming majority of scientists and the world’s top scientific organizations.

As the temperatures soared in the 2000s, the species studied moved faster to cooler places, Parmesan said. She pointed specifically to the city copper butterfly in Europe and the purple emperor butterfly in Sweden. The comma butterfly in Great Britain has moved more than 135 miles in 21 years, Thomas said.

It’s “independent confirmation that the climate is changing,” Parmesan said.

One of the faster moving species is the British spider silometopus, Thomas said. In 25 years, the small spider has moved its home range more than 200 miles north, averaging 8 miles a year, he said.

Stanford University biologist Terry Root, who wasn’t part of this study but praised it as clever and conservative, points to another species, the American pika, a rabbitlike creature that has been studied in Yellowstone National Park for more than a century. The pika didn’t go higher than 7,800 feet in 1900, but in 2004 they were seen at 9,500 feet, she said.

For Thomas, this is something he notices every time he returns to his childhood home in southern England. The 51-year-old biologist didn’t see the egret, a rather warm climate bird, in the Cuckmere Valley while growing up. But now, he said, “All the ditches have little egrets. It was just a bizarre sight.”

Thomas plotted the movement of the species and compared it to how much they would move based on temperature changes. It was a near perfect match, showing that temperature changes explain what’s happening to the critters and plants, Thomas said. The match wasn’t quite as exact with the movement up mountains and Thomas thinks that’s because species went north instead or they were blocked from going up.

Thomas found that the further north the species live, the faster they moved their home base. That makes sense because in general northern regions are warming more than those closer to the equator..

Conservation biologist Mike Dombeck, a former U.S. Forest Service chief, said changes in where species live — especially movements up mountains — is a problem for many threatened species.

Thomas said what he’s studied isn’t about some far off problem.

“It’s already affected the entire planet’s wildlife,” Thomas said in a phone interview. “It’s not a matter that might happen in the lifetime of our children and our grandchildren. If you look in your garden you can see the effects of climate change already.”

The Yellow Sea Is Turning Green At An Alarming Rate [PHOTOGRAPHY]

So for some reason a 200 mile algae plume erupted in the Yellow Sea and is turning the water green.  It is not a bad thing for the environment, but may put stress on local marine life.

 

Check out some pictures below. Originally posted here –> Green algae in the Yellow Sea

I can picture this situation now…

Kid: (standing on the edge of the sea with an ewww face)

Father: Oh don’t be such a wimp Kid just get in the green slime and enjoy your day at the beach.

GOTTA LOVE PARENTS IN CHINA.

Here is my idea to help China deal with loss of tourism.

If you ever really wanted to get slimed on an old school Nickelodeon Game Show come on down to the Yellow Sea “Where the slime is Free!”

Check out this new technology that can turn your front lawn into a swimming pool. LOL JK

Does give a whole new meaning to the term lazy river though.

Watch out for this guy swimming through the 18th hole fairway lol…

Who said a beach can’t border your lawn…the algae is so thick that it looks like a nice healthy front lawn.

I can’t believe people are actually getting into this water….It looks like they are having a grrreat time lol

😉

 

This is why we need to try and protect EARTH. I would be pissed if i had a vacation and showed up to the beach and it looked like this.

If This Is Truly The Future Of Camping I Am Excited!

NAU’s Slick-Looking Take On the Future of the RV

Jack Loftus — Zero-emissions. Smooth lines right out of Tron: Legacy. Scenic, rendered vistas. Yup, sounds like a design firm’s taken a crack at the future of camping. Let’s have a peek. ORIGINALLY ON –> Gizmodo

This is a new concept idea for an rv.  It looks much sportier and way more fun to drive.

Above are the specs for the new RV.  You can see how they compare it to the actual RV in the bottom right hand corner.

Functionality of the RV.

What it looks like while it is open.

Top View.

New Creatures Found In The Philipines

Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and their colleagues from the University of the Philippines and the National Museum of the Philippines conducted a 42-day expedition this past spring to survey Luzon Island, the largest island in the Philippine archipelago, as well as its surrounding waters. The results were huge: They discovered more than 300 new species, from colorful sea slugs (shown here: aeolid nudibranch, or sea slug) to deep-sea armored corals and inflatable sharks. See for yourself! –> Featured Creatures

 

Pink CoralCredit: Gary Williams, California Academy of Sciences.A remarkably tall (up to a half meter), tree-like soft coral seen only in the deeper waters of a few dive sites in the Philippines. This animal is an unidentified and likely new species of the genus Umbeliulifera. At night, all parts of the animal are fully extended for feeding on plankton.

Toxic MolluskCredit: Terry Gosliner, California Academy of Sciences.A new species of Phyllidia nudibranch (also known as a sea slug) that was discovered during the California Academy of Sciences’ 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition. These brightly colored mollusks don’t need shells for protection — instead they produce powerful toxins to keep potential predators at bay.

Purple CutieCredit: Terry Gosliner, California Academy of Sciences.A new species of Nembrotha nudibranch (also known as a sea slug) that was discovered during the California Academy of Sciences’ 2011 Philippine Biodiversity Expedition.

Deflated DuoCredit: Stephanie Stone, California Academy of Sciences.These swell sharks can make like giants by inflating their bellies with water

Swell SharkCredit: Stephanie Stone, California Academy of Sciences.A new species of swell shark from the deep sea. To scare off predators, this shark can inflate its stomach with water to bulk up.

Creepy CrabCredit: California Academy of SciencesA likely new species of Petalomera crab from the deep sea, discovered during a 2011 expedition to the Philippines.

Got Wood?Credit: California Academy of Sciences.A new species of deep-water sea star in the family Caymanostellidae that digests wood.

Red UrchinCredit: California Academy of Sciences.A potential new species of the urchin Echinothrix, with a distinctive red color that differentiates it from the more brownish, white-banded Echinothrix calamaris.

Coral WormCredit: Chrissy Piotrowski, California Academy of Sciences.This colorful worm is likely a new species of the genus Myrianida, which was found in coral rubble in the Philippines.

Tiny BarnacleCredit: Terry Gosliner, California Academy of Sciences.A new species of barnacle (bulge in the center of the photo) in the family Oxynaspididae living symbiotically on a black coral.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Water Filtration with Super Sand Can Make The Dirtiest Water Drinkable.

Maybe clean drinking water won’t be a problem in the future…

The regular sand often used to filter water is typically too coarse to catch all of the nasties passing by, and its filtering capabilities are overloaded fairly quickly. The Rice-developed sand, coated with graphite oxide, can trap more contaminants for a longer period of time. More after the jump –> [This Super Sand Makes Even Toxic Water Safe To Drink]

 

 

Have You Ever Seen A Cat Bark Like A Dog?

This cat was barking like a dog at something outside and its owner caught it and it got embarrassed and started meowing once it realized it was being watched.  LOL.  One of the funniest animal video I have ever seen.

Okay not the cat in the picture…That is Chin Cat, but the one in the video below.

Mass Extinction For One Of The Worlds Largest Food Sources.

What would happen is the oceans had a mass extinction event?  How would we replace all of the food and other resources we get from the sea?  Would the amount of Oxygen we get from plant like algae cause an air shortage?

WE MAY FIND OUT SOON!!!

Life in the oceans is at imminent risk of the worst spate of extinctions in millions of years due to threats such as climate change and over-fishing, a study showed on Tuesday.

Time was running short to counter hazards such as a collapse of coral reefs or a spread of low-oxygen “dead zones,” according to the study led by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO).

“We now face losing marine species and entire marine ecosystems, such as coral reefs, within a single generation,” according to the study by 27 experts to be presented to the United Nations.

“Unless action is taken now, the consequences of our activities are at a high risk of causing, through the combined effects of climate change, over-exploitation, pollution and habitat loss, the next globally significant extinction event in the ocean,” it said.

Scientists list five mass extinctions over 600 million years — most recently when the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago, apparently after an asteroid struck. Among others, the Permian period abruptly ended 250 million years ago.

MORE INFO AFTER THE JUMP –> [Ocean life on the brink of mass extinctions: study]

Lots Of New News On The Ocean Front.

SAVE THE OCEAN.  Today a bunch of new information came out about the problems with the ocean and how the warming temperatures of the earth are effecting is more than we originally thought.

Its Kinda Like Venice, But In NYC… 🙂

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A panel of experts says the world’s oceans are being damaged in so many ways that the situation is far more dire than they originally thought.

Scientists will present a new report on the oceans to the United Nations on Tuesday. They say the troubles are from global warming and other man-made problems. Those include dead zones from farm run-off, overfishing, an increase in acidity from too much carbon dioxide, habitat destruction and melting sea ice.

The report is from the International Programme on the State of the Ocean. The combination of damaging effects on the seas suggest there’s a brewing worldwide die-off of species that would rival past mass extinctions. [Panel: Problems with oceans multiplying, worsening]

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Sea level has been rising significantly over the past century of global warming, according to a study that offers the most detailed look yet at the changes in ocean levels during the last 2,100 years.

The researchers found that since the late 19th century — as the world became industrialized — sea level has risen more than 2 millimeters per year, on average. That’s a bit less than one-tenth of an inch, but it adds up over time. 

Let see the MATH: 2,100 years x .01 inches = 21 inches in sea level rise in the last 2100 years which is close to 2 feet.

Two of his co-authors calculated in an earlier paper that sea level could rise by between 30 and 75 inches by the end of this century. And it might even rise faster than that, Martin Vermeer of Aalto University in Finland and Stefan Rahmstorf of Germany’s Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact reported in 2009. [Study details significant sea level rise]

BYE BYE EAST and WEST COASTS.

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Cuban scientists calculate that median sea levels around the Caribbean nation will rise more than 30 inches by the end of the century due to global climate change, official media said Friday.

Models predict the sea will rise 10.6 inches (27 centimeters) by 2050, and 33.5 inches (85 centimeters) by 2100, Abel Centella, scientific director of the country’s Meteorological Institute, was quoted by Communist Party daily Granma as saying. [Cuba: Seas to rise more than 30 inches by 2100]

BYE BYE CUBA

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