marine life - Photos

Photos

follow this blog subscribe by email

168 followers

3658 daily readers

rank of 138

Over 30,000 readers every month

Get paid to write for Photos.org.au

Submit a Post
Click Here

[Posting Guidelines]

JellyFish

February 12th 2010 02:18

Jellyfish are found in every ocean, from the surface to the deep sea. Some even live in fresh water. The best known jellyfish are the large and colourful varieties that live in coastal areas.

*Images sourced from Damn Funny Pictures.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Icebreaker

October 30th 2009 10:59

Icebreakers are needed to keep trade routes open where there are either seasonal or permanent ice conditions.

In 2007 the nuclear-powered Russian ice-breaker NS 50 Years Since Victory was launched. It is the largest such ship in the world.

To pass through ice-covered water, an icebreaker uses its great momentum and power to drive its bow up onto the ice, breaking the ice under the immense weight of the ship. Because a buildup of broken ice in front of a ship can slow it down much more than the breaking of the ice itself, the speed of the ship is increased by having a specially designed hull to direct the broken ice around or under the vessel. The external components of the ship's propulsion system (propellers, propeller shafts, etc.) are at even greater risk of damage than the vessel's hull, so the ability for an icebreaker to propel itself onto the ice, break it, and clear the debris from its path successfully is essential for its safety.

Icebreakers are constructed with a double hull and watertight compartments in case of a breach. The ship's hull is thicker than normal, especially at the bow, stern, and waterline, using special steel that has optimum performance at low temperatures. The thicker steel at the waterline typically extends about 1 m above and below the waterline and is reinforced with extra internal ribbing, sometimes twice the ribbing of a normal ship. The bow is rounded rather than pointed, allowing the vessel to ride up over the ice, breaking it with the weight of the vessel. The hull has no appendages likely to be damaged by the ice, and the rudder and propeller are protected by the shape of the hull. The propeller blades are strengthened, and the vessel has the ability to inspect and replace blades while at sea

A modern icebreaker typically has shielded propellers both at the bow and at the stern, as well as side thrusters; pumps to move water ballast from side to side; and holes on the hull below the waterline to eject air bubbles, all designed to allow an icebreaker stuck amidst thick ice to break free.

*Image Source

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article for Icebreaker.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Crabs

February 2nd 2009 01:29

Crabs are generally covered with a thick exoskeleton, and armed with a single pair of claws. There are almost 7000 known crab species. They can be found in all of the world's oceans. Additionally, there are many freshwater and land crabs, particularly in tropical regions. Crabs vary in size from the pea crab, only a few millimetres wide, to the Japanese spider crab, with a leg span of up to 4 m.

Today's post features pictures of just a few crab species which grace our planet.

Different sized crabs from the worlds oceans

*Images sourced from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article Crab Your text goes here.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Sea Serpent

December 8th 2008 11:36

A sea serpent from Olaus Magnus's book History of the Northern Peoples (1555).

A sea serpent, also known as a sea dragon are creatures which for centuries have been believed to live in the deep dark depths of the ocean, occasionally rising to the surface to reek havoc on sea going vessels and their crew. Over the last few hundred years there have been over 1000 reported sightings of sea serpents, yet there is no actual hard evidence of their existence.

The first American sea serpent, reported from Cape Ann, Massachusetts, in 1639.

Sightings of sea serpents differ from those of the Loch Ness monster because rather than been seen by one person for a few seconds, some have been seen by hundreds of people over a few hours and were well documented in newspapers. The only problem is, all of these mass sightings occurred before photography was in common use.

Albert Koch's 114-foot long "Hydrarchos

One of the most famous sightings is by Hans Egede, the national saint of Greenland. On 6 July, 1734 his ship sailed past the coast of Greenland when suddenly those on board
'saw a most terrible creature, resembling nothing they saw before. The monster lifted its head so high that it seemed to be higher than the crow's nest on the mainmast. The head was small and the body short and wrinkled. The unknown creature was using giant fins which propelled it through the water. Later the sailors saw its tail as well. The monster was longer than our whole ship'

Sea serpent reported by Hans Egede, Bishop of Greenland, in 1734.

Most cryptozoologists dismiss these reports as misidentifications or outright hoaxes. However there may be some truth to a few of them....

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Underwater Sculpture Park

September 15th 2008 02:32

Jason de Caires Taylor is the creator of the world's first underwater sculpture park located in Moilinere Bay, Grenada. The sculptures are located in a clear shallow waterway providing ideal access for divers, snorkelers and glass bottom boats.
His sculptures have created artificial reefs, and explore the relationship between modern art and the environment. To find out more information, visit the Underwater Sculpture Park website here.

Underwater sculptures - Table with fruit and jug

Underwater statues - ring of people holding hands

Underwater sculptures in Grenada - Snorkelling

Jason de Caires Taylor - Underwater working at desk

Statues on the ocean floor - artificial reef

*Thanks to Damn Funny Pictures for these images.

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Amazing Aquarium Setups

March 14th 2008 13:33

If you take the time with landscaping and buying the right plants plus equipment, you can create the most incredible aquarium environments imaginable. If you need more inspiration, you'll find it here.

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Underwater Photography

October 22nd 2007 11:55

Underwater imaging is considered an especially challenging area of photography, since it requires very specialized equipment and techniques to be successful. Despite these challenges, it offers the possibility of many exciting and rare photographic opportunities.

The primary obstacle faced by underwater photographers is the extreme loss of colour and contrast when submerged to any significant depth. The longer wavelengths of sunlight (such as red or orange) are absorbed quickly by the surrounding water, so even to the naked eye everything appears blue-green in colour. The loss of colour not only increases vertically through the water column, but also horizontally, so subjects further away from the camera will also appear colourless and indistinct. This effect is true even in apparently clear water, such as that found around tropical coral reefs

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

The Great Blue Hole - Belize

August 10th 2007 12:33

The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off of the coast of Belize. It lies near the centre of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 60 miles from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is almost perfectly circular, over 1,000 feet across and 400 feet deep. It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last ice age when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise again the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.

This site was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1971 he brought his ship, the Calypso to the hole to chart its depths

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Pasha Bulker

August 6th 2007 11:50

The MV Pasha Bulker is a 76,741 tonne deadweight Panamax bulk carrier operated by the Lauritzen Bulkers Shipping company and owned by Japanese Disponent Owners. While waiting in the open ocean outside the harbour to load coal the Pasha Bulker ran aground during a major storm on June 8, 2007 on Nobbys Beach in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was refloated and moved to a safe location offshore on 2 July 2007.

Early on the morning of 8 June 2007, Newcastle Port Corporation radioed the 56 moored ships waiting off the coast to load coal to warn them to move out to sea to escape the approaching storm. The Pasha Bulker, along with 10 other ships, did not heed the warning. As the storm hit, the Pasha Bulker could not clear the coast and it became beached at 9:15am. The ship never called for tug boat assistance, ran aground with a fully operational engine room and still had both anchors stored in the hawsepipes leading some maritime experts to believe that proper precautions were not taken by the ship's captain

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Sunfish

March 12th 2007 11:20

The ocean sunfish, Mola mola, is the largest bony fish in the world. Specimens of ocean sunfish have been observed up to 3.3 m (11 ft) in length and weighing up to 2,300 kg (5,100 lb).

The ocean sunfish feeds on jellyfish and other gelatinous, soft bodied zooplankton, as well as small fish and other marine life

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (4)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Whales

January 27th 2007 06:51

Like all mammals, whales breathe air into lungs, are warm-blooded, feed their young milk from mammary glands, and have some (although very little) hair. Whales breathe through blowholes, located on the top of the head so the animal can remain submerged. Some whales, such as the Sperm Whale, can stay underwater for up to two hours holding a single breath. The Blue Whale is the largest known mammal that has ever lived, and the largest living animal, at up to 30 m (93ft) long and 180 tons.

The photos below are of Right Whales, Humpback Whales and Orcas or Killer Whales. Many more great photos can be seen here
[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Comments (1)

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend

Loch Ness Monster

July 11th 2006 00:59

The Loch Ness Monster, sometimes called Nessie or Ness is a mysterious and unidentified animal or group of creatures said to inhabit Loch Ness, a large deep freshwater loch near the city of Inverness in northern Scotland.
The earliest sightings of "Nessie" date back to the 6th century. There also was a large number of sightings around the 1930s. However, it wasn't until the 1960's that these stories became poopular. There is much evidence for and against the existence of the Loch Ness Monster, most mainstream scientists and other experts find current evidence supporting Nessie unpersuasive. Below are some of the more well known photos of Nessie.

[ Click here to read more ]

Vote

Add Comments

[ Link ]

Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

Email this Post to a Friend