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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.

Aquarium setup with plants equipment and fish

*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

Underwater photographers solve this problem by combining two techniques. The first is to get the camera as close to the photographic subject as possible, minimizing the horizontal loss of colour. This is best achieved by using wide-angle lenses, which allow very close focus, or macro lenses, where the subject is often only inches away from the camera. In practical terms, serious underwater photographers consider any more than about 3 ft/1 m of water between camera and subject to be unacceptable. The second technique is the use of flash to restore any colour lost vertically through the water column. Fill-flash, used effectively, will "paint" in any missing colours by providing full-spectrum visible light to the overall exposure.

Below are some impressive high resolution photos taken underwater. More can be seen here.

beautiful colour pictures taken underwater

Pictures of marine creatures taken under the ocean. High resolution

*These images used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Underwater photography.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

Below are some pictures of the Great Blue Hole near Belize City, more photos can be found here.

Aerial view of the Great Blue Hole in Belize

Closer aerial view of the Blue Hole, Belize

SCUBA diving boats on the Great Blue Hole in Belize

Marine life - Fish in the Great Blue Hole off Belize

SCUBA diving in the Great Blue Hole off Belize

*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Great Blue Hole.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

Its location on a popular beach and close proximity to the Newcastle CBD made the Pasha Bulker a popular tourist destination and precipitated a minor economic boom. One radio station promoted a song called "Blame it on the Pasha Bulker", a rewrite of the song, "Blame it on the Bosa Nova" by Louis Calhoun. The Pasha Bulker was even advertised on eBay for a short time, with bids reaching $16,000,000 before eBay closed the auction.

Below are some pictures of the Pasha Bulker while beached in Newcastle, you can see some more shots here.

Pasha Bulker - Aerial view showing the coast off Newcastle and Nobbys Beach

Aerial view showing the coast off Newcastle and Nobbys Beach where the Pasha Bulker came aground.

Closer Aerial view of the Pasha Bulker run aground at Nobbys Beach.

View of the Pasha Bulker from Nobbys Beach.

Close up of the beached Pasha Bulker in Newcastle

Close up from Nobbys Beach.

Props of the Pasha Bulker stuck in the sand at Nobbys Beach.

*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article MV Pasha Bulker.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

They are thought to live for over 10 years. Interestingly, the rough and leathery skin (a fibrous tissue up to 15 mm thick) of the ocean sunfish is host to more dermal parasites than that of any other marine creature

Ocean sunfish are generally thought to be solitary fish, swimming freely in the ocean alone. However, certain sightings of sunfish in groups of more than ten have been reported. Juvenile ocean sunfish are said to socialize and gather in schools.

Sometimes sunfish are spotted floating sideways on the sea surface. Although most scientists are still puzzled at this behaviour, it is commonly thought that they are basking in the sun, not sick or unhealthy.

Below are some photos of this amazing fish. See more here.

*These pictures used with permission from Damn Funny Pictures.

**This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Ocean sunfish.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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 ]

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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 ]

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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