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marine life - Photos

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Wes Skiles - Underwater Cave Photography

April 15th 2011 06:12

As reported on the Daily Mail (link to original article above), James Cameron's new film Sanctum was inspired by the late famous underwater cave explorer and photographer, Wes C Skiles.

Wes Skiles died during a dive last summer. Sanctum is dedicated to him.

You could visit Abaco Island, in the Bahamas, and have no idea that beneath you lies this vast network of caves, accessible by as many as a thousand 'blue holes' - submerged vertical caves peppered with entrances to this forbidding domain.

Exploring these passages is the diving equivalent of climbing K2 - you've got to be exceptionally well trained and well prepared. Even then, safety is no guarantee; Wes C Skiles died during a dive last summer.

Divers thread a careful path between stalactites and stalagmites in Dan's Cave. The fragile rock formations are tens of thousands of years old.

Of the 1,000 or so blue holes in the Bahamas, fewer than 20 per cent have been investigated, and almost none fully explored. It's a perilous mission to undertake; the caves are pitch black, vast and labyrinthine: the deepest blue holes can be 600ft deep, and the connecting caves run on for thousands of feet in all directions.

The caves can get so narrow that the divers have to remove their equipment to fit through the gaps.

Divers maintain a taut safety line at all times. Without it, it could be nigh on impossible to find your way out before your air supply runs out. Divers carry three tanks of nitrox mix - one to use on the way in, one on the way out, and one for emergencies - and three lights, which are used to communicate as well as navigate.

Bacteria colour the water a violent red, and signal the presence of hydrogen sulphide clouds.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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World's Biggest Yachts

September 27th 2010 02:12

Some have missiles; some have swimming pools; some have 90-person staffs—all of these boats are enormous vessels of power, expense, and luxury.
This article on thedailybeast.com takes a look at the grandest superyachts in existence today. Below are the top 5, view the full list of 20 here.

Eclipse

The newest yacht in Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's fleet is the largest private yacht now in existence. It boasts a missile-detection system, a luxury spa, two helipads, a swimming pool, and a miniature submarine. It reportedly cost more than $400 million. To keep out the prying eyes of the paparazzi, the yacht has an electronic "shield" that can detect light sensors in digital cameras and make them unable to take photos.

Dubai

Length: 162m
Owner: Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum

Originally commissioned by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei in 1996, the Dubai was completed in 2006 by Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum in 2006. It has three elevators, an open glass staircase, a swimming pool, and, of course, a helipad. It is large enough to accommodate 115 people, including crew and guest staff.

Al Said

Length: 155m
Owner: Sultan Qaboos of Oman

Recognizable for its off-white colour, Al Said launched in September 2007 after months of speculation by yacht enthusiasts. There is still relatively little known about the amenities in the megayacht, but it can reportedly hold up to 65 guests and includes a concert room that can hold a 50-person orchestra. Lurssen Yachts, a German yacht company and one of the leading superyacht manufacturers, built it.

Prince Abdul Aziz

Length: 147m
Owner: King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Built in Denmark in 1984, the Prince Abdul Aziz was the largest yacht built in the 20th century and held the honour as the world's largest yacht for 22 years. It cost more than $200 million, has its own military-trained crew, and is rumoured to hold missiles aboard. It also has a pool, cinema, parking garage, a small mosque, and an interior by renowned designer David Hicks.

El Horriya

Length: 146m
Owner: N/A

The El Horriya, whose name means Freedom, is one of the world's oldest yachts as well as one of the largest. It was built in 1865 by the British Samuda Brothers shipyard based on a design by Sir Oliver Lang. A prized treasure of the Egyptian navy, it has served on and off as the presidential yacht and was the first ship in the procession through the new Suez Canal in 1869. It was lengthened in 1872 by 12 meters and was rebuilt in 1905, becoming one of the earliest ships to be fitted with steam turbines.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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Biggest Oil Spills of All Time

May 19th 2010 02:21

As reported on Planet Green, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico may develop into one of the worst environmental disasters of all time. But how does it compare to the most devastating oil spills which have come before it?
Here we take a look at the current top 5 worst oil catastrophes of all time.

5. Exxon Valdez

In 1989, Exxon's oil tanker Valdez hit a reef in a remote region off the coast of Alaska spill, spilling 10.8 million gallons (or 250,000 barrels). The long cleanup process and infamous images of animals coated in oil helped to rally environmentalists working to reduce oil consumption in the U.S.

4. Nowruz Platform

The incident in the Persian Gulf in 1983 happened at the height of the Iran-Iraq War when an oil tanker hit the Nowruz Field Platform, damaging the well underneath. The resulting leak of 1,500 barrels a day could not be capped for months because the platform was under constant attack by Iraqi planes.

3. Atlantic Empress

In 1979 The Atlantic Empress collided with the Aegean Captain ten miles off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, spewing 90 million gallons of oil.

The collision between the two fully loaded oil carriers took place during a tropical rainstorm. Both ships immediately caught fire and began leaking their contents in what would become the largest tanker-based spill ever recorded.

2. Ixtoc 1

The Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well in the Gulf of Mexico which suffered a blowout in 1979 to become the second largest oil spill in history.

Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Ixtoc 1 underwater leak proved extremely difficult to plug. It took experts and divers some nine months to contain and cap the well, by which time 138 million gallons of oil had escaped.

1. The Gulf War Oil Spill

Our number one spot goes to The Gulf War Oil Spill where hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil poured in the Persian Gulf during the Kuwait War.

The incident occurred when Iraqi forces were withdrawing from Kuwait, sabotaging hundreds of wells, oil terminals, and tankers, in part to thwart the arrival of US forces. It stands as the biggest oil spill ever recorded with estimates at more than 350 million gallons!

183

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

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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.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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

[ Click here to read more ]

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

[ Click here to read more ]

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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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
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Posted By: Ian - Category: marine life

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