Punching sharks

Just think of how badass you'd feel being able to tell someone you'd punched a shark. Now, think of how much more badass you'd feel telling someone you'd punched a shark... while saving your rat terrier!

It's been a long while since I last relayed a story depicting the wonder and horror that is the modern ocean. And, it's been a near-literal dog's age since this blog featured a dog that could be confused with a rodent. So, it's with great pride and relief that I am about to cut and paste this story from MSNBC:

Man dives in to save dog from Fla. shark attack

The Fla. man punches 5-foot shark until it lets go of his rat terrier Jake

ISLAMORADA, Fla. - A dog is recovering after a Florida Keys carpenter dove in to save his pet from a shark.

Greg LeNoir said he took his 14-pound rat terrier Jake for a daily swim at a marina last Friday.

The five-foot shark suddenly surfaced and grabbed nearly the entire dog in its mouth.

LeNoir said he yelled, then balled up his fists and dove headfirst into the water off a pier. He hit the shark in the back and the creature finally let go of the dog.

"I couldn't see the shark when I dived in ... so I just put my fist together ... but my hands landed solidly against the back of the shark," LeNoir told NBC-affiliate WTVJ.

Man and dog made it safely back to shore. The dog suffered bite wounds but was not critically injured.

"I thought Jake deserved whatever I could do," LeNoir said of his heroism.

LeNoir told NBC 6 that Jake "can't stand swimming pools," but that he might have to change Jake’s swimming hole.

I think it bears reiterating: Mr. LeNoir's response to seeing his dog snagged by a shark is to ball his fists, and dive off the dock head-first, thereby punching the shark in the head. As much as I'd like to believe that I would do the same thing, I think my response would be something more along the lines of "cry because I'd just watched my dog get eaten by a shark."

Oh, and "LeNoir" would be a great name for a literary detective... except people probably wouldn't believe that people have a last name that cool.

Finally, here's a picture of Jake, to reward those of you who've made it to the bottom of this entry. Congrats!

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphins

Just in time for the new year: Another bizarre sea creature related story!!

World's Tallest Man Saves Dolphins

It's lucky they had the world's tallest man on call to lend a hand. Or rather, an extremely long arm.

In a late but very strong contender for the title of most curious animal story of 2006, two dolphins in a Chinese aquarium have been saved thanks to the personal attentions of Bao Xishun, all 7 ft 8.95 inches of him.

As the China Daily and others reported excitedly today, the drama began when the dolphins swallowed pieces of plastic from the edge of their aquarium pool in the north-eastern city of Fushun.

Attempts to remove the plastic using surgical instruments failed because the dolphins' stomachs contracted in response.

Now, thought the vets, if only our arms were long enough to reach down and pull the plastic out... Hang on!

Several telephone calls later and Mr Bao, certified last year as the world's tallest man, taking the title from previous holder, Radhouane Charbib of Tunisia, by a mere 2mm, was on his way, from his home in the province of Inner Mongolia.

The 55-year-old herdsmen was able to use an arm nearly three and a half foot long to reach into the dolphins' mouths and pull out the plastic with his hands, as handlers held their jaws open with towels.

"The two dolphins are in very good condition now," said a satisfied Chen Lujun, manager of the Royal Jidi Ocean World.

Mr Bao is somewhat of a celebrity in China, especially now he is officially the world's tallest man.

Last month, the Xinhua news agency reported, he was "causing a stir" in Brazil when he went there for a book signing of the 2007 Guinness Book of Records.

Does this tale open more career options for Mr Bao, other than being a professional giant? Surely, zoos worldwide could use his talents - what do they do now when an elephant needs his back scratched and there are no stepladders around?

As someone else mentioned when they saw the story: "Awesome, his life must really have a sense of porpoise now."

I see Sea Creatures!

Since I seem to have gotten into the habit of posting stories about the Wonders of the Ocean, I feel inclined to mention a couple stories that peple have pointed out to me over at the Tater Board.

First, as "Gypsy Rockstar" pointed out:

Castorocauda lutrasimilis, Latin for beaver tail and similarity to the otter, was recently discovered by scientists in China. It is a cross between the beaver, otter, and platypus (but related to none). It also predates the first know water mammal by only 100 million years. Here is the only photo they have been able to find of it (although I am suspect because I am pretty sure its extinction predates underwater cameras).

Then, today, "Because" gave me the heads up on another unique water creature:

Divers have discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific which resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky, blonde fur, French researchers say.

Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.

Giant Beavers and Albino Furry Lobster... what will they think of next? Stay tuned!

Random links to make you think.

(Honestly, I don't actively try to have my headlines sound stupid... they just happen to come out that way.)

I've continued to be the Worlds Worst Blogger™, and completely neglect updating my site. But, maybe that says something positive about my social life. I feel compelled at this point to say something self-deprecating, but instead, I shall move on to posting the links that this entries title promised.

Anyhow, I promise you I don't have an obsession with marine biology, though this blog would seem to indicate otherwise. That said, it does bearing noting that researchers have found one of the smallest known fish on record in the peat swamps of the Indonesian island of Sumatra.



Also, this morning, one of my friends, Ambika, turned me onto this site, which seems to be a treasure trove of time wasting articles, weblinks and fact: Kottke.org.

If you'd like to read something that would make you feel all self-rightously liberal (which I often enjoy doing), might I recommend this article by Gore Vidal.

Or, if you just want to solve a perplexing online mystery, check out Who Is Benjamin Stove? And help try to figure out the mystery of a crop circle painting from 1913.

When Octopi Walk Like Men

My wife found this video of an Octopus walking on two legs through National Geographic. I figure that, keeping with my theme of giant squids and singing dolphins, it was worth mentioning here:

Video (Might take a momment or two to load)

Holy halibut, Batman!

So, scientists have taught Dolphins how to sing the Batman theme song. This possibly beats the giant squid story as best Ocean Science based story of 2005.

Scientists have taught dolphins to combine both rhythm and vocalisations to produce music, resulting in an extremely high-pitched, short version of the Batman theme song.

The findings, outlined in two studies, are the first time that nonhuman mammals have demonstrated they can recognise rhythms and reproduce them vocally.

"Humans are sensitive to rhythms embedded in sequences of sounds, but we typically consider this skill to be part of processing for language and music, cognitive domains that we consider to be uniquely human," says Professor Heidi Harley, lead author of both studies.

"Clearly, aspects of those domains are available to other species."

Whole Story

20,000 League... 3,000 feet... same thing.

From the Associated Press:

TOKYO - The giant squid can be found in books and in myths, but for the first time, a team of Japanese scientists has captured on film one of the most mysterious creatures of the deep sea in its natural habitat.

The team led by Tsunemi Kubodera, from the National Science Museum in Tokyo, tracked the 26-foot long Architeuthis as it attacked prey nearly 3,000 feet deep off the coast of Japan's Bonin islands.

"We believe this is the first time a grown giant squid has been captured on camera in its natural habitat," said Kyoichi Mori, a marine researcher who co-authored a piece in Wednesday's issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

WHOLE STORY

Nothing else to add. Giant squid are pretty cool.