Archive for the 'Educate Me' Category
Thursday, February 19th, 2009
Soon we’ll know where all the action is. The University of Florida will be releasing its annual report on attacks and fatalities from around the world. Every spring, George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, releases his report on human-shark interactions.
In 2007, there was only one fatal attack, but several attacks were reported in 2008. There were shark bite fatalities in the Bahamas, near San Diego in California and two in Mexico.
His report is scheduled to be released Thursday.
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Saturday, February 14th, 2009
Ever wonder what kind of crazy fish are swimming around in the Congo River? National Geographic’s Explorer: Monster Fish of the Congo airs in the US tonight at 7 p.m. ET/PT on the National Geographic Channel.
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Monday, February 2nd, 2009
Word is Google is about to announce Google Ocean, the underwater version of Google Earth. Soon we’ll be able to take a virtual dip in the ocean without having to worry about those pesky sharks.
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Saturday, January 10th, 2009
According to the Discovery Channel, a big body helps, but the primary predictor for how hard a shark can bite is the width of its head. Who knew?
The top five hardest-biting sharks, based on this study and prior research, are:
1. Great White Shark
2. Great Hammerhead Shark
3. Bull Shark
4. Blacktip Shark
5. Horn Shark
The largest great white on record, which measured around 24 feet long, would’ve had a bite force of 9,320 Newton (i had to look that up… it means force) at the tip of its jaws and 18,216 N at the back of its jaws, where the leverage is higher.
Coincidentally, the hardest biters also had the sharpest teeth. Nice.
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
The party’s over but the public dissection of a Great White Shark was apparently a big hit.
The event, put on by the Auckland Museum and the Department of Conservation, was the first of its kind for the Museum and was organized to raise awareness of the threats facing the Great White species. It was watched by a crowd of close to 4,000 people, both from bleachers and on screens inside the Museum, and was also watched live by over 30,000 people around the world on the Internet.
The procedure was carried out by Marine Scientist Clinton Duffy from the Department of Conservation’s Marine conservation Section, and Auckland Museum’s Marine Curator Dr. Tom Trnski.
The operation examined and measured the shark’s internal organs and stomach contents – which included the remains of fish, parasites, a fishhook and nylon wire.
Watch the video here.
Wednesday, January 7th, 2009
Auckland Museum’s public shark autopsy will be webcast live so now we can all watch as the 10 ft shark is cut open and researchers examine its stomach contents, take measurements of internal organs, look at the gills and remove the jaws. Sweet.
The webcast will be available at aucklandmuseum.com. It’s slated for 11 a.m. local time on Jan. 8, which is 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 7.
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Monday, January 5th, 2009
If you happen to be in New Zealand this week, the Auckland Museum will be performing a public autopsy on a 9 ft great white shark on Thursday, January 8, in hopes to raise shark awareness.
The autopsy, or necropsy as it’s officially known, will be carried out by Clinton Duffy of the Department of Conservation Marine Conservation Section and Tom Trnski, Marine Curator of the Auckland Museum.
The operation will examine the shark’s stomach contents, as well as take measurements of internal organs. The public are invited to view the autopsy and come face to face with the shark from 11am-1pm in the loading dock at the south-eastern corner of the Museum.
I’d wait to eat lunch…
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Thursday, January 1st, 2009
Some smart sharky people did some tests and found out that a shark’s bite is not as powerful as we thought. Their main weapon is actually their sharp teeth, not their jaws. Huh?
Well, according to Dr. Huber, who lead the study, sharks can do a lot of damage simply because their teeth are so sharp and their jaws are so wide. However compared with mammals they have incredibly weak bites for their size.
Huber also went on to say A 20ft great white shark can ‘bite through anything that you come across.”
I’m still staying outta the water.
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Thanks Luke!
Saturday, December 13th, 2008
The crowds came out in droves to see a public dissection of a giant mako shark in a New Zealand parking lot. Apparently, one guy even paid for a front row seat. Watch it.
