Good post I agree with all of it. Didn't know there were lots of Orcas around your way.
Nature is wild
- Thread starter The Corinthian
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Good post I agree with all of it. Didn't know there were lots of Orcas around your way.
Huh, I thought orcas only lived in the Pacific and Antarctic Oceans, but I see on Wikipedia that they actually "can be found in all of the world's oceans in a variety of marine environments, from Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas; they are absent only from the Baltic and Black seas, and some areas of the Arctic Ocean."
Yes and no. They can elevate their core temperature above the water around them, but it is different from maintaining a constant temperature like mammals for instance. Tuna and certain types of sharks are different in this regard.
At least from what I can gather that is the case…going to call in some assistance on this one. I think @Wibble might be able to help here.
We're smack bang in the middle of the major routes from Norway to Iceland to the Med. The largest pod ever recorded was off the coast of Norway (410 of them). The med Great whites were monsters, specialist in hunting Tuna. They were pretty much wiped out though by the 70'sand the 80's. They've recently discovered that there are various subspecies of Orcas dependant on region. I believe there's also various subspecies of Great Whites as well. Ones that were specific to hunting routes following the seasons of their area. East coast US Great Whites don't seem to like crossing the Atlantic to much, on the ones recorded that have they never venture to far before turning back. I believe they are following prey migrations.
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Unike most, some sharks e.g.Great White and Makos aren't ectothermic and use heat exchange between their muscles and blood to maintain an internal temperature considerably above that of the surrounding water. Not truly endothermic either as they don't maintain a constant internal temperature irrespective of external conditions.
Mako's are in British Waters as well year round. The recent picture down near Hayling if it was a shark looks like a Mako fin.
Dugongs are lovely animals.
Them and manatees are the most cuddly sea creatures. So plump and docile.
I’ve petted innumerable manatee while kayaking, always an enjoyable experience albeit marred by seeing some with propeller scars.
Weak to grass from what I recall
Inspiration behind the Predator alien’s face?
Some animals seem so... pointless. That's obviously an extremely first-world perspective of people wanting to have meaningful, interesting, fulfilling lives, which has absolutely nothing to do with how evolution has enabled different masses of cells to form a creature that can survive for a while in its habitat.
But still, seeing a worm that's completely dug in forever and only moves to grab and digest food seems a little, well, pointless.
I do a bit of catch and tag off the Sligo, Mayo and South Donegal coast , all our shark numbers are more than healthy.
The tuna numbers are off the scale.
The tuna numbers are off the scale.
I just heard of sea angels. They're a large group of extremely small, swimming sea slugs that get their name from their appearance:
Not that wild, but here's how it feeds: it splits its head in half in an instant and throws out six huge tentacles to trap its prey. And then it looks like this:
Not quite as angelic anymore! You can see more of it here:
Not that wild, but here's how it feeds: it splits its head in half in an instant and throws out six huge tentacles to trap its prey. And then it looks like this:
Not quite as angelic anymore! You can see more of it here:
Is killing yourself, not....
Full article: Mushrooms communicate with each other using up to 50 ‘words’, scientist claims | Fungi | The GuardianNature Briefing said:
Somebody on the Caf recommended the episode of Joe Rogan with the mushroom guy and he touched on this. Unexpectedly fascinating subject.
I'm currently reading Suzanne Simard's book on forests (Finding the Mother Tree). She's a professor at the University of British Columbia who has dedicated her research to understanding how trees interact underground. They are all connected through fungal networks that are embedded into their roots (into actual cells), which they use to exchange nutrients with each other (carbon, sugar, nitrogen, etc.), as well as messages (like, the signal infestations). When trees are dieing, they also use this network to dump as many of their nutrients as possible and give them to surrounding plants.
The title sounds a bit new-agey, and there is a bit more of her life story in there than I needed - but it's absolutely fascinating to learn how trees aren't lonely individuals competing for sunlight and soil nutrients, but actually active participants in the forest ecosystem.
Good intensity, but small compared to the ones I’ve seen in west Texas and SE New Mexico.
One time I was riding with a co-worker from deep in Cajun country and he suddenly veered off the highway and came to a halt. I went into emergency mode wondering what the hell was wrong, and eventually realized he was transfixed by a small dust devil. I was like, dude there is a whole new world out there for you.
Not very wild, but very exciting: looks like the North American ivory-billed woodpecker may not be extinct after all. There have been lots of people claiming to have seen one since it's last confirmed sighting in 1944, but they never had real proof. But that may have changed now - which would be pretty cool.
Back from the dead? Elusive ivory-billed woodpecker not extinct, researchers say | Endangered species | The Guardian
This is a 1935 photo of this bird:
Back from the dead? Elusive ivory-billed woodpecker not extinct, researchers say | Endangered species | The Guardian
This is a 1935 photo of this bird:
Fun fact. There are dust devil's on Mars and they can serendipitously clean the solar panels on Mars rovers allowing them to continue to operate.
I just heard of sea angels. They're a large group of extremely small, swimming sea slugs that get their name from their appearance:
Not that wild, but here's how it feeds: it splits its head in half in an instant and throws out six huge tentacles to trap its prey. And then it looks like this:
Not quite as angelic anymore! You can see more of it here:
The bloke narrating that video could bore professionally. Who needs melatonin supplements?
Thanks Wibbs, I needed that. And yes, I know.That is because life has no point in that sense.
Happy thought for the day.
Not sure I even checked this with the sound on - or certainly not enough to notice.
I've just seen 2 unknown cats in my garden doing the strangest thing. I am on first name terms with all the cats in my street so seeing 2 I've never clocked before was strange enough.
They were positioned about 1 metre away from eachother and the first cat walked towards the second so slowly that it took about 2 minutes for him/her to reach the other one. This cat wasn't still either, just each step took about 30 seconds to perform. One of them was making a sort of dulled groaning noise which sounded like a baby yawning. They are then face to face and within 1 inch of eachother for 2 minutes just staring silently. The second cat then turns away, again really fecking slowly and proceeds to spend about 5 minutes walking 3 metres away from the other one.
I've had a quick google and I haven't found out what the feck I just witnessed. I assume its some sort of mating ritual but it could be something else. The most bizarre thing I've seen in a long time and I questioned whether I was just imagining this when it was happening.
They were positioned about 1 metre away from eachother and the first cat walked towards the second so slowly that it took about 2 minutes for him/her to reach the other one. This cat wasn't still either, just each step took about 30 seconds to perform. One of them was making a sort of dulled groaning noise which sounded like a baby yawning. They are then face to face and within 1 inch of eachother for 2 minutes just staring silently. The second cat then turns away, again really fecking slowly and proceeds to spend about 5 minutes walking 3 metres away from the other one.
I've had a quick google and I haven't found out what the feck I just witnessed. I assume its some sort of mating ritual but it could be something else. The most bizarre thing I've seen in a long time and I questioned whether I was just imagining this when it was happening.
Sounds like you're having a real busy day today!
It’s happened to me a few times - I spoke to a cat behaviourologist, and it’s basically a way for cats to see how long they can keep an idiot’s attention for.
Yeah, it was cats...they be fecking with you.
No. It was like they were comfortable in each others company. If I had detected any form of aggression then it wouldn't have been as weird.
After my morning dump today I exited the bathroom to a black cat standing in my bedroom doorway staring at me. I don't own a cat. I was too tired to really clock on and it just followed me downstairs and I let it out the front door. It was an unusual start to the day.
A small things that live in the ocean thread - with some lovely photos and an eco warning about the plastic waste that's drifting around with them.
Wow, what a remarkable thread.
Venus and Jupiter Conjunction: Planets to almost touch in night sky
Look up in the sky at the right moment this weekend and you could see two of the solar system's brightest planets almost touching.
Venus and Jupiter will be millions of miles apart, but from Earth they will appear close to colliding.
This planetary conjunction happens annually but this year they will appear much closer than usual.
The same spectacle won't occur again like this until 2039.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61259569.amp
Look up in the sky at the right moment this weekend and you could see two of the solar system's brightest planets almost touching.
Venus and Jupiter will be millions of miles apart, but from Earth they will appear close to colliding.
This planetary conjunction happens annually but this year they will appear much closer than usual.
The same spectacle won't occur again like this until 2039.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61259569.amp
Was reading about Krakatoa and stumbled across this vid
I like that one. A sort of similar vid that helps visualize the Chicxulub impact is another favorite.