Mesmerizing Sea Life

Gillnets, a dangerous mesh gear that indiscriminately kills every animal that has been entangled including turtles and manatees. The size of fish caught can be determined by the size of the mesh, helping to avoid catching juvenile fish. While targeting particular marine species, the gillnets carry the risk of bycatch(When one species is been targeted, the other has been suffered). Off the shore of California, large mesh drift gillnets are been used to catch swordfish which have been killing endangered turtles, whales and other marine species for years. This fishing have been resulted in killing more dolphins off the coast of California than the U.S. West Coast and Alaska fisheries combined. The NOAA fisheries have implemented strict limits known as hard caps, on the number of dolphins, whales and turtles that can be injured in catching swordfish. The Belize Government protected its waters from gillnets. Our essential allies in this battle were many local fishers who understood up close...

Beneath the surface, the ocean is teemed with lot of life rather than any other biodiversity. Corals are the main reason and primary source of life for countless animals. But these reefs have been reached an endangered state because of the human activities. Most of the corals have been wiped out due to pollution, unrealistic fishing activities and climate change. Due to warm water temperatures, corals reach to a stress sate which results in releasing the algae present in their tissues which makes the coral white. This is referred as coral bleaching, but that doesn't mean the coral is dead. A coral can survive a bleaching event, but if the water warms more it results in the dead of the coral. In 2005, most of the corals have been died due to extreme bleaching event. This thermal stress is much greater than compared in all the 20 years. Not only warm waters, even cold waters can result to bleaching. In 2010, cool waters in Florida have been made some serious damage to the coral which...

The coastal California is a place for many abundant animals among which the seven abalone species are most famous. Even this brilliant miniature have sustained native tribes for thousands of years. These species have been nearly wiped out by overfishing, disease and climate changes. Especially, the white and black abalone have been marked as endangered species. There is an evidence that the native tribes would harvest sites, move to new locations when the abalone become scarce. Which gave them a chance to sustain years without depleting. Not only as a food, the shells have been used as tools, coins, as decorative emblems and even as a artifacts. But in the 1700's the Spanish colonizers, gave abalone in exchange of sea otter pelts, which is the primary food source for the species. On a contrary, many sea otter pelts have been killed which made them nearly go extinct. Because adult abalone and their larvae can’t travel very far, they are extremely prone to a phenomenon referred as “s...

What do you think when you have been asked "what do you know about ocean?" The possible answers would be "marine life, beautiful waves, beaches or ship wrecks, blah, blah..." But do you ever thought that there are many strange phenomenon's happen in the ocean due to currents and weather. Here are the top 5 weird phenomenon 1. Fog Tsunami At a first sight, these appears to be giant tsunami headed towards us. But this is a strange phenomenon caused during the late spring or early summer. When the warm water condensates with the cool ocean water causing a massive amount of fog. 2. Waterspout A waterspout is a spinning column of air and mist that develops on lakes, rivers and sea. They fall into 2 categories: fine weather and tornadic. Fine weather spouts are formed on the surface of the water and works its way upward. While tornadic thunderstorms are more dangerous which are formed on the water and accompanied with high tides, large hail and severe lightning. 3. Ma...

  In my childhood, I have dreamt myself as Ariel, who is funny, crazy, curious, brave, the list goes on. Coming to the characterization, Little Ariel is the seventh-born daughter of King Triton and Queen Athena of an underwater kingdom called Atlantica. In the first movie, this little mermaid was always curious to know about the human people. When she falls in love with the human prince. In order make her way to the human world, the little mermaid makes a deal with Ursula, a sea witch to meet Eric. However, Ariel ends up in trouble without knowing the evil plans of the witch. The Little Mermaid was tremendous success for the Disney during its release in the year 1989, where they have been praised for the animation. Following the movie, there were 2 direct-to-video sequels "The Little Mermaid: Return To The Sea" and "The Little Mermaid: The Ariel's Beginning". The Little Mermaid has also been played as an animated television series, which is a feast for eyes duri...

Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease, Susan McAlester along with a group of researchers experiment and harvest the brain tissue of genetically altered sharks. when the island facility backers send an executive to investigate the experiments. The regular procedure goes wrong and the over-sized sharks attacking the creators and outnumbering them. The team must fight back and stop them from escaping into the ocean and stop breeding. Even though the movie doesn't reach the standards, it has a lot of horrifying parts. One which is where Samuel L.Jackson got surprisingly eaten by the shark while speaking to the team. Here are some of the shots from the movie This science fiction thriller has been directed by Renny Harlin featuring Thomas Jake as Carter Blake and Saffron Burrows as Dr. Susan McAlester. 

Like geysers and hot springs on land, hydrothermal vent acts as a system to transport chemicals and heat from the interior of the earth. This stunning discovery has made in 1977 while scientists have been exploring the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.  Hydrothermal vents are formed in areas with high tectonic activity, including the edges of tectonic plates, undersea mountain ranges, and seamounts, and mid-ocean ridges. Where they emit hot, mineral-rich fluids from beneath the seafloor. The water escaping from these vents are characterized by different physical and chemical factors, which include minerals, temperatures, and flow levels of their plumes. The low and high concentrations of minerals are referred to as white and black smokers. Hydrothermal fluid temperatures can reach up to 400 °C or more, but they do not boil due to high pressures at the deep ocean. Despite the extreme temperatures and pressures where these vents occur are completely dark and photosynthesis is impossible. ...

Flamingo tongue is a marine gastropod mollusk that lives on the coral reefs in the Caribbean and the Tropical Western Atlantic. This miniature is very colorful with bright pink or orange coloration with black spots and can grow between 2 to 3 cm in size. Specialized in eating soft corals and is typically found on sea whips, sea fans, and sea plumes. They slowly crawl on the bodies of their prey and eat, leaving only the skeleton behind.  Gorgonian coral is a soft coral that contains a toxic chemical. While feeding on these corals, they do not suffer any harm. Instead, they incorporate this toxic material as a secondary chemical and become toxic themselves. As a result, the predator has a distasteful experience when they try to feed on these snails. These bright colors present on the Flamingo tongue serves as a warning to the predators, which is known as aposematism. Flamingo tongue reproduces through internal fertilization - where the female lays the eggs on the soft corals where s...

"Why it has to be a shark every time let it be a different predator Hmm, Let's go with an alligator" Maybe the director as thought like this, which gave life to an oversized alligator thriller "The Crawl" When a massive hurricane hits the Floride town. Haley, a young woman ignores the evacuation order and goes to search for his missing father, Dave. After finding his father in a severely injured condition, they both find themselves in front of a gigantic alligator. Making them trapped in the basement with rapidly approaching floodwaters filled with more of these aggressive predators. With storm strengthing they have to overcome their fear to save themselves. During the entire runtime, the movie lets us experience a stressful joy to watch with featuring some of the fantastic underwater sequences. This 2019 horror thriller has been directed by Alexandre Aja featuring Kaya Scodelario as Haley and Barry Pepper as Dave (Haley's Father). Here are some of the excit...

Squalene, natural oil that is being harvested from sharks is being used in the Covid-19 vaccine. This ingredient is used as an adjuvant in medicine which increases the effectiveness of a vaccine by increasing the immune response. In order to immunize everyone in the world with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine containing squalene, would require around half a million sharks, a shark group said. Around 3,000 sharks are needed to extract one tonne of squalene. According to the Shark Allies, species targeted for being rich in squalene include the gulper shark and the basking shark, which are classed as vulnerable, meaning that their populations are decreasing and they could become endangered if the circumstances threatening them continue. The advocacy group has said that harvesting an endangered specie for a component in the medicine is not sustainable. “Harvesting something from a wild animal is never going to be sustainable, especially if it's a top predator that doesn't reproduc...

Some 92 to 66 million years ago, as the Age of Dinosaurs waned, giant marine lizards called mosasaurs roamed in the ocean that covered North America from Utah to Missouri and Texas to the Yukon. The air-breathing predators were streamlined swimmers that gorged almost everything in their path, including fish, turtles, clams, and even smaller mosasaurs. First, the mosasaur bones have been discovered near the Delta County town of Cedaredge in 1975,  by Coloradoan Gary Thompson which the teen reported to his high school science teacher. The specimens made their way to Utah's Brigham Young University, where, in 1999, the creature that left the fossils was named Prognathodon stadtmani. "I first learned of this discovery while doing background research for my Ph.D.," says newly arrived Utah State University Eastern paleontologist Joshua Lively, who recently took the control as curator of the Price campus Prehistoric Museum. "Ultimately, parts of this fossil, which were prep...

At sea level, the air that surrounds down presses down at 14.7 pounds per square inch. We don't feel it, because the body releases the same force pushed by the fluids in our body. Dive deep into the ocean, you will encounter a noticeable change. You can feel an increase in pressure at your eardrums. This is due to the increase in hydrostatic pressure, the pressure exerted by a fluid on an immersed object. The deeper you go, the increase the pressure pushes you down. For every 33 feet, you dive deep, there is a change in the atmosphere by 1 unit. The animals living deep, are experienced to live extreme pressure conditions. They have special features which help them to deal with these tough conditions. In the deepest part of the Atlantic, the pressure can reach up to 840 bars while the pressure at the challenger deep ( Mariana Trench ) can go up to 1000 bars or more.  Whales, deep dive to almost 2000 meters to capture the squid. They breathe air, but their lungs are collapsible, so t...

Mariana Trench, just known because it is the deepest part, or does it hold any deepest secrets. Or is it popular because only 3 humans have successfully reached the bottom of it? Diving to these deepest points is known as the "Challenger Deep". The first dive has been done in 1960 successfully by oceanographer Don Walsh reaching about 35814 ft. Over 50 years later, Canadian Explorer the famous writer and director "James Cameron" (popularly known for the films "Titanic" and "Avatar") took the first solo dive and reached the depth of 35787 ft.  Located in the Western Pacific Ocean about 200 kilometers east of the Mariana Islands. The Mariana trench Measures about 2550 km in length and 69 km in width. Why is it known as the deepest trench? One reason the Mariana trench is so deep is the result of the subduction zones. Where one part of the sea bed in this case the Pacific plate dives beneath the other, the Philippine plate. Though tectonic plates e...

Out of all the deep sea movies, this is my top favorite.  "How much do you like?"   "I can't say" But made me watch over 30 times in the past 2 years it has been released. Every time I watch the movie I just feel like the first time. What truly awesome in this movie is Jason Statham, who has performed most of the scenes in the open water. He was a member of the British Olympic team in Korea and remained in the national diving squad for ten years.  While coming to the movie storyline, when international deep-sea facility scientists exploring the Mariana trench have been attacked by some unknown massive creature. So, the research facility makes their way to Jonas (Jason Statham) to seek his help in saving the team members who were trapped at the bottom of the Pacific. What makes so interesting is that a 75 feet prehistoric shark thought to be extinct makes way to the surface. Jonas has to team up with the research facility and risk his own li...

Two sisters, Lisa and Kate went on a holiday to Mexico. Where they are invited to a cage dive by 2 members. The underwater experience turns into a disaster as the cable slips off and they get trapped in the shark cage. Reaching the bottom which is 47 meters from the surface. With only an hour of oxygen left with deadly sharks circling them, they need to fight to survive.  Well, apart from all movies this one has two endings. One is a fake-out, where Lisa hallucinates that she and her sister have been rescued. But, the actual ending is that Lisa survives, while her sister couldn't reach out of the water alive.  47 Meters Down is a horror thriller movie directed by Johannes Roberts where Lisa's character has been played by Mandy Moore and Kate by Claire Holt. This movie is a feast for shark fans. 

Underwater is an American movie directed by William Eubank starring Kristen Stewart as Norah Price and Vincent Cassel as the captain. I can say that this is the most horror movie I have experienced recently. In each scene, you will have a thrilling experience about what's going to happen next. Starting from scene 1, disaster occurs six miles below the ocean surface at the Kelper drilling station. Where the crew of oceanic researchers has to walk down on the ocean floor to reach the safest point, led by the captain. But they soon find out that they are not alone. A mysterious and deadly creature comes into the picture which no one has ever seen. One by one, each one gets caught to the creature leaving only 3 members alive including Norah, Emily, and James. But what becomes more interesting is that "Will they reach the ocean surface or not?". I can say that this is my favorite film of Kristen Stewart after Twilight. I couldn't even take my eyes ...

A study that was first to report toxins in blubber tissues of stranded cetaceans of atrazine, DEP, NPE, and triclosan. It also is the first to report concentrations of toxicants in a white-beaked dolphin and in Gervais' beaked whales. The experiment was held by researchers at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Where researchers examined toxins in tissue concentrations and pathology data from 83 stranded dolphins and whales along the southeastern coast of the United States from 2012 to 2018. Researchers examined 11 different animal species to test for 17 different substances in animals found on the shores in North Carolina and Florida. The report was to document the concentrations in blubber tissues of stranded cetaceans of atrazine, an herbicide, DEP, (a phthalate ester found in plastics), NPE or nonylphenol ethoxylate commonly used in food packing, and triclosan, an antibacterial and antifungal agent present in some consumer prod...

Bull Sharks, an apex predator that lives in the coastal seas and rivers. Considered as the most dangerous species than other sharks. As they swim in the warm shallow waters where people tend to swim.  With a life span of 16 years, they can reach limits of up to 11.5 feet and can weigh between 200 to 500 pounds. Their prey includes several species of fishes, mammals, turtles, and even small sharks. Humans are not part of bull's prey, as they come in close contact with the people. They take one exploratory bite and quickly realizes that the person is not its desired prey.  Sharks need salt in their bodies to survive, so they tend to live in the salt waters. But, bull sharks developed adaptions and can also live in the freshwater with ease. They have special glands in their kidneys which makes them store the salt in their bodies.  Bull sharks are not mature until they are 15 or 20 years. They give birth to a well-developed young shark through internal fertili...

A 44-year old study shows that the amount of living coral has not changed in Eastern Tropical Pacific.  We all know the rise in temperatures has devasted many forms both on land and sea. But a recent study in Global Change Biology has discovered that the reefs in the Eastern Tropical Pacific are an exception. The research senior author says that "Live coral cover has gone up and down in response to El Niño-induced bleaching, but unlike reefs elsewhere in the Caribbean and Indo Pacific, reefs in the ETP almost always bounce back,". The study was conducted by an international team of researchers led by Dr. Mauricio Romero-Torres of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (the National Unit for Disaster Risk Management or UNGRD) in Bogotá, Colombia.  The researchers have examined the coral area which stretches from Baja California to the Galapagos Islands, from 1970-2014. During this time, ETP ha...

All of us have special favorite food. But have you ever thought what would be the favorite dish for cuttlefish? To find out, scientists from Cambridge University have set out an experiment. An experiment that reveals that they would actually save room for their favorite meals. To perform this, they have tested twenty-nine cuttlefish five times a day for five days, by putting crab and shrimp at the same distance from the cuttlefish. All showed a preference for shrimp.  So, they decided to split the group. Where the first group was fed with crab in the day and shrimp in the evening. While the group has given small amounts of crab and shrimp at irregular intervals. The cuttlefish could not predict their favorite food. But, when conditions changed, the first group used to eat less crab in the day and save themselves to eat their delicious snack. It has miraculously mesmerizing powers. It's skin flashes like a strobe, hypnotizing its prey. Cuttlefish don't have...

At an ocean depths of greater than 200 m, there is very little ambient sunlight. The bioluminescence animals provide a light source which reveals animals to the predators and prey. But deep in the ocean, the animals exhibit several strategies to hide from the predators: they are transparency, mirrored surfaces, counterillumination, and pigmentation. The dragonfish might be known as the fangtooth, is a deep-sea fish that wears black to disappear into the darkness. These fish live in the ocean deeps to take a cover. Even they can be caught due to the bioluminescent animals. So they disappear with a trick of their own: the stealth wear. Scientists reported that the 16 species out of 18 collected exhibit less than 0.5% of reflectance at 480 nm. They exhibit their disappearance through a close layer of melanosomes present within their skin cells. On a microscopic level, the melanosomes present in the ultra-black skin are of different shape and are arranged in geometry.  ...

A giant triton snail is the largest, spindle-shaped marine snail and can reach up to 2 ft in length. Which makes them the largest mollusc species in the world. The shell can be used to make a trumpet-like sound which gives them the name Triton's trumpet. They live in the Indo-Pacific Oceans and in the Red Sea.  The giant triton is famous for eating the venomous crown of thorns starfish. A specialist that feeds upon the flesh of live corals and damages the reef. This causes the major biological cause of coral loss especially in the great barrier reef, Australia. Even though the starfish can sense and run from the incoming predator, the triton swims faster. As soon as they catch their prey with their muscular foot, they inject the paralyzing saliva. Then, the triton feeds slowly, eating only the whole and spitting out the unwanted parts. Reproduction Giant tritons reproduce through internal fertilization where the females lay their larvae in white capsules. These larv...

Beneath the ocean, the octopus has very rich proteins which are essential for its predators. In order to stay alive, it has to possess some truly enormous skills. The octopus ancestors have been trying to live in the ocean for almost 500 million years. We all know that the octopus has 3 hearts but in order to survive from predators, it should have surviving patterns or techniques.  The most important survival feature is that camouflage, in only 3 tens of a second it can completely change its color and pattern, it is called rapid adaptive coloration. The secret of quick changing of its color is hidden just beneath its surface of the skin. The tiny elastic bags like structure has numerous color pigments called chromatophores, which are surrounded by muscle fibers which may contract and open up a new color, and when the muscle relaxes it comes back to the normal position. But changing that quickly its pattern there must surely be a shortcut. while here is the short cut, ...

California sea lion is one of the six species of the sea lion, known for their intelligence and playfulness. They live in the coastal waters and on beaches, buoys, seaside rocks, jetties and docks. Usually make bark-like sound and uses it as a way to communicate with females and the pups. California sea lions mainly feed on offshores. Their prey includes squid, anchovies, rockfish, sardines, and mackerel. Can sprint to 25 miles per hour avoiding the predators or catching prey. How Do They Look? Females can reach 6 feet and 220 pounds and the males can grow up to 7.5 feet and can weigh 700 pounds. When it comes to color, adult females are blonde to tan in color while the adult males are dark brown to black. Experienced moms flip upside down to take a breath but keep an eye on their little ones. The California sea lions are the deep divers, they can collapse their lungs and slow their hearts from 90 beats per minute to just 20. Blood is shunted away from tissue that d...

Fish that is super powerful, super-fast, and travels through the Atlantic. Like many other fishes, Atlantic bluefin tuna starts as tiny larvae with few millimeters in length and weighs only a few kilograms. They become sexually mature and grow can lengths up to 3m within three to five years. As tiny larvae, they feed on zooplankton, and their prey increases with the size. While they are newly hatched, the hunt for them is fierce and only a few reach adults. Once they reach the adult stage, they are eaten only by the very largest billfishes, toothed whales, and some open-ocean shark species. How Can They Survive In Any Extreme Conditions? Unlike many other cold-blooded fishes, bluefin tuna are warm-blooded. They have a specialized blood vessel structure called countercurrent exchanger, which makes them maintain their body temperatures greater than the surrounding temperatures. This advantage makes them easily and intelligently hunt for their prey in the cold waters. The blue...