Mesmerizing Sea Life

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...