Diver balances shark VERTICALLY in palm of her hand... after putting it in a trance

By Wil Longbottom
From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

This is the jaws-dropping moment a scuba diver literally holds a 10ft shark in the palm of her hand.

Italian diver Cristina Zenato can clearly be seen doing what many would believe unthinkable - stroking, touching and holding a large ocean predator in tropical Caribbean waters.

The animal is so at ease with her it goes into a trance state, allowing Ms Zenato to hold it vertically in the water with its nose in her hand.

And for my next trick: Christina Zenato 'balances' a Caribbean reef shark in her hand after coaxes it into a trance-like state

She induces the 'tonic' state in the shark using a little-known technique of rubbing the ampullae of Lorenzini - the name given to hundreds of jelly-filled pores around the animal's nose and mouth.

A 'tonic' state is where a shark enters a natural state of paralysis, often by being turned upside down, for up to 15 minutes.


The pores act as electroreceptors detecting prey moving in the electromagnetic field around the shark - but also for some reason rubbing them turns 'Jaws' into a sleeping baby.

Ms Zenato uses her ability to put the sharks in a sleepy state to educate other divers, remove parasites and even take fishing hooks caught in their mouths out.

Photographer Matthew Meier, from San Diego, U.S., captured the moment she brought a Caribbean Reef shark under control.

The 42-year-old said: 'My first time to witness Cristina feeding the sharks was amazing. I expected an adrenaline rush, but the dive was so peaceful and calm.


'It was totally relaxing to watch the sharks swim slow circles around us in hopes of being fed by Cristina. I was in awe and could not keep the smile off my face.

'Sharks are the apex predator of the ocean and it is a privilege to be near them and observe them in their world.'

Smile for the camera: Ms Zenato rubs jelly-filled pores around the sharks' nose and mouth to induce an almost sleep-like state

Ms Zenato has been working with sharks for more than 15 years, but still wears a chain link suit in case one of the animals is tempted to bite.

Mr Meier, a commercial photographer who specialises in underwater, nature and travel, said he hoped to raise awareness of the plight of sharks.

He said: 'We kill millions of sharks every year, with the majority of those having their fins cut off while still alive and then thrown back into the water to die a slow, agonising death.

'If this were happening to dolphins or something cute and cuddly, the would would be up in arms.


'We must fight to save these amazing creatures, as they keep the balance within the ocean and without them the entire ecosystem will be thrown off and forever damaged.'

The incredible images of British ship bombed by German warplanes 70 years ago that has become a diving hotspot

By Daily Mail Reporter

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Astonishing images of the wreckage of SS Thistlegorm, a munitions ship sunk by German bombs in the Second World War, show why it has become a shipwreck explorers hotspot.

The ship was on what was to be her final mission delivering supplies to allies in Egypt when it was struck by a bomb in the middle of the night sending cargo of locomotives, tanks, airplane parts and motorcycles to the sea bed.

The wreck was discovered by French explorer, Jacques Cousteau, in the early fifties, however, upon leaving Cousteau had the mast cut off to hide it from would-be thieves.

Down under: SS Thistlegorm lies on the seabed off the Egyptian coast. The wreck attracts divers from all over the world to Egypt

Piece of history: The remains of a vehicle that was once cargo surrounded by discarded wellington boots

The relic was rediscovered In the nineties and swiftly became a hotspot for shipwreck explorers and divers.

More...

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• Body of scuba diver found in Lake Tahoe identified as man who disappeared 17 years ago

Today the Thistlegorm attracts divers from all over the world to Egypt, and its crustacean-clad cargo remains a stark reminder of the casualties sustained in the last Great War.

Underwater photographer, Damien Mauric, 35, from Paris, said the wreck's history is a big part of the reason he likes to dive the Thistlegorm.

Blown away: The remains of a locomotive that was blown out of the ship by the explosion

Sunk: An armoured vehicle rusts alongside spare tyres in the hold of the SS Thistlegorm

SS THISTLEGORM: A HISTORY

SS Thistlegorm was built at the yards of J. L. Thompson and sons at Sunderland, for the Albyn Line

The 4898 ton, 415ft, cargo ship was built in 1940 and could travel along at a speed of 10 knots

She was one of a number of "Thistle" ships owned and operated by the Albyn Line. Each vessel carried the emblem of Scotland, the thistle

When she was built she was used by the navy in World War Two and completed three voyages to America, Argentina and the Dutch Antilles

Her final voyage started in Glasgow on June 2 1941 where she was loaded with cargo including rifles, Wellington boots, trucks and motor bikes for the Eighth Army in North Africa

At Aiden she bunkered for two days and was then escorted up the Red Sea to the anchorage in Sha'ab Ali, Egypt, where she was delayed for 10 days, but sunk after being struck by a bomb October 6 1941

He said: 'What makes this wreck unique is that it is full of history, It's a very strange feeling to dive it.

'There's a small hole through which you can get into the hold with your torch.

'You know that it's full of artifacts and the more you progress, the more you discover.'

The remains of motorbikes ravaged by the ocean fill rooms inside the ship as well as jeeps decorated with hundreds of pairs of unclaimed wellington boots.

A locomotive destined for the Egyptian Railways which was blown out of the ship by the explosion 70 years ago, lies discarded on the seabed.

These stunning pictures taken on Mr Mauric's last trip to Egypt coincided with the country's revolution, which began in January this year.

He said: 'Although people warned it might be dangerous, it was actually the best time to explore the wreck and visit Egypt.

'The first time I dived the Thistlegorm, there were hundreds of other divers down there.

'This time, however, I was virtually alone.'

Over the years parts of Thistlegorm have been damaged by divers, mooring boats and the effect of the ocean.

The SS Thistlegorm was built in 1941 by Joseph L Thompson and Sons Ltd She was sunk on the 6 October 1941 by two German Heinkel He-111 bombers

If one of the two remaining holds collapses in on itself, the chance to view the historic relic will be gone.

Mr Mauric said that although he is enthralled with the excitement of underwater exploration he wants to change the way people treat the ocean.

He said: 'Dive photography is a great passion of mine and I've traveled all over the world to do it.

Living history: Colourful fish swarm around a ravaged motorbike

Undelivered: Machine parts due to be sent to allies provide a home for colourful fish

'But the reason why I take pictures is because I feel extreme concern at the moment at the way we are treating our oceans.

'With my work I want to show how the oceans are beautiful and if they are not protected we are probably going to be the last generation to see them in this state.

'If we don't change the way we fish and treat the seas, future generations won't be able to take pictures like these.

Relic: A rusting Jeep lies in the hold of the ship

9 Largest Fish Ever Caught

From: http://www.totalprosports.com/

Every sport fisherman dreams of catching “the big one,” a world-record lunker that will get his or her name forever etched in the annals of fishing history. Of course, most of us understand we’ll never realize this dream, and would instead be perfectly content to set a new personal best every couple of years. But there are people who have lived the dream—people who have landed monster fish certified by the International Game Fish Association as world records. So, to inspire anglers everywhere and keep dreams alive, here are 9 of the largest fish ever caught (by species).

9. Blue Catfish

This world record blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus) was landed by 47-year-old Missouri resident Greg Bernal at 1:30 A.M. on July 21, 2010. He caught the beast with rod and reel in the Missouri River. At 57 inches long, 45 inches in girth, and a whopping 130 pounds, the fish beats five-year-old previous world record—also caught in Missouri—by a solid 6 pounds.
Source
8. Giant Trevally

Keiki Hamasaki of Kagoshima, Japan caught this 160 lb. 7 oz. giant grevally (Caranx ignoblis) not far from his hometown on May 22, 2006. Casting a lure from the shore on a 130-pound test line, it took him 35 minutes to hall the fish in. It beat the previous record, set by Russel Mori, by 25 pounds.
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7. Giant Tigerfish

The giant tigerfish (Hydrocynus goliath), found in rivers throughout central Africa, is famous (and almost certainly named) for its giant teeth. These teeth can take a chunk out of just about anything, including human limbs, so fishing for these things can be quite hazardous to one’s health. The world record giant tigerfish, caught on rod and real and pictured here, was landed on July 9, 1988 by Raymond Houtmans. It weighed a whopping 97 pounds.
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6. Alligator Gar

The absolutely terrifying Alligator Gar (Atractosteus spatula) is typically found in the Southeastern portion of the United States, but they have been seen as far north as Illinois and as far south as Veracruz, Mexico. Historically despised because they feed on prized game fish like largemouth bass—and because they are scary as hell—recently there has been a surge in “Gar hunting.” The one pictured here, for example, may be the world record for Alligator Gar killed by bow and arrow. It was shot in Texas by John Paul Morris, the son of Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris. The beast measured 8’3” and weighed 230 pounds!
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5. Largemouth Bass

In North America, the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmonides) record is considered the “holy grail” of freshwater fishing records. This is primarily due to two factors. First, largemouth bass are among the most sought-after game fish, and bass fishing is a billion dollar industry. Second, the world record for largemouth bass is one of the oldest and most revered in the world, having stood for an incredible 77 years. And while this hallowed record has not yet fallen, it has been tied. Manabu Kurita of Aichi, Japan caught a 22 lb. 4 oz. bass on July 2, 2009 in Lake Biwa near Kyoto, tying the record set by George Perry of Jacksonville, Georgia on June 2, 1932. There was much debate and quite a bit of controversy surrounding this record-setting catch, given the sanctity of the record involved, but the International Game Fish Association went to great lengths to verify the record—even subjecting Mr. Kurita to a polygraph test, which he passed. So, the record is officially tied.
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4. Mekong Giant “Grizzly Bear” Catfish

On May 1, 2005 Fishermen in northern Thailand netted what scientists believe is the largest freshwater fish ever recorded, let alone caught. At 9 feet long and 646 pounds, the Mekong giant catfish (Pangasianodon gigas) was the size of an adult grizzly bear. Since this species of fish is considered critically endangered, the fishermen tried their best to keep the brute alive, but were unsuccessful. It was later eaten by local villagers.
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3. Swordfish

The swordfish (Xiphias gladius) world record was set all the way back on May 7, 1953 off the coast of Iquique, Chile, by Lou Marron. The fish Marron landed after a grueling 2-hour fight was 179.25 inches long and weighed 1,182 pounds. It was one of the heaviest fish ever caught on rod and reel. Today, the restored mount of the fish is on display at the International Game Fish Association Fishing Hall of Fame & Museum in Miami, FL.
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2. Atlantic Blue Marlin

The record for Atlantic Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans) has the distinction of being set on a Leap Day. On Feburary 29, 1992, after an 80 minute battle, Paulo Amorim landed a whopper off the coast of Vitória, Brazil that weighed in at 1,402 pounds. This beat the old record by an impressive 120 pounds.
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1. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Ken Fraser caught the world’s biggest Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) in Aulds Cove, Nova Scotia back on October 26, 1979. He landed the 1,496 pound fish in an impressive 45 minutes, and has been basking in the glory ever since. These days, Ken Fraser has a slick website which he uses to peddle the book he wrote about his catch, Possessed. (Perhaps the book would be more appropriately titled Obsessed?)
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Racing to the Bottom: Exploring the Deepest Point on Earth

 From: http://www.theatlantic.com
 
Teams led by Richard Branson, James Cameron, and some unknown guy from Florida are all hoping to make it to the Mariana Trench

At the southern end of the Mariana Trench, a deep scar that cuts into the bottom of the ocean floor, there is a point known as Challenger Deep. Here, just outside of the Marianas or Ladrones, a series of 15 islands made up of volcanic mountains that peak just above the water line, a small slot-shaped valley plunges nearly seven miles down. At 35,797 feet, Challenger Deep is the deepest known point in the oceans. It is so deep that, if you were able to place Mount Everest inside of the valley, there would still be 6,811 feet of water separating it from the surface.
At just 7,000 feet down, about where the tallest mountain in the world would peak, the pressure becomes so great that whales rely on unique evolutionary traits when hunting for giant squid. Whales have lungs that can collapse safely under pressure and ribs bound by soft cartilage that allows the cage to shift and settle in extreme environments rather than snap. Without similar anatomical gifts, we don't know much about what happens below that level. Imagine what creatures might live at depths five times greater than where whales and giant squid battle in the pitch-black ocean.
We've been there once before, to the bottom of Challenger Deep. But we didn't see or learn much. On January 23, 1960, Jacques Piccard suited up, plopped down inside of Trieste, and sank to the ocean floor. The Swiss-designed, Italian-built, U.S. Navy-owned Trieste is an inelegant machine. The observation gondola, a sphere welded to the bottom of the ship's main flotation system, has walls that measure five inches thick and a tiny, cone-shaped Plexiglas window.
Story continues after the gallery.

TRIESTE

Historic Naval Ships

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After spending nearly five hours sinking to the bottom of the ocean, Piccard and Don Walsh, a Navy Lieutenant that accompanied him, were only able to peer through the Plexiglas while shivering in the 45-degree capsule and munching on chocolate bars for sustenance. Surrounded by a cloud of sediment that Trieste had kicked up when it smacked into the ocean floor, Piccard and Walsh couldn't see a whole lot from their window, which had cracked on the way down. What they did see, though -- a variety of sole and flounder, two types of flatfish -- proves that at least some vertebrate life can handle the extreme pressure in one of the Earth's most extreme places. Twenty minutes later, Trieste dumped tons of magnetic iron pellets and spent three hours rising back to the surface.
Now, more than 50 years later, humans are nearly ready to return to Challenger Deep. This time, though, they're planning to stay a while, collecting samples, videotaping whatever might be down there, sending out small remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) and then bringing home $10 million. Earlier this year, the X Prize Foundation made that prize money available to the first privately funded submersible to make two visits to Challenger Deep. This money, though, is little more than proof that humans are fascinated with the extreme: climbing Mount Everest, walking on the Moon, searching the floor of the ocean. Ten million dollars will only cover a fraction of the race to the bottom. And it is indeed a race; one with at least three competitors, each close to claiming the prize.

RICHARD BRANSON'S VIRGIN OCEANIC

Billionaire Richard Branson is known for the hundreds of companies that fall under the Virgin Group umbrella, including Virgin Megastores, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records and Virgin Galactic, his space tourism company that aims to bring passengers into sub-orbital space for $200,000 a head. As part of his team perfects SpaceShipTwo, the plane that will fly more than 60 miles above the Earth as those inside gleefully float about the cabin for six minutes of weightlessness, another crew is busy preparing a kind of ship meant to take humans in the opposite direction.

Branson's team, led by legendary submersible designer Graham Hawkes and chief pilot Chris Welsh, has been planning to take the Virgin Oceanic out for water tests as early as this summer, but, due to setbacks, no date has been confirmed. In early rounds of laboratory testing, the borosilicate viewing bubble through which the Oceanic's crew would peer out at the ocean floor cracked under just 2,200 pounds per square inch of pressure, about one-eighth of the 16,000 psi expected at Challenger Deep.
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VIRGIN OCEANIC

Virgin Oceanic

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The 8,000-pound, 18-foot-long submersible that Hawkes has designed "represents a transformational technological advance in submarine economics and performance," according to Virgin Oceanic's official website. "The submarine provides the currently unequalled capability to take humans to any depth in the oceans and to truly explore." Taking some of the most elegant creatures of the sea as inspiration -- whales, dolphins and rays -- the Virgin Oceanic uses two sets of wings to fly through the water.

The Virgin Oceanic will be carried out to sea and launched by an enormous 125-foot racing catamaran that was once owned by adventurer, aviator and sailor Steve Fossett. Welsh, the pilot for the submersible who made his money in real estate and then decided to take to the seas, purchased the catamaran after Fossett disappeared in a single-engine airplane over the Nevada desert in 2007. He traveled to Fossett's estate to close the deal on the Cheyenne and was sold on the Challenger, the original name for what would become the Virgin Oceanic, as well.

JAMES CAMERON'S DEEP CHALLENGE TEAM

The Avatar and Terminator director is an explorer first and a filmmaker second. The box office-breaking Titanic wasn't on Cameron's radar as a Hollywood project because he knew it could earn huge dividends, rather, he has long been obsessed with the famous sinking of the ship. He has made several trips to the wreckage, shooting footage using 3-D cameras he designed himself to capture the 100-year-old ship as it has never been seen before. He plans on using some similar technology at the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Admittedly, Cameron doesn't care if he's the first (well, the first of this group) to reach the bottom ... he just wants to be the best. Cameron's team is working on building what appears to be the most high-tech (and least reliant on a tourism-based model to fund future exploration) submersible. The as-yet-unnamed project will include a giant lighting array, several 3-D high-definition cameras, an arm that can grab samples from the ocean floor and a small ROV similar to that used to swim in and around the Titanic wreckage, according to an email that Cameron sent to Outside's Anna McCarthy.

Unlike Branson's Virgin Oceanic, Cameron's Challenger Deep project has passed pressure tests; at a Penn State University lab, the team turned the dials to 16,000 psi and waited. Nothing. But at what cost? Nobody knows how much time or money Cameron has put into this submersible, about which he has been pretty tight-lipped since kicking off the design stage with a couple of sketches in 2003. Now, more two dozen people are working around the clock to prepare the sub for sea trials next April.

BRUCE JONES' TRITON SUBMARINES

Bruce Jones is the odd man out in this triumvirate. And that's because you have no idea who Bruce Jones is -- and you're not alone. Building a vessel that can safely sink to the bottom of the ocean is no easy feat; it's one that requires big backers with deep pockets, something that Jones doesn't have. While the 55-year-old entrepreneur has drawn up plans and marketing materials -- they call this project the "race to inner space!" -- he has not yet secured the funds to construct a prototype. He's currently shopping around the idea. "We're talking to a number of first clients because, quite frankly, we don't have the money to build one of these on spec," Jones told Outside.

Jones' Florida-based company is hoping to build a number of Triton 36,000s -- named for its maximum depth, obviously -- and sell them for about $15 million each to individuals who can shuttle people down to the bottom of the ocean for even more than Branson plans to charge for a space ride: $250,000 each.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.

Gorgeous video explains why there’s no such thing as a jellyfish

from: http://io9.com/

Meredith Woerner — It's wrong to lump all the ocean's jelly-like creatures into one category "jellyfish." So this video from the wonderful The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute breaks down all the glorious varieties of these magical sea beasts.

From MBARI:

By all accounts, jellyfish are creatures that kill people, eat microbes, grow to tens of meters, filter phytoplankton, take over ecosystems, and live forever. Because of the immense diversity of gelatinous plankton, jelly-like creatures can individually have each of these properties. However this way of looking at them both overstates and underestimates their true diversity. Taxonomically, they are far more varied than a handful of exemplars that are used to represent jellyfish or especially the so-called "true" jellyfish. Ecologically, they are even more adaptable than one would expect by looking only at the conspicuous bloom forming families and species that draw most of the attention. In reality, the most abundant and diverse gelatinous groups in the ocean are not the ones that anyone ever sees.

Report Jellyfish sightings here!

Sir Richard Branson's Deep-Sea Submarine to Explore Ocean's Unknown Depths

by Jaymi Heimbuch

from http://www.treehugger.com/

Images via Virgin Oceanic Sub set on Flickr CC

Our ocean, particularly deep ocean, is one of the least explored places on earth. We know just a fraction of what plants and animals live under the waves, and barely understand the complexity of ocean ecosystems. One part of this is because we haven't spent as much time designing and building the sophisticated tools required for diving into the deepest parts of the sea as we have building space ships. That needs to change, and Sir Richard Branson wants to be a leading figure in that change. He has unveiled the Virgin Oceanic submarine, capable of diving into even the Mariana Trench. But this will be just one of five incredible trenches the submarine is set to explore.

VIrgin Oceanic is a five-journey proposal, which includes the Mariana Trench, the Puerto Rico Trench, the Diamantina Trench, the South Sandwich Trench and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic ocean.



The team will be Sir Richard Branson and Chris Welsh, an American explorer, and they'll be working in conjunction with Scripps Institution of Oceanography as well as other top marine science programs. And the submarine is designed by Graham Hawks. The craft will be able to dive 37,000 feet, or about 7 miles deep (about as terrifying a trip as orbiting the moon) and will be made of carbon fiber and titanium to resist the extraordinary pressure. Also, the craft will be able to dive at a rate of 350 feet per minute, which seems quite fast and a round-trip venture to the bottom of the Mariana Trench would take about five hours.



Of course, the features of the submarine that make it an exploration vessel are just as important, and it will have sensors and cameras for recording the voyages and taking measurements for scientists. Here's a video of the concept:



Virgin Oceanic states, "If we are successful in our mission with this innovative design of submarine, then we will have proven that a vehicle can be built to withstand the extreme pressures of the oceans and that it is possible to take humans at far reduced risks to the bottom of our Oceans... When we have evolved our capacity for exploration, we will unlock opportunities to discover vast areas of our planet that we currently have no knowledge of. This is our vision."

It's an inspiring vision to be sure. And if there is a team of cleaver and resourceful people who can help get explorers to the darkest places of the earth that no human has ever seen, I'm sure there will be innumerable grateful scientists and researchers excited to take part in the project.