Nautical Oddities

[GordMay]

Bowling Ball Beach, California, USA
Welcome to nature's bowling alley. Bowling Ball Beach on the Mendocino Coast in California is named after the striking rock formations strewn across the shore. These sandstone balls—a phenomenon known as concretions—formed over millions of years as sedimentary layers built up around a central core of sand and stone held together by mineral cement. Erosion gradually wore away the outer layers to expose the spherical shapes we see today. This created a fascinating spectacle that only appears at low tide. Concretions are rare, and there has been plenty of wild speculation about where they come from, with some believing them to be extraterrestrial debris while others wondering if they are dinosaur fossils. The answer, however, is quite simple: it is the forces of nature at play.

[GordMay]

Giant, 82-foot lizard fish [‘Ichthyotitan severnensis’] discovered on UK beach could be largest marine reptile ever found
The newfound creature is a member of a group called ichthyosaurs, which were among the dominant sea predators, during the Mesozoic Era [251.9 million to 66 million years ago]. The newly described species lived during the end of the Triassic Period [251.9 million to 201.4 million years ago].
The researchers estimate that the the living animal was about 82 feet (25 m) long.

More about ➥ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/s...ssil-discovery


“The last giants: New evidence for giant Late Triassic (Rhaetian) ichthyosaurs from the UK” ~ by Dean R. Lomax et al
➥ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ar...l.pone.0300289

[GordMay]

“Why did Megalodon go extinct?” ~ by Jack Cooper and Catalina Pimiento
➥ https://youtu.be/6LGCk08zMbg


20 million years ago, the ocean housed a creature, so colossal, that its stomach could reach volumes of almost 10,000 liters — big enough to fit an entire orca. It was the megalodon, the biggest shark to ever live.
So, what was it like when megalodon ruled the seas? And what brought this formidable predator to extinction? Jack Cooper and Catalina Pimiento investigate.

Megalodon (Otodus megalodon) is undoubtedly a unique shark for its famously enormous size alone. But how have scientists throughout the years used its teeth and fairly basic math to calculate just how big this shark was? Learn all about the constantly changing science driving megalodon size calculations in this breakdown [1]. The most up-to-date method, which uses more complete megalodon dentitions and suggests sizes of up to 20 meters long, can be found in this scientific paper [2].

In addition to its teeth, megalodon has left trace evidence of the nasty injuries it left behind on animals that fell victim to its bite. This blog by PhD researcher Hannah Bird covers a particularly fascinating case study [3], originally published by Stephen Godfrey and Brian Beatty, in which a small whale suffered tremendous damage to its vertebrae. An associated megalodon tooth found with this almost broken backbone implicates the giant shark as the culprit behind the injury. Most extraordinary of all, however, was evidence of healing found on the broken bone – indicating that the whale miraculously survived the attack. Evidence like this gives us insight into how megalodon may have hunted its prey.

Lastly, while megalodon may be the biggest and most famous prehistoric shark, it is only a small part of a huge lineage stretching back over 400 million years. Learn more about the evolution of sharks, why their teeth are so common in the fossil record, and how they have survived so many mass extinctions in this article [4] by the Natural History Museum in London.

[1] ➥ https://www.fossilguy.com/topics/megsize/megsize.htm

[2] ➥ https://palaeo-electronica.org/conte...form-body-size

[3] ➥ https://palaeo-electronica.org/conte...ssion-fracture

[4] ➥ https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/shark...-timeline.html

[GordMay]

What's a Barnacle?
It's yellow, sticks, and screams, if you try to pry it off your car.
➥ https://www.cp24.com/news/what-s-a-b...-car-1.6855673

[GordMay]

This tiny fish is louder than an elephant
Danionella cerebrum, transparent, and which measure up to 12 millimetres [<1/2"] long, and with the smallest known brain, of any vertebrate on the planet, were the subject of a study [1], published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [PNAS], on Feb. 26.
The research [1] uncovered the apparatus*, that allows male Danionella cerebrum fish to make loud [as loud as 147 decibels, at a distance of one body length away*], pulsing noises, and theorizes why this behaviour evolved, in the first place.

* A drumming muscle contracts, pulling the rib, which fits into a groove in the cartilage, and builds tension. The tension is released, and the cartilage snaps back into place, striking the swim bladder.

* That’s about as loud as a jet engine would sound, taking off, 100 metres away from you.
“The snapping shrimp can generate a popping sound of up to 250 decibels with its claws. The mating calls of the flightless kakapo reach 130 decibels, and elephants can produce noise of up to 125 decibels with their trunks.
The male plainfin midshipman fish attracts its females, with an audible vibrato of around 100 hertz and 130 decibels.”
per a statement [2], from the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, in Germany.

Short Video [0.59] ➥ https://youtu.be/qpe7Dl4ecTY

[1] “Ultrafast sound production mechanism in one of the smallest vertebrates” ~ by Verity A. N. O. Cook et al
➥ https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2314017121

[2] “A 12 mm fish produces 140-decibel sound to communicate in turbid waters” ~ by Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum
Statement ➥ https://phys.org/news/2024-02-mm-fis...te-turbid.html

[GordMay]

Sebastian Steudtner is eyeing a world record, after surfing one of the biggest waves [28.57m, or 93.73ft] ever measured, in Nazare, Portugal.
If officially ratified later this year, the wave will surpass Steudtner's current world record of 26.21m [86.4ft], which he set at Nazaré in 2020.
➥ https://www.heraldnews.com/videos/ne...ny/73383996007

[GordMay]

The Ship That Torpedoed Itself: HMS “Trinidad”
On March 29, 1942 the conditions of weather, sea, and combat, on the high seas, resulted in a desperate battle, and, for the light cruiser HMS “Trinidad”, a shocking turn of events.
HMS “Trinidad” was a Royal Navy Fiji-class light cruiser. She was lost, while serving in the Arctic on convoy duty, after being damaged by her own torpedo, escorting PQ 13.

More ➥ https://www.royalmarineshistory.com/...by-own-torpedo

And ➥ https://racmp.co.uk/wp-content/uploa...oed-Itself.pdf

Video [15:14] ➥ https://youtu.be/NODLIb-GUKk

[GordMay]

World's Deepest [known] Blue Hole

The “Taam Ja' Blue Hole” [TJBH], which lies off the southeastern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, is the deepest in the world, stretching at least 420 metres [1,380 feet] below sea level.
This is 146 metres [480 feet] deeper than experts first documented, when they discovered the blue hole, in 2021.
It is also 118 metres (390 feet) deeper than the previous record holder: the “Sansha Yongle Blue Hole” [AKA: the ‘Dragon Hole’], in the South China Sea.

On December 6, 2023, a scuba diving expedition was conducted, to identify the environmental conditions prevailing at the TJBH, researchers wrote in a study [1], published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The data revealed that the “Taam Ja' Blue Hole” is "the world's deepest known blue hole, with its bottom still not reached," the researchers confirmed, in their study.

The analysis also revealed different layers of water, within the blue hole, including a layer below 400 metres [1,312 feet], where the temperature and salinity conditions were strikingly similar to those of the Caribbean Sea, and nearby coastal reef lagoons.
This suggests the blue hole may be connected to the ocean, via a hidden network of tunnels and caves, the study noted.

Little is known about these ecological hotspots, because of their lack of accessibility, and unknown distribution.
The opening of a blue hole can be several hundred feet underwater, and, in the case of many holes, the opening is too small, for even an automated submersible to enter.

More about ➥ https://phys.org/news/2024-05-taam-j...le-mexico.html

[1] “Recent records of thermohaline profiles and water depth in the Taam ja’ Blue Hole (Chetumal Bay, Mexico)”~ by Juan Carlos Alcérreca-Huerta et al
➥ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles...4.1387235/full

“Exploring Blue Holes” ~ by NASA
➥ https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explo...s/welcome.html

Originally Posted by NASA

“Blue holes are underwater sinkholes, similar to sink holes on land. Underwater sink holes, springs, and caverns are karst (calcium carbonate rock) features that are scattered across continental shelf[s]. They vary in size, shape and depth, but most are ecological hot spots with a high diversity of abundance of plants and animals..

Originally Posted by NASA

.”

[GordMay]

Complex of Brine Pools in the Red Sea

A team of researchers, at the University of Miami, hit the bottom of the narrow Red Sea, which lies between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa, and were met by dense, hypersaline pools [NEOM Brine Pools], containing zero oxygen, known as “death pools”. [1] Only three bodies of water are known to host these rare pools: the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea.
They are so inhospitable, that any animal that strays into their briny waters, is immediately stunned or killed.

And yet, despite all of this, they still manage to teem with living 'extremophile' microbes; a fact that could offer insights, into how life on our planet began, and how beings could evolve on water-rich worlds, beyond our own.

Located close to the coastline, these extremely salty, zero oxygen pools also preserve information on tsunami, flashfloods, and earthquakes, in the Gulf of Aqaba, that took place thousands of years ago.

[1] “Discovery of the deep-sea NEOM Brine Pools in the Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea” ~ by Sam J. Purkis et al
➥ https://www.nature.com/articles/s432...83026a0a18b8fc

NEOM and OceanX | Episode 7: Into The Brine
Video ➥ https://youtu.be/bWNftnYDx9c

Life on Earth Started Here
Video ➥ https://youtu.be/GZ6_6Mta4Xc

[GordMay]

Teonimanu: What Happened To The Lost Island In The Pacific Ocean?
According to oral traditions, the island [present day Lark Shoal] disappeared several hundred ears ago, but why?
When it sank, it was said to have sunk quickly. The stories tell of how only a few people managed to make it to their canoes and then reach the safety of the other islands. It seems the islands were struck by an enormous wave that covered the volcanic island in a way that would have looked like it was simply washed away.
Today, we know that Teonimanu was affected by a seafloor earthquake that made part of the undersea ridge that supported the island become unstable. This led to a giant landslide that dragged the ride under water and sent tsunamis to cover Teonimanu.
More ➥ https://www.iflscience.com/teonimanu-what-happened-to-the-lost-island-in-the-pacific-ocean-74272

“Vanished Islands and Hidden Continents of the Pacific” ~ by Patrick Nunn
➥ https://patricknunn.org/writing/book...f-the-pacific/

[GordMay]

Whale breaches, during semifinal round of Olympics surfing competition, in Tahiti.
A safe distance from athletes Tatiana Weston-Webb, from Brazil, and Brisa Hennessy, of Costa Rica, who were competing in a semifinal match, the whale breached, and gave spectators and photographers the Olympic moment of a lifetime.
➥ https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20...tion-in-tahiti

See also, another incident ➥ https://youtu.be/j17CUVoONsQ

[GordMay]

A Lost continent, in Pacific Ocean, was home to advanced ancient civilisation

The long-lost continent of Lemuria [AKA: Mu], was a vast landmass, that, according to believers [against all evidence], existed, in the Pacific Ocean, 50,000 to 12,000 years ago.
Proponents of the theory say that it stretched from Hawaii, in the north, to Easter Island, in the southeast, to Micronesia, in the west; and posit that it was home to an advanced civilisation, of some 64 million people, called the Naacal, who built large cities across it, as well as colonies beyond its borders.
According to James Churchward, the landmass measured more than 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from east to west, and more than 4,820 kilometres (3,000 miles) from north to south, making it bigger than South America.

However, sometime towards the end of the last Ice Age, the entire continent, and it’s peoples, were consumed by a cataclysm, of earthquakes and volcanoes, that, allegedly, sank, the continent .

“The Lost Contintent of Mu or Lemuria” ➥ https://anewscienceofeverything.com/...-mu-or-lemuria

See also:
“Was the legendary lost continent of Mu the 'real' Atlantis?”
➥ https://www.indy100.com/science-tech...inent-atlantis

“Lost Continent of Mu: Separating Myth from Reality”
➥ https://medium.com/@KDKR/lost-contin...y-ef92a7026b30

[GordMay]

The search is on, for a small [<3 Ft] alligator, in Erie, Pennsylvania, after it was caught on video*, last weekend, swimming just off the shore of Lake Erie.

Animal rescue specialists have been scouring the area since the first sighting on Sunday.
It is unclear how the gator ended up in the freshwater lake, but officials suspect it may have been a pet, that has been released, typically by a pet owner, who no longer wanted it, could no longer afford it, or is unable to deal with the size.
Releasing an alligator, a nonnative species, into the wild, is a violation of Pennsylvania law.

More about ➥ https://www.goerie.com/story/news/lo...g/74707519007/

➥ https://www.goerie.com/videos/news/l...e/74704131007/

* ➥ https://youtu.be/5gqp2Q_S7sc

[GordMay]

Deano Fatovic, a huge fan of the long-running CBC show, “The Beachcomers”*, was able to find the “Highballer II”, Relik’s [actor Robert Clothier] salvage jet-boat, after a decade of searching. He now plans to get the vessel operational, and eventually donate it to a Gibsons, B.C., museum.
Video [7:62] ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6472775

* “The Beachcombers” TV Series, 1972–2004: The adventures of a professional lumber salvager and his friends in Gibsons, British Columbia.
➥ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066630/

[GordMay]

“Witness a humpback whale birth, caught on camera, in Hawaii” ~ National Geographic
Video [4:18] ➥

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQPAgFH96mQ

”For the first time ever, cinematographers capture a humpback whale birth before the 5000 mile voyage to their feeding grounds.
In Maui, and worldwide, scientists have only recorded a handful of females with calf flukes protruding—a sign labor has begun—but not the entire birth itself.
That’s why the event was so meaningful—the first complete humpback whale birth caught on camera, start to finish, which is featured in the new National Geographic series Incredible Animal Journeys, premiering November 19 on National Geographic and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.”