Author: Helen Scales
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Glowing transgenic sushi
It feels a like a flash back to the heyday of black lights and lava lamps, but cutting edge transgenic technology has paved the way to fluorescent sushi. This stuff isn’t available in supermarkets (yet), but all you need is a few pet zebra fish, genetically tweaked to contain the Green Fluorescent Protein GFP (or as…
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Saving a sperm whale
This astonishing image from the Marine Photobank shows a diver working to free a sperm whale from a tangle of fishing gear. It was taken in 1981 by Alberto Romeo when he and a team of divers from the the Gruppo Ricercatori ed Operatori Subacquei (an underwater association that defends and photographs marine wildlife) came across a sperm…
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Eating shark messes with your brain
It’s official – the news all us shark-huggers have been waiting for. Eating sharks is bad for you. Shark guru Neil Hammerschlag and his team form the RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation Program came out with this potentially groundbreaking news. They tested shark fins from 7 species swimming…
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Basking shark’s Pacific odyssey tracked for first time
For the first time scientists have tracked a basking shark migrating across the Pacific Ocean. Uncovering the wandering habits of the world’s second biggest fish means conservationists face an even greater challenge to protect them than previously thought. These days, there aren’t many basking sharks cruising along the Pacific coast of North America. There used…
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Brian Skerry on thinking like a fish and the future
In the final part of my interview with National Geographic underwater photographer, Brian Skerry, I give him the chance to talk to the fishes, to meet any animal in the ocean, and on a more serious note I ask for his thoughts on the future of the oceans. And don’t forget, Brian’s new book, Ocean…
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And for my next trick… inflatable corals
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gtr1R1jpfb0[/youtube] Pim Bongaerts from the University of Queensland came up with the idea of bringing a solitary mushroom coral into the lab, covering it in sand, and filming it trying to escape. Here it is, puffing its way out. Ingenious and beautiful. Question: does it make whooppee cushion noises as it does it? (they don’t mention…
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Brian Skerry on image making
In the second installment of my chat with oceans photographer, Brian Skerry, I ask him about how he goes about capturing ocean soul on camera. And Brian gives the inside scoop on shooting pictures for National Geographic. Helen: What goes through your mind when you’re underwater with your camera? Brian: Depending on the dive, many…
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Brian & the Southern Right Whale
I recently chatted with award-winning underwater photojournalist Brian Skerry for the latest edition of the Naked Oceans podcast (which looks at Art and the Oceans). His pictures have appeared in National Geographic Magazine since 1998 and having spent more than 10,000 hours underwater he had heaps of amazing stories and excellent advice to share. But with only…
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Brian Skerry tapping into Ocean Soul
This week, Book Hook features a series of exclusive Seamonster interviews with award-winning underwater photographer, Brian Skerry. Brian has been taking photographs underwater for thirty years and these days you’ll see his pictures regularly gracing the pages of National Geographic Magazine. His new book, Ocean Soul, features a breathtaking selection of his work, displayed in…
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Sand bubbler crabs eat sand, make art
I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent many hours on tropical beaches gazing at the crazy patterns of tiny sand footballs left behind by crabs. Here’s a neat up-close video on them doing it. [vimeo]http://vimeo.com/6449515[/vimeo] Big HT to Treehugger – head on over there for…