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Water Horse

"Keep me away from that water!"

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✴ Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Shark Ancestor had Bone

It was though that the evolution of sharks was known. However, a 380 million year old fossil found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia indicates the presence of bone as well as cartilage. In other words a virtual missing link has been found.

Shark fossil with bone kimberley region western australia

It means that an ancestor was a bony fish. Obviously, they lost the bone, lightening the body, to enable them to swim faster. The theory of a lineage containing only cartilaged ancestors has now been dropped. This is an indication of accepted beliefs about life in general being without foundation.

Animals with only cartilage were thought to be more primitive than boned ones. Accepted for centuries, this concept was incorrect all along. Be careful what you believe. This could be extended to the religious sphere. You could be following a false faith.

✴ Evolution by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Warm Bear

Bear ice iceberg global warming climate change

"Darn global warming!"

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✴ Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Ships' Ballast Water Spreads Marine Creatures

As international trade continues so does "equalization" of the planet. Many marine species are now found in all waters of the world. This is because transport ships literally hoover up animals in ballast water, which is released at any time, any place, when it is no longer needed.

All ballast water is released into a port when cargo is taken onboard. Marine survivors of this rough treatment give the local environment a go. Some are successful and multiply to epidemic proportions. Zebra mussels and Pacific seastars in particular are a major problem.

An Australian study gathered data such as ports where ballast was likely to be taken on and where it would probably be released. Marine species spread this way were identified and it was predicted how long they would survive. This data was fed into a computer.

It was noticed that shipping volume was increasing mainly in the transport of primary products. Most of this Australian export was delivered to Asia and Southeast Asia. This meant that marine species from this region were unloaded into Australian waters.

New laws were introduced in 2001 to ban the emptying of Asian ballast water into Australian seas. The new rules have been totally ignored. Furthermore, the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments (BWMC) directed ballast water be unloaded into holding tanks. Shipping is not complying.

✴ Environment by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Cre

New Species of Seadragon Found after 150 Years

While new animals are regularly identified, all species of seadragons were thought to be known. Indeed, it has been 150 years since all were classified. A surprise was on hand for Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Western Australia Museum. A new type of seadragon was found off the WA coast.

A sample had been in a lab untested since 2007. The latest DNA testing system enables new kinds of creatures to be singled out. Named Phyllopteryx dewysea, the new seadragon is bright red in color. This is an ideal color for camouflage in deep water.

No one expected a new type, so it remained undetected until the new technique made 5,000 X-ray slices of the sample. The Ruby Seadragon has a distinct skeletal structure. It increases the number of known seadragon species by 50 per cent, because there were only two other kinds of this mysterious animal previously.

✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴

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A Monster in the Water

There are some really strange things out there. Some animals are living fossils. They should have died out with the great extinction, but they survived and lived on.

The frilled shark looks more like an eel. Its mouth and teeth are enormous in relation to its body. It was caught for the first time in Australia by a fishing trawler. Fishermen had never seen one before.

Like the platypus it is a mishmash, having a tail like a shark with head and body like an eel. The animal can live in deep water as well as the shallows. This guy had a bad day. They usually frequent deep water. However, this one was swimming at 700 metres, the maximum fishing depth for trawlers.

✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Too Big Seal - Feet

"Are my feet too big?"

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✴ Funny Animal Photos by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Another Use for Fish Sperm

Pollution is a big problem, particularly from industry which pumps unwanted metals into the soil just about everywhere in the world. Getting rid of this had been an issue looking for a solution for decades. The answer could be at hand from a very weird source.

Fish sperm has a property making it ideal for the purpose. It literally hoovers up the metal particles. The sperm contains high amounts of DNA. This contains phosphate which strongly attracts metals. The metal/phosphate compound can be taken out with neodymium magnets consisting of trivalent iron, dysprosium and neodymium.

In Italy herring sperm was first identified as being useful in cleaning up the environment. With salmon being bred commercially, it is seen as a better source of fish sperm. The substance has been thrown away as waste until now.

✴ Science by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Sharks Struggle in Freshwater

Sharks may seem to be invincible, yet they have some significant weaknesses. While some dolphins succumb to their attacks, acting as a group they can kill a shark by ramming it. Sharks

also have to keep moving otherwise they die.

Now it has been discovered that fresh water is their enemy. They get dehydrated and cannot remain alert. Breeding is out of the question in non-salty water. A terrific battle for survival ensues as sharks continually keep sinking.

The reason for this is that sharks do not have air bladders. This "device" enables fish to swim at mid-depths. Sharks use their oily livers to stay afloat - very inefficient. They have to work 50 per cent harder when they leave the sea.

Freshwater species of shark have refined the evolution of their livers. The organs are flatter than their ocean cousins. There is a penalty for a flatter liver. A fatter body means a less sleek body which makes river and estuary species slower. Even with fatter livers, they live close to the bottom of the water.

✴ Biology by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Beached Beaked Whale in Australia

Many animals have not been seen for a long time. Indeed, it is not known whether they have become extinct. Some, of course, live in places not usually visited by humans. Recently a beaked whale was washed up on a beach Australia. It is rare and lives deep in the sea.

The actual species cannot be verified by manual examination of the body, Part of the body will be sent to the Australian Science Museum in Sydney for DNA tests and X-ray scans to determine the correct species.

Not much is known about beaked whales because they live so far down in the sea. Only stranded and beached specimens have been found. They do come to the surface to breath but do not linger there for very long.

Many scientists have never seen a live beaked whale. A beaching of this kind is very rare indeed. Parts of the body will be thoroughly examined to shed more light on how the mammal lives. We will never know everything about fellow animals. The more we know the better.

Science by Ty Buchanan

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Penguin Problem

"Yeah! What? Move where?"

Funny Animal Pictures by Ty Buchanan

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Oil Found Off Australia's North West Coast

There has always been a belief that Australia's future lies in finding a mineral that is plentiful in the north west of the country. Till now this has not been achieved. Everyone knows that Western Australia is full of iron ore so this is not what they are looking for.

Drilling for many years has just made holes in the ground. Companies have gone over ground already explored before. This is how the latest find was made. There is oil there and in vast quantities. Apache Corp. has made the announcement that was greeted with surprise by some people.

Apache was searching for gas when it made the discovery. Considering Australia's oil production has fallen to its lowest level for forty years this can only be good news.

Income to Western Australia from iron ore has declined due to a fall in Chinese demand. The price for iron ore is down by a third since January. Australia is producing far more ore than it can sell. Coal is not doing well either.

The oil found by Apache is of very high quality so a high price is expected for it when it eventually comes on line. Unfortunately, it could be some time before this happens. Normally developing a new oil field takes decades.

✴ Economics by Ty Buchanan ✴

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