TV report on Palau Shark Sanctuary just in...

Dateline video journalist David O’Shea takes his first ever scuba dive and plunges into the controversy over saving the ocean’s top predator. read more Click this LINK or the Image above.


In support of the Palau Shark Sanctuary & Sam's Tours

We have just picked up this fantastic NEWS from http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html
Congratulation to Palau and our respect to President Johnson Toribiong for taken this step towards the conservation of our Marine Life, in particular to the protection of our Sharks. A fantastic example to others, who will hopefully follow soon

Environmental NEWS from Palau, a world first towards the conservation and protection of Sharks. We are proud to be associated with the Shark-sanctuary in Palau.

Breaking News & a breakthrough in Conservation from Palau Micronesia!
Palau Does Care!


© Gunther Deichmann - Shark and Underwater photographer
at the Blue Corner Palau, Micronesia;
for more images on Palau please visit the PhotoShelter Gallery at:
Marine Life and other Palau images

Palau President Toribiong has announced only a few hours ago at the UN in New York that Palau is the first WORLD SHARK SANCTUARY ! This is a milestone in the conservation and preservation of Sharks in Palau, setting an example for the rest of the World. More information and updates as they become available soon.

The original message:
Just been advised that Palau President Johnson Toribiong will announce in 30 minutes at the UN Conference in New York that Palau is the first WORLD SHARK SANCTUARY !!!!!!!!!!! 

Excerpts from the announcement by President Johnson Toribiong;
As many as 100 million sharks are killed each year around the world."These creatures are being slaughtered and are perhaps at the brink of extinction unless we take positive action to protect them," said President Toribiong.
Other related LINKS:

http://www.palautours.com/

http://www.palautours.com/blog.html

http://www.sharksanctuary.com/index.html

http://sharksanctuary.blogspot.com/

Fuer unsere Deutsch sprechenden leser, ein bericht der auch vor kurzem in english veroeffentlicht wurde.

Stark wie Wind und Gezeiten




© Gunther Deichmann - Jellyfish Lake Palau Micronesia
fuer mehr information ueber Palau, see also
“Palau the hidden Crown Jewel in the Pacific”

Quallen mischen Meere durch Quallen, Fische, Plankton und andere Meereslebewesen haben am Durchmischen der Ozeane einen ähnlich großen Anteil wie Wind oder Gezeiten. Durch ihre Bewegungen erzeugen die Tiere eine Art Unterdruck und ziehen Wasser hinter sich her.
Quallen bewegen sich mit pumpenden Bewegungen vorwärts oder lassen sich einfach von der Strömung tragen.
Dieser überraschende Befund stammt von einer Gruppe um Kakani Katija vom California Institute of Technology in Pasadena (USA). Die Wissenschaftler waren mit einer Spezialkamera im Gepäck in den Zwergstaat Palau im Pazifischen Ozean gereist. Dort beobachteten sie in einem Salzwasser-See, welche Strömungen entstehen, wenn sich Quallen durchs Wasser bewegen.
Bilder und der complete bericht @
http://www.n-tv.de/wissen/weltall/Quallen-mischen-Meere-durch-article449465.html

This article was brought to our attention by Dermot Keane from Sam’s Tours, thanks to Dermot for sharing. The article also includes a Photo from the Jellyfish Lake in Palau.
Scientists have been thinking increasingly about whether or not animals in the ocean might play a role in larger-scale ocean mixing, says John Dabiri, a Caltech bioengineer. Ocean mixing is the process by which various layers of water interact with one another to distribute heat, nutrients and gasses throughout the oceans.
"The perspective we usually take is how the ocean--by its currents, temperature, and chemistry--is affecting animals," says Dabiri, who, along with graduate student Kakani Katija, discovered the new mechanism.
Read the complete article @ Scientific Blogging and see a Photo of Palau’s Jellyfish Lake.
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_

This article was published recently by the Business Daily see excerpts below...

Our oceans are more than
fish and ships...

The oceans are suffering.
The main source of food for two billion people, a key element in climate control and a largely untapped reserve of vital resources, they deserve to be managed better.

This is why the United Nations this month celebrated the first ever World Ocean Day, read the complete article @

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Opinion
%20&%20Analysis/-/539548/611562/-/u1r1yyz/-/

We found this very interesting article at our friends from Dive Photo Guide, amazing how little we know about our precious Oceans and how much is there to be discovered yet. Who knows they might be cruising in Palau below the waves too.
The Philippine and the Pacific waters still hold a surprise or two, as long we take care of our Marine life...
Read on below and go to Dive Photo Guide for the complete story and Photos.
Editor

Rare Megamouth Shark Caught In Philippines

Author: Jason Heller / April 07, 2009 12:00AM CDT Category: Marine Conservation
Megamouth, rare, Shark, Philippines, Donsol
So rare are these sharks that each of them is designated with a number.

Fishermen based in Donsol were trawling for mackerel along the eastern coast of Burias Isle on the morning of 30 March when they caught a strange-looking shark from a depth of approximately 200 meters. WWF’s satellite tagging initiatives have already shown that pelagic filter feeders such as whale sharks and manta rays regularly prowl through the region. It was only a matter of time before something else was discovered.

Megamouth SharkThe shark was brought to Barangay Dancalan in Donsol, Sorsogon for assessment. WWF Donsol Project Manager Elson Aca immediately arrived to assess the haul – and promptly identified it as a megamouth shark... MORE

© Gunther Deichmann - next time you come across an Octopus remember that they have been around for million of years.

Knowing and understanding Fossils this discovery really amazes me, very rare indeed since Octopuses don’t have any hard shell like Ammonites, Belemnites and other species in the this family group.
Read below excerpts from the science report, for the complete story and Photos go to the LINK below.


Rare Fossil Octopuses Found
By Live Science Staff
posted: 18 March 2009 10:32 am ET

It's hard enough to find fossils of hard things like dinosaur bones. Now scientists have found evidence of 95 million-year-old octopuses, among the rarest and unlikeliest of fossils, complete with ink and suckers.
The body of an octopus is composed almost entirely of muscle and skin. When an octopus dies, it quickly decays and liquefies into a slimy blob. After just a few days there will be nothing left at all. And that assumes that the fresh carcass is not consumed almost immediately by scavengers.
The result is that preservation of an octopus as a fossil is about as unlikely as finding a fossil sneeze, and none of the 200 to 300 species of octopus known today had ever been found in fossilized form, said Dirk Fuchs of the Freie University Berlin, lead author of the report.
Fuchs and his colleagues now have identified three new species of octopuses (Styletoctopus annae, Keuppia hyperbolaris and Keuppia levante) based on five specimens discovered in Cretaceous Period rocks in Lebanon. The specimens, described in the January 2009 issue of the journal Palaeontology, preserve the octopuses' eight arms with traces of muscles and rows of suckers. Even traces of the ink and internal gills are present in some specimens.
"The luck was that the corpse landed untouched on the sea floor," Fuchs told LiveScience. "The sea floor was free of oxygen and therefore free of scavengers. Both the anoxy [absence of oxygen] and a rapid sedimentation rate prevented decay."
Prior to this discovery only a single fossil species was known, and from fewer specimens than octopuses have legs, Fuchs said...
More @ http://www.livescience.com/animals/090318-fossil-octopus.html

Debate Over ‘Little People’ Intensifies After Recent Island Discovery
The bones and a single skull of these “little people” are believed to be remains of a separate species of the human family that lived about 18,000 years ago on an island in Indonesia, as the scientists who made the sensational discovery concluded in 2004.

But persistent skeptics have contended in a recent flurry of scientific reports that they were nothing more than modern humans with unusually small bodies possibly malformed by genetic or pathological disorders.

Neither side is backing off in this sometimes bitter row...read more at the New York Times @
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/18/science/18litt.html?_r=1

Another Alien afternoon...

I have picked up this Blog Post from our good friend and top Underwater Photographer Tony Wu, I personally have never seen or encounter this one, if any larger it will send shiver down your spine. Now I know where Hollywood gets all those Alien Movie Ideas from, of course from our so precious and little explored oceans.
You have to check this one out… on purpose I have not included the image, I like to keep you in suspense, he, he. See the LINK below.
GD
Excerpts from Tony Wu’s Blog post:
Incidentally, a few nights ago on another night dive, we found and played with a couple of bobbit worms (Eunice aphroditois)…
a nocturnal, predatory polychaete worm.
I first sought out and photographed these scary animals about a decade ago in Secret Bay, Bali. We stayed up most of the night, diving in dark, cold waters to observe bobbit behaviour…read more and view the Bobbit Worm @

http://www.tonywublog.com/20090319/fright-night.html

Sharks in peril?

Late NEWS received from Sam’s Tour’s Blog, posted by Dermot Keane today the 18th of March 2009.

Repeal of Palau's Shark Protection Laws Proposed!

A Bill is now before Palau's OEK (Congress) that if passed would eliminate Palau's strong shark protection laws and actively encourage fishing for sharks and the taking of shark fins.

Senate Bill No. 8-44 seeks "to amend Title 27 of Palau's National Code to allow for the commercial fishing of sharks within Palau's Exclusive Economic Zone, to impose a tax on the export of sharks and tuna-like species, and for other related purposes."
The proposed law is a potentially severe blow to Palau's tourism industry of which scuba diving is the mainstay. Palau gained international recognition in 2004 for passage of landmark legislation that protected sharks, turtles and rays and outlawed the practice of shark-finning. Under Senate Bill 8-44 it is unclear whether shark fishing and or shark-finning is or is not permitted and the ambiguity will make it virtually impossible for law enforcement to successfully prosecute potential violators. Sections of the bill read as follows:
"It is unlawful for any person: to remove the fins of or otherwise intentionally mutilate or injure any such shark"...
Read More @ Sam’s Tours Blog

A giant fossil sea monster found in the Arctic had a bite that would have been able to crush a 4x4 car, according to its discoverers.
Researchers say the marine reptile, which measured an impressive 15m (50ft) long, had a bite force of about 45 tonnes (33,000lbs) per square inch.
The creature's partial skull was dug up last summer in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard by a Norwegian-led team.

Dubbed "Predator X", it patrolled the oceans some 147 million years ago.

Its jaws may have been more powerful than those of a Tyrannosaurus rex, though estimates of the dinosaur's bite vary substantially.
It is thought to belong to a new species of pliosaur - a group of large, short-necked reptiles that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.

But even by the standards of this group, the creature's size has astonished scientists.
Its estimated length exceeds that of another large pliosaur, dubbed "The Monster", which was uncovered in Svalbard a year earlier than this one…More and an artist impression @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7948670.stm

Did You Know?

Fish fossil clue to origin of sex
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

A fossil fish from Australia was one of the earliest known vertebrates to reproduce sexually, a study suggests. Nature journal says the ancient fish was carrying a 5cm-long embryo.
The fertilisation of eggs by sperm outside the mother's body - external fertilisation - is thought to have evolved before sex.
The fossil suggests sexual reproduction - the fertilisation of eggs inside the female's body - evolved sooner than previously thought.

"These (fish) show some of the earliest evidence for internal reproduction," Zerina Johanson, curator of fossil fish at London's Natural History Museum (NHM), told BBC News.
Evidence of reproductive biology is extremely rare in the fossil record
Zerina Johanson, Natural History Museum

"We expected that these early fishes would show a more primitive type of reproduction, where sperm and eggs combine in the water and embryos develop outside the fish."

According to Dr Johanson, the 365 million-year-old specimen shows that "the type of advanced fertilisation, taking place inside the mother, was more common among early fishes than previously thought.

"This discovery is incredibly important because evidence of reproductive biology is extremely rare in the fossil record," she said…read more, watch the Video and view the images: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7909984.stm

A Pacific fish uses mirrors as well as lenses to help it see in the murky ocean depths, scientists have revealed. The brownsnout spookfish has been known for 120 years, but no live specimen had ever been captured. Last year, one was caught off Tonga, by scientists from Tuebingen University, Germany.
Tests confirmed the fish is the first vertebrate known to have developed mirrors to focus light into its eyes, the team reports in Current Biology.
"In nearly 500 million years of vertebrate evolution, and many thousands of vertebrate species living and dead, this is the only one known to have solved the fundamental optical problem faced by all eyes - how to make an image - using a mirror," said Professor Julian Partridge, of Bristol University, who conducted the tests.
The mirrors must give the fish a great advantage in the deep sea, where the ability to spot even the briefest of lights can be the difference between eating and being eaten
Professor Julian Partridge Bristol University
Spookfish is a name often given to Barreleyes - a group of small, odd-looking deep-sea fish species, found in tropical-to-temperate waters of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans... read the complete article and see the amazing image of this incredible fish @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7815540.stm

The new turtle species is a missing link between land and water-based turtles.

20/11/08 16:40 Filed in: Breaking NEWS | Science |
Ancient turtle discovered on Skye
By James Morgan
Science reporter, BBC News
The new turtle species is a missing link between land and water-based turtles The earliest turtles known to live in water have been discovered on a Scottish island.
The 164 million-year-old reptile fossils were found on a beach in southern Skye, off the UK's west coast. The new species forms a missing link between ancient terrestrial turtles and their modern, aquatic descendants.
The discovery of Eileanchelys waldmani, which translates as "the turtle from the island", is reported in the Royal Society journals. The turtles were found embedded in a block of rock at the bay of Cladach a'Ghlinne, on the Strathaird peninsula.
It contained four well-preserved turtle skeletons, and the remnants of at least two others...check out this amazing and complete article with photos @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7736786.stm

Amazing NEW find in the Pacific, Palau reveals new fish species...
for the images and Video please go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7564126.stm

Pacific dives recover novel fish...Marine biologists being filmed for a BBC TV series have confirmed an astonishing 13 new fish species on a single expedition in the Pacific Ocean.

The bright blue damselfish is finally in the hands of science.
The researchers have a further 15 animals they think may also be new to science but require additional study. The haul comes from deep dives made across reefs in Micronesia. The quest to find the novel fish is detailed in the series Pacific Abyss and includes the capture of a long-sought and spectacular damselfish. The team concentrated its efforts on waters referred to as the "twilight zone".
Sited some 60m (200ft) to 150m (500ft) down, this is a transition region between depths that still receive some sunlight during the daytime and waters that are in perpetual darkness.

The twilight zone is rarely explored, being below the activity of normal scuba activity but above the operations of most submersibles.
The scientists had to use sophisticated closed-circuit rebreather gear to avoid decompression problems. Even so, for safety reasons, their dives were strictly time-limited, and each sortie saw a quick scramble to net as many different fish as possible before the required slow ascent to the surface.
The newly described species include several new colourful damselfish in the Chromis genus; at least one new species of basslet (from the Plectranthias genus); an unusual hawkfish and a new species of butterflyfish.

The most spectacular recovery was of the bright blue damselfish found 120m down off Palau. This was described recently in the scientific literature by team-member Dr Richard Pyle, from the Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
The fish has been named Chromis abyssus in honour of the TV series.
The story is a more complicated one, however, because Dr Pyle first saw this fish more than a decade ago. Other researchers, too, had sightings, including one from a small submersible and another from a Remotely Oerated Vehicle (ROV).
It was during the BBC filming, though, that nine specimens were finally captured, allowing for an official scientific submission this year.
Discovery of a new fish species
Pacific Abyss starts its three-part run on Sunday, 17 August, on BBC One, at 2000 BST
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7564126.stm

Tags: Damselfish, Discovery, BBC Divers, New Fish Species, twilight zone, Abyss, Pacific Ocean, DIVING, Hawkfish, Basslet

This is a follow up story from our fossilized shark....

Ancient shark had colossal bite
By Jennifer Carpenter
Science reporter, BBC News
The great white shark may have awesome jaws but they are nothing compared with those of megalodon, its gigantic, whale-eating ancestor.

A new study of the extinct creature's skull shows it had an almighty bite, making the prehistoric fish one of the most fearsome predators of all time.
All the more remarkable, scientists say, because the crushing force came from jaws made of cartilage, not bone.
The researchers report their skull work in the Journal of Zoology.
The megalodon super-shark swam in the oceans more than a million-and-a-half years ago.

It grew up to 16m (52ft) in length and weighed in at 100 tonnes - 30 times heavier than the largest great white - and must have been one of the most formidable carnivores to have existed...read more and the photos @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7540835.stm

Tags: FOSSILS,, Sharks

THE first complete fossil of an ancient British shark was unveiled today by the Natural History Museum.

The perfectly preserved three foot long relic of a Wodnika will help palaeontologists gain a much clearer view on how the prehistoric British shark once lived.
Even its internal cartilage skeleton has survived for 240 million years before being discovered in Durham read more and see the photo click this link

Tags: Sharks, Paleontology, Discovery,, Jurasic, FOSSILS,

Fantastic Photo of a NEW White Whale from Down Under...

New White Whale spotted...

Courtesy By Alison Feeney-Hart
BBC News, Sydney

Migaloo has become something of a celebrity

A new white humpback has been sighted off Byron Bay on the east coast of Australia.
The newcomer, which was filmed by a television news helicopter, has excited marine scientists who think it may be related to Migaloo - to date, the only known all-white humpback whale.
Migaloo is somewhat of a celebrity down under. Why? "Because as far as we know, he is globally unique," said Professor Peter Harrison from the Whale Research Centre, Southern Cross University.
It now seems that Migaloo, (whose Aboriginal name means "white fellow") might have competition.

Although predominantly white, the new whale does have some black markings near its head and tail. So who is the newcomer?
A white calf was spotted with a normal humpback mother in Byron Bay two years ago. Experts say the new whale could be the offspring of Migaloo but further tests need to be carried out.
A record number of humpbacks have been spotted off the Australian coast this year on their annual migration north to their breeding grounds.
One thing scientists do agree on is that this second white whale has never been seen in these waters before...
more and the amazing photo @
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519263.stm

Tags: White Whale, Australia, Down Under, MIgaloo

The image below is of a fossilized Ammonite (an ancient relative of today’s Nautilus) from the Jurassic period, the Nautilus can still be found in Palau Micronrsia today, one of the very few places in the world where Divers can encounter this real living fossil. For more information on Palau please visit our site @ http://www.palautours.com/

A fossilized Ammonite from the Jurassic period
some 160 million years ago.


This photo of the Nautilus, (a close relative of the Ammonite)
was taken in Palau Micronesia.

Fossil fills out water-land leap

Courtesy By Matt McGrath
BBC science correspondent
Scientists say a fossil of a four-legged fish sheds new light on the process of evolution. The creature had a fish-like body but the head of an animal more suited to land than water.
The researchers' study, published in the journal Nature, says Ventastega curonica would have looked similar to a small alligator. Scientists say the 365-million-year-old species eventually became an evolutionary dead end.

Counting digits
About one hundred million years before dinosaurs began to roam the Earth, Ventastega was to be found in the shallow waters and tidal estuaries of modern day Latvia.

According to lead author, Professor Per Ahlberg, from Uppsala University, Sweden, this creature had the head of a tetrapod, an animal adapted to live on land. The body, though, was fish-like but with four primitive flippers.
"From a distance, it would have looked like an alligator. But closer up, you would have noticed a real tail fin at the back end, a gill flap at the side of the head; also lines of pores snaking across head and body.

"In terms of construction, it had already undergone most of the changes from fish towards land animal, but in terms of lifestyle you are still looking at an animal that is habitually aquatic."
Experts believe that Ventastega was an important staging post in the evolutionary journey that led creatures from the sea to the land. Scientists once believed that these early amphibious animals descended in a linear fashion, but this discovery instead confirms these creatures diversified into different branches along the way.

Professor Ahlberg points to the discovery of a fossil called Tiktaalik in Canada in 2004. It is believed to be the "missing link" in the gap between fish and land mammals. Ventastega is a later species but is a more primitive form of transition animal.
"Ventastega fills the gap between Tiktaalik and the earliest land based mammals. All these changes in these creatures are not going in lockstep; it's a mosaic with different parts of animal evolving at different rates. Ventastega has acquired some of land-animal characteristics, but has not yet got some of the other ones."

For instance, the creature had primitive feet - but with a high number of digits...read more & photos go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7473470.stm