Oceans and Their Inhabitants

#51

OK, that was awesome.

#52

Ningaloo.

#53

Dave from down under wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 12:37 am Some fantastic images at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-16/ ... /102291152

#54

Dave from down under wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 12:37 am Some fantastic images at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-16/ ... /102291152

#55

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Tue May 16, 2023 7:46 am Ningaloo.

This is what I saw with my own two eyes at Ningaloo:

Green Turtle

Whale Shark

Sting Ray

#56

I didn't see this with my own eyes but others on the trip did.

It got really close to the surface, and the photographer got really creative:

Dave from down under · #57

Lani · #58

I loved swimming with honu - Hawaiian green sea turtles native to Hawaiʻi. They are the largest hard-shelled sea turtle in the world, reaching lengths of four feet and weighing over 300 pounds. They liked to scare me. They would swim under me, and then pop up and scare me. I swear they laughed. Then the small group would swim with me.

A smallish shark did the same thing one day.

I did not laugh. I freaked out and headed to the beach. BTW, it's difficult to swim while screaming.

Dave from down under · #59

We have film of that happening
:shark2:

Lani · #60

Yeah, that looks right. Needs screaming, tho.

Lani · #61

Another great ocean adventure was off Cape Henry, Virginia, before I left VA forever. I loved the beach and spent my last days watching the porpoises. Lucky me, there was a marine biologist on the beach. She said she was there at the same time every morning. The porpoises began to expect her and eventually they let her swim with them.

I had only 3 days left.

So every morning, I went to the beach. The porpoises swam by. I swam out a little bit (not a strong swimmer), but they quickly went away. On the 3rd and last day, I swam out towards to them. They blew by me. I was in deep water, and no way could I keep up. Then I yelled "this is my last time". I was treading. I couldn't swim any more. Two of them turned around and looked at me. No kidding. They came to me and swam on each side of me for a little while. And then returned to their pod. One of the best days of my life.

Dave from down under · #62

#63

Fabulous pics and great stories!!!!!

#64

Those photos are amazing, Keith.

And yes, great stories!

#65

Foggy wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 9:43 am Those photos are amazing, Keith.

And yes, great stories!

I'm jealous! Would love to take a swim where I could see whale sharks. I took the PADI scuba class, but I am allergic to everything that grows and I have lived all my life with constant congestion in my sinuses. Nothing will clear it out for more than a minute before it just comes back. I can't take antihistimines with my other meds, so I just had to give up the dream of scuba diving. I can only go down about 25 feet before it just hurts too bad. I forced myself to complete the checkout dive at 30 ft. The following day we were scheduled to do the 60 foot dive and skills at that level. I spent the first night considering how awful it made me feel at just 30 feet and told the instructor the next morning I don't believe I can make it down to 60 feet. He convinced me to try. We arranged with the boat operator that I would go down last and possibly be coming up by myself if I can't get down to 60 feet. I got down to about 40 feet and decided I didn't need a hobby that made me hurt so much. I was quite bummed about it though.

#66

Foggy wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 9:43 am Those photos are amazing, Keith.

And yes, great stories!

Just to be fully accurate, i didnt take them. The dive boat photographer took 'em

Dave from down under · #67

RVInit wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 11:08 am
Foggy wrote: ↑Wed May 17, 2023 9:43 am Those photos are amazing, Keith.

And yes, great stories!
I'm jealous! Would love to take a swim where I could see whale sharks. I took the PADI scuba class, but I am allergic to everything that grows and I have lived all my life with constant congestion in my sinuses. Nothing will clear it out for more than a minute before it just comes back. I can't take antihistimines with my other meds, so I just had to give up the dream of scuba diving. I can only go down about 25 feet before it just hurts too bad. I forced myself to complete the checkout dive at 30 ft. The following day we were scheduled to do the 60 foot dive and skills at that level. I spent the first night considering how awful it made me feel at just 30 feet and told the instructor the next morning I don't believe I can make it down to 60 feet. He convinced me to try. We arranged with the boat operator that I would go down last and possibly be coming up by myself if I can't get down to 60 feet. I got down to about 40 feet and decided I didn't need a hobby that made me hurt so much. I was quite bummed about it though.

I know that feeling - my ears have trouble equalising - which makes rapid ascent problematical, but I did the full PADI course with the open water part in Shark Alley (appropriately named in Fiji), with a very strong current and marine stingers.. so much fun..

But between dives we had lunch on Magic Island and the snorkeling around that was far better than you could see on the scuba dives.

RTH10260 · #68

#69

Interesting video.

#70

My youngest granddaughter loves "creepy creatures"! Here are a few living DEEP.

https://www.treehugger.com/ocean-creatu ... ss-4869267

16 Ocean Creatures That Live in Total Darkness
Alien-like animals that live 1000s of feet below the surface have adapted to hostile environments by taking on the most curious physical traits.

Wolffish

__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__mnn__images__2016__08__wolffish-71813d102f6d4abd893ddf458db9a8f1.webp (28.31 KiB) Viewed 671 times

#71

Hi, TRL!!! Your youngest granddaughter and I would have a hoot watching YouTube all day. I try to catch all those scientific submersible live feeds and if there are the words "deep sea creatures" in the title, I will click on it. Here is one that is narrated by David Attenborough. Some very cool fishies in this one.

#72

RVInit wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:51 pm Hi, TRL!!! Your youngest granddaughter and I would have a hoot watching YouTube all day. I try to catch all those scientific submersible live feeds and if there are the words "deep sea creatures" in the title, I will click on it. Here is one that is narrated by David Attenborough. Some very cool fishies in this one.

Thanks, RV! She will love those!!!!

#73

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 7:31 pm
RVInit wrote: ↑Sun Jun 25, 2023 6:51 pm Hi, TRL!!! Your youngest granddaughter and I would have a hoot watching YouTube all day. I try to catch all those scientific submersible live feeds and if there are the words "deep sea creatures" in the title, I will click on it. Here is one that is narrated by David Attenborough. Some very cool fishies in this one.
Thanks, RV! She will love those!!!!

I have to make a slight correction. There are some really stupid things on YouTube. So, when I say I will click on "anything" that has the words "deep sea creatures" that isn't quite true. Recently something came up with some title that indicated something "amazing" but of course ridiculous supposedly found in the ocean. And then there are the occasional ones that claim a megalodon was "spotted" or suspected to be living some place. I don't click on the ones that aren't from actual known science channels. EVNautilus
is great and they will often do compilations so you can see lots of interesting sea critters from several dives in one video.

https://www.youtube.com/@EVNautilus/videos

RTH10260 · #74

Oarfish | This Legendary Fish That Announces Tsunamis

Best Documentary
31 Jul 2023

In Japan, the Oarfish holds a significant title as "the messenger from the palace of the God of the sea." Its name, it is believed, originated from the observation that its appearance often coincided with earthquakes or tsunamis. However, an intriguing event occurred in 2011 when approximately 20 regalecs washed up on beaches in the region just before Japan was struck by the devastating Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.

Likewise, in Chile, a peculiar occurrence took place before an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit. Japanese fishermen had stumbled upon a dozen regalecs shortly before the seismic event occurred.

#75

How interesting that you posted this - I watched this very documentary this weekend. It is very well done.