Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Bucketful of Oceanic Science Mysteries

Posted by timothy on from the not-to-mention-missing-beach-toys dept.

SuperJames_74 writes: "Over here they've got a one-page article about some quirky little oceanic scientific mysteries. Those peanut-sized Australian jellyfish sound pretty scary, if you ask me!"

5 of 17 comments (clear)

  1. More shark tagging by southisup · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Neale, who travelled 2946 km with his position being plotted online, and also Heather.
    While I'm here, a related tangent: FLIP

  2. Don't touch the snail, by zulux · · Score: 3, Informative

    The jellyfish reminds me of a hidden danger of the tropical seas: little colorfull snails, that after you pick up will inject you with a combination of 'tooth' and venom - possibly enough to kill you. These little buggers are responsible for quite a few injuries and an occasional death or two. Woth knowing about the next time you go snorkeling. More info

    --

    Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

    1. Re:Don't touch the snail, by JabberWokky · · Score: 3, Interesting
      after you pick up will...

      Having spent many years snorkeling and scuba diving in subtropical and tropical waters, I can easily tell you - don't touch. Even if it isn't gonna cause you a serious health concern, it's likely to gash, poision, bite or just irritate your flesh. For those who think you can't alter your fingerprints, I have a nifty little design in my left pointer finger where a barracuda zipped in, split my finger lengthwise, hovered for a moment, and then zipped away. And that was *without* me poking, touching or feeding anything.

      --
      Evan "Frozen peas are fun - until you notice the bigger fish attracted by the small ones"

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
    2. Re:Don't touch the snail, by zulux · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It like your sig :)

      I remember a rather terrifying expeience of taking a bag of bread* down below the water - the local fish population had grown quite fond of the sight and swarmed me en mass. Litterally, I was the center of a great mound of frantically pecking fish. I was only ten feet below at the time, so I surfaced and held the well gnawed bag of bread above the surface and instantly the hidiould little buggers lost interest.

      Sorry to hear about your hand! A least you can brag that it was a barracuda - I have a three inch long gash on by leg from a baby Picasso triggerfish. I noticed him on a outcropping of coral and wathed his antics for a few moments, as I swam away, somthing did somthing to my leg (I assume it was my colorfull fried) and I wound up with a three inch long scar. The little bugger was only two inches long. Oh well, a small price to pay to be a guest in their ocean.

      * I later found out (in defence, I was 11 at the time, but should have known better) - don't feed fish bread as it can clog some fishes guts, leading to painfull bloating and death. Don't listen to the natives if they tell you it's ok.

      --

      Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.

  3. Water bears ROCK!!!!! by jsimon12 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    These guys can be frozen in liquid nitrogen, exsposed to deadly radiation, acid, base, whatever, these guys are indestructable. I am glad they are non-pathnogenic.