Landlocked Mermaid

So, guess who is a dummy and didn't realise there was one more Friday in August? This mermaid! Oh well, this just means it's a two parter and you get my top ten Mythical Sea Beasts! 10. Poseidon   Poseidon. Photo from Wikipedia Technically, Poseidon is a Greek God and therefore not a sea beast - but I do not care. My list, my rules.  Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea, one of the three God Kings, the other two being Zeus and Hades. They are brothers. I have a massive soft spot for Greek Mythology. That may have something to do with Disney's Hercules... But I also remember studying them in school at a young age. We used to have a collection of myths written as comic books. I must have read that over a hundred times.  Therefore it is necessary he is included on my list. Also, he has some beastly DNA. According to legend, Pegasus was created when Poseidon bedded a Gorgon. That is a god and a snake haired lady making a flying horse. Them Greek Gods ...

I have been looking forward to this Bank Holiday weekend. We were going diving. The original plan was to go to Anglesey and do some wreck dives near Holyhead. I was very excited for this - wrecks are a new facet of diving I am eager to try. But, unfortunately, the weather had other ideas. With there being so muh glorious sunshine early in the summer, I took it as gospel that it would be sunny this weekend just past. As we well know, that was not the case. And the weather in Anglesey was set to be much worse. Like stormy seas, big waves worse. And considering that I felt queasy when it was still, it was probably a good thing the plans were changed. Rather than trekking a long way for a dive with poor visibility, the decision was made to go to Capernwray - as it is much closer and less affected by rainy weather. A quarry filled with submerged vehicles sounded like the much better option. Anglesey will have to wait. The wrecks aren't going anywhere. I hope. The...

Top Five Mythical Sea Beasts 1. Bloop The bloop. Photo: Wikipedia Ok, so this first one is not an actual beast, but for a time it was believed it could be. In 1997, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) discovered an ultra-low frequency. It was powerful and mysterious. No one knew where it came from or what could have caused it. It could be a beast! It was a modern mystery, which I think is fab. It is brilliant that there is still so much we haven't discovered about our oceans. Having a little mystery and fantasy alive in the world is fun. This mystery may have been solved though. While the low frequency bloop may be consistent with a  marine creature, it is more likely to have been an icequake inside an iceberg. Still, it was interesting enough to include in my list. 4. Cetus The Cetus constellation. Photo: Wikipedia Cetus is a sea monster from Greek Mythology. The word "cetus" could mean big fish, shark or just general...

So this was a golden opportunity. August being a five week month, I had the chance to refilm episode three of Sharks @ 7 & 3/4 and get back on track for episode four next month. But the small window of opportunity I had vanished. I feel like the boat for refilming has been missed but rather than abandon this episode entirely, I am going to break this episode down here. The kids did some really great pictures, it's not their fault I fail at filming. So I'm going to showcase their beautiful pictures, share some facts and get my act together for the next episode. Basking Sharks Top: Dylan's. Bottom: Addy's The 2nd biggest shark alive today. They are filter feeders, meaning they eat plankton. They feed with their mouths wide open. They filter 1.5 million litres per hour and catch the microscopic plankton on their gill rakers. See those structures inside the mouths the kids drew? Those are the gill rakers. Their name comes from appearing to bask in the su...

Hybodus Photo from New Dinosaurs Kingdom: Animalia Class: Choridricthyes Conservation Status: Extinct (EX) Found: Worldwide Era: Permian - Cretaceous Lived: 303.4 million - 66 million years ago Diet: Everything. Weight: 90.7kg (200lbs) Size: 2m (6.6ft) Habitat: Shallow seas The Hybodus is an ancient shark species which lived up until 66 million years ago. Unlike most sharks, these species were around for well over 200 million years. This is over ten times the average span of shark species as they are usually around between 10-20 million years. This was a successful shark, living through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous eras. Considering that it shared waters with plesiosaurs and mosasaurus who were both big predators; this is very impressive. It is not really known why they even went extinct. In appearance, Hybodus are your classic shark. They have the seven fins, the streamline body, the cartilage skeleton... the list goes on. They ...

I wanted to start something new. In doing research for Ancient Seas #3 , I stumbled across a woman called Mary Anning. She was a very interesting woman and did a lot for paleontology, with very little credit until recently. So I've decided to do a segment about her and other folks who contribute to their field or conservation. I'm calling it Merfolk . So without further waffle... Mary Anning Mary Anning with her dog, Tray. Photo from the BBC Lived: Lyme Regis, Dorset, UK Era: Victorian Life Span: 1799-1847 Occupation: Fossil collector/trader; paleontologist  Mary Anning was a woman from Victorian England who made a number of key discoveries about prehistoric life on our planet. She hunted for fossils along the English coast after winter landslides revealed them along the shore. She then sold them in her shop to geologists, paleontologists and other men of science who took her discoveries as their own. She did not recieve acolades for her dscoveries unt...

Ok, so this week I have been feeling a litttle off. I've had inexplicable blues which have left me feeling lethargic and unmotivated. This post was supposed to be about straws but the mental plan I had going was basically just me ranting. And that's not what this blog is about, although I seem to do it a lot. So that wasn't helping the ennui. (Yes, I am referencing Gilmore Girls .) But then something cropped up in my news feed the other day which cheered me right up. A couple years ago, I remember there being a story about a young lad who'd made it his life goal to clean up the ocean. He'd invented a contraption which would remove the big pieces from the sea all by itself. I remember being impressed but didn't think much more of it at the time. Then this video appeared: It's the same project I saw a few years ago and it is nearly ready to roll out. It's called The Ocean Cleanup . Talk about a cure for my ennui! I get so wrapped up i...

Japanese Spider Crab Photo from The Ethogram Kingdom: Animalia Class: Malacostraca Conservation Status: Not Evaluated (NE) Found: Japanese waters, southern coast of Honshū Diet: Omnivore Weight: Up to 19kg (42lbs) Size: Legs Up to 5.5m (18ft); Body up to 40cm (16”) Habitat:  Vents and holes on the substrate, deep ocean. Japanese Spider Crabs are the largest of their kind. They are the largest arthropod around today. Arthropods are invertibrate creatures with an exoskeleton, segmented body and paired jointed appendages. They are also the largest crustacean living today. These guys are just big. And their size comes from their long, spindly legs. This gives them a somewhat terrifying look. For me, it brings, “One, two, three... lots of legs!” to mind. (Mermaid points if you get that reference .) Despite this, they are known to be rather gentle in disposition. The Japanese spider crab is not a picky eater. Being omnivores, they eat both plant and anima...

So, in case you missed it, I am consciously trying to reduce my plastic consumption. The easiest way to do this, for me, has been switching to shampoo bars. So I thought I'd tell you a little about my journey to the shampoo bar which suits me best in the hopes that you might try some too. My hair is actually one of the few vanities I have in my life. I love to dress up for a night out or Hallowe'en, but most days I am make-up free and wearing whatever I find first in my draws. My straw realated Instagram from the other day is an indicator of how little I care about clashing patterns. But my hair? I love my hair. It is my glorious ginger waterfall. It's long. It's curly. It's (unnaturally) ginger. One of my few extravegances of the year is to get it dyed at the expensive salon in town. Although my roots are begging for me to go again. And the heat is making me want to chop half of it off, which I know is a mistake - it just goes boofy. But anyway, I digress...