Landlocked Mermaid

I have made a decision with Shark Experts. I am going to give my experts a shark to research and look up, it's up to them how they present the information. So without further waffle, here is what my favourite Shark Experts have to say about Lemon Sharks! From Addy: ✦Lemon Sharks have two dorsal fins of equal size on their back. ✦Lemon Sharks rarely attack humans. Only 10 attacks have been reported and none of them were fatal. ✦Lemon Sharks are mainly active during dusk and dawn. ✦Lemon Sharks spend their days sitting on the ocean floor whilst fish remove parasites from their skin. ✦Lemon Sharks are solitary but can occasionally be found in groups of up to 20 members. This provides safety against predators. ✦Female Lemon Sharks' pregnancy lasts 10-12 months and ends with 4-13 babies. ✦Lemon Sharks can survive up to 27 years in the wild. ✦Lemon Sharks are found from New Jersey to southern Brazil  in the western of the Atlantic Ocean. ✦Lemon Sharks sometimes feed on t...

Marine Creature of the Month Orcas aka Killer Whales Photo from Defenders of Wildlife This was originally going to be a proper MCotM profile, but I have had bad brain this week. But rather than not post at all, I thought I'd give you the bullet point version - provided I can read my terrible hand written notes! I am also apparently going for a famous fish theme - Nemo last month, Free Willy this month - so if you know of a famous fish you'd like me to look into, just let me know! Anyway, enough pre-amble, enjoy some facts about Orcas. Kingdom: Animalia Class: Mammalia Conservation Status: Critically Endangered (CR)/Data Deficient (DD) - I will explain. Photo from ThoughtCo   Orcas, while known as Killer Whales, are actually dolphins. They are even the largest species of dolphin with males growing between 6-8m (20-26ft) and females being slightly smaller at 5-7m (16-23ft). They live across the world, from tropical to cold waters. They prefer ...

Ancient Seas Photo from Curiosity Helicoprion Helicoprion is an extinct shark, which lived 290 to 250 million years ago. This was during the Early Miocene to the Late Pliocene. They were found in oceans across the globe. It is believed they ate squid. "Helicoprion" means spiral saw. Can you guess why? Yep, because of that impressive jawline. They were discovered by Russian Andrzej P. Karpinski, in 1889. Only its teeth have fossilised, because soft tissues and cartilage do not fossilise. The spiral shape caused much confusion at the time of discovery! It is now widely agreed that they went in the shark's mouth, though it had been postulated that they were attached to the shark's fin! Although referred to as a "shark", helicoprion is more likely to have been a chimaera which was a cartilaginous fish. They grew up to 7.5m (25ft) and weighed 453.5kg (1,000lbs). The helicoprion survived a mass extinction which wiped out 90% of marine life a...

A while back, my mum and I went to the Chinese supermarket in Birmingham. I went with the goal of getting condensed coconut milk (for fudge) and dumplings (because I love a good dumpling). As well as coming away with a few other gems, I came back with gyoza skins with the aim of making my own dumplings. I decided to have a go this week. Pretendy Duck Dumplings I figured I should start with something simple, in case it all went horribly wrong. It was also a little bit of an impromptu decision, so I hadn't shopped specifically for it. But I remembered that we had the Linda McCartney vegetarian shredded duck in the freezer. Nothing says simple like hoisin duck dumplings. At the very least I know the flavours work, and that I'm not likely to make myself sick from not cooking it properly! All you need. INGREDIENTS Linda McCartney vegetarian shredded duck, Hoisin sauce, Gyoza skins. These are so simple to make, it is hardly worth writing out a method!...