Wouldnt you just love to jump in the water with these adorable little creatures? Look how cute the penguins are!! But did you notice something different… have you ever seen an all black penguin?
Andrew Evans, who is traveling by bus from Washington D.C. to Antartica, came across the Rare Black Penguins on the island of South Georgia. The black penguins were confirmed with Dr. Allan Baker an Ornithologist and Professor of Environmental and Evolutionary Studies at the University of Toronto and head of the Department of Natural History at the Royal Ontario Museum, believes that the penguin has lost control of its pigmentation patterns and assumes that it is some kind of mutation. To read more on this beautiful creature, go to National Geographics. Or to view the genetic defect bird, watch the National Geographic video.
Want to know more on the black penguins? Here is a site from Noah Strycker who spent a season in 2008 in Cape Crozier, Antarctica. His interview with the Washington Post tells of his journey. Below is a picture he took and pictures of his work.
In New York, a theif was not dressed in a ski hood or even a pair of pantyhose but a snorkel mask. On April 29th, a person was wearing a gray hooded jacket and a snorkel mask and snatched a persons iPhone who was just walking down the street, states The Brooklyn Paper. Now how original is that?
You might be wondering what in the world I would have an article on surfing on a blog whose primary focus is snorkeling. I could answer that by telling you that many of the products on our snorkeling website are quite capable for use in other water sport activities. Our snorkeling masks are suitable for both snorkeling and scuba diving while our wetsuits and shorties are quite useful in many water sports including wind surfing, water skiing, jet skiing, swimming, scuba diving, free diving, skin diving and surfing. That answer would be true but it is not the actual reason for writing this article. The true reason is that I was emotionally moved when I saw this story.
A 17 year old rookie surfer by the name of Carissa Moore who had just won her second ASP tour. Her win included a trophy and a check for $15,000 dollars. Upon receiving her trophy, it was announced that her $15,000 earnings for the win would be going to a local organization called Waitara Bar Boardriders Club.
I personally don’t think I have ever seen or read of a teenager being so philanthropic. All the teenagers that I know are usually asking for money rather than giving it away. The full story can be read on the Carissa Moore story. (Carissa is pictured in the back row in the middle with the huge smile!)
Now here is something for you to ponder. I am not usually one who applies human characteristics to animals but I couldn’t resist indulging when I came upon this article while snorkeling the Internet, on the Los Angeles Times.
It was reported that Newport Beach resident Mike Kai found a sea lion pup, later named “Fiddler” on his roof top deck. The seal pup apparently was able to manage the stairs going up to to the the roof during the early morning sunrise hours. He probably would have been there till sunset had he not been heard thumping around up there. Maybe the seal was taking in the view of the real estate of Newport Beach wondering about the future if it were a rich pup. Perhaps the seal mistook the home as belonging to some famous film director as it did show off a bit while waiting for animal control to show up by wriggling along the deck rail located two stories above the ground. The pup was rescued and taken to the Pacific Marine Animal Center in Laguna Beach but no one know why it was so far from the home it loves. Whether it was finding Nemo or looking for Mr. Goodbar we may never know.
If you can get through the amateur videographer, take a look at seal lion pup below… awww, sooo cute!
I havent played video games since they were the size of the old PC monitors even though computers were just new. I am a little rusty but found this Oceanic Snorkeling Game to be fun! Enjoy!
We often get asked… can a dolphin breathe underwater?
It depends on which dolphin you are referring to. The mammal or the fish. When someone mentions the word dolphin they are more than likely referring to the marine mammal we see on television as well as aquatic shows at large aquariums. The mammal has to take air in from an air filled environment because, like humans, this type of dolphin has lungs. Wiki will tell you more about this mammal. It should be noted this mammal is considered to rank pretty high with regard to intelligence, read a previous blog we wrote, Dolphin Sushi.
The mammal called the Dolphin and the fish called the dolphin fish, may share the name but not the same characteristics. The dolphin fish takes water through its gills where the oxygen needed to sustain its life is pulled directly from the water through a series of what are called gills. Ask a Scientist, gives more information on the dolphin fish and you can find more on Wiki.
The dolphin fish goes by other names depending on how it was named in different languages. The Dolphin Fish and the Dolphin (mammal) are only related in name not in biology. Dolphin Fish is found in Super markets, fish markets and even on menus in restaurants world wide. I have yet to see it packaged as Dolphin Fish. Restaurants, fish markets etc probably got tired of explaining the differences between the fish and the mammal, so the dolphin fish is usually sold by its Hawaiian name which is Mahi-Mahi.
So if you are referring to the mammal then no it can not breathe under the water. It holds its breath. If you are referring to the Dolphin Fish then yes it does breathe under water.
I used to have one as a kid but they quit making them for a couple of reasons, the main one being that the user ended up re-breathing their exhalation due to the large “dead” air space of the mask in addition to the snorkels coming out the top of the mask. The user just did not have the lung capacity to breathe past these dead air spaces. The second reason they stopped making them was that they used either a spongy rubber ball or a ping pong ball housed in a birdcage type device that would close off the top of the snorkels. This kept the water out when the snorkeler went below the waterline but the balls compressed the deeper the snorkeler went which either compromised the seal (the ping pong ball) or ended up clogging the tubes (the foam rubber ball).
The snorkeling industry went without “dry” snorkel for close to twenty five years but was finally able to come up with designs that addressed the sealing problems like this snorkel, the Oceanic Ultra Dry Snorkel.
If your health issue is an allergic reaction to rubber, most of the snorkels use a hypoallergenic silicone mouthpiece to overcome this issue.
If you are suffering from TMJ (temporomandibular joint syndrome) you could opt for a mold-able bite for the mouthpiece or a smaller mouthpiece to help with that.
Wouldnt you just love to jump in the water with these adorable little creatures? Look how cute the penguins are!! But did you notice something different… have you ever seen an all black penguin?
