"Local marine experts believed the problem could be solved only if it could be determined why the sharks were venturing so close to the beaches. This meant finding someone with the knowledge, expertise, and courage to spend an extended period of time in the water with the animals themselves, unraveling the mystery. They called Belgian Fred Buyle, the world's foremost shark tagger, a gifted free-diver able to hold his breath for seven minutes and swim to depths below 300 feet." Meet
The Shark Whisperer [more inside]
posted by the man of twists and turns
on Jul 8, 2012 -
13 comments
Wherever you go, H
u-
g
o-
hip
po-
potamus
The
nightmarish and psychedelic 1976 children's movie
Hugo the Hippo features a score of hippos who save the port of Zanzibar from
"cap-wearing sharks decked out with biker jewelry", only to be massacred by the Sultan's greenish advisor (voiced by
Paul Lynde), leaving poor Hugo an orphan.
The soundtrack [flash player] includes songs by Burl Ives (as the titular
hungry hippo),
Jimmy and
Marie Osmond, and the Ken Williams Quartet. There is no official DVD release, but the
Hugo fansite has some options for obtaining the movie, and it's available on Youtube
[links above].
The story is based on a real Hugo the Hippo, who terrorized farmers near
Dar es Salaam:
"Game workers dug a 7-ft. pit along Hugo's dinner trail, lowered a big wooden crate into it, covered the top with branches, and baited it with three succulent pumpkins, Hugo's favorite dessert."
Gyorgi Peluce, the color designer responsible for
The Simpson's unique hues, is a Hugo alumnus from the Hungarian
animation company PannóniaFilm.
Previously on AskMe: 1, 2
posted by benzenedream
on Aug 9, 2011 -
19 comments
Lasers 4, UAVs 0. It's easier to hit things at the speed of light. Raytheon tests a naval anti-aircraft laser, and you can watch it go at the link.
posted by Ella Fynoe
on Jul 19, 2010 -
58 comments
Flash Friday: remember
Miami Shark? That awesome game where you played a shark and the shark totally destroyed everything in its path? The makers of that fine game have now given us
Sydney Shark, and marsupials, parachutists, aliens, and a windsurfer looking suspiciously like John Kerry will never be the same again.
posted by mightygodking
on Apr 23, 2010 -
24 comments
1/3 of open ocean shark species faces extinction, according to the IUCN. A recent report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Shark Specialist group shows that nearly 1/3 of open ocean shark species face extinction. These sharks are essential to keeping ocean ecosystems in balance, and we've already seen some of the devastating effects of catastrophically decreased shark populations. Shark advocate Wolfgang Leander offers his thoughts on this crisis, and also provides the full text of an article about this IUCN report.
posted by WhySharksMatter
on Jul 5, 2009 -
42 comments
In the
Sharkrunners game , players control their ships, but
the sharks are controlled by real-world white sharks with GPS units attached to their fins (...) every shark that players encounter corresponds to a real shark in the real world.
via information aesthetics
posted by signal
on Aug 4, 2007 -
9 comments
Swim At Your Own Risk is "your daily dose of all things sharky" and other aquatic-creature-related news and pictures. [Note: some pics not safe for the squeamish]
posted by amyms
on Jun 2, 2007 -
11 comments
Though JAWS scared the bejezus out of almost everybody and spread around the notion that sharks are
grizzly agents of mindless revenge (this link possibly NSFW), they are, in fact, quite vulnerable to human activities (this doesn't make the prospect of being
eaten alive while swimming any less scary).
NOAA has some good fact sheets to help dispel what unreasonable fears you may have of these much maligned creatures, and if that doesn't do it, maybe
this'll help.
posted by Pecinpah
on Apr 20, 2006 -
20 comments
Ocean Tank and Shark Video Cam - take a aquatic break to explore the New England Aquarium's 200,000-gallon ocean tank, viewable from user-controlled cameras. The exhibit has more than 50 species of sea creatures from eels, sharks and barracuda, to turtles, stingrays and angelfish. You might catch a diver in the tank at feeding times. Viewable 9 am to 5 pm, EST.
posted by madamjujujive
on Nov 4, 2003 -
12 comments
Fantastic images of a Great White Shark breaching (leaving the surface of the water, like a whale or a dolphin would). Note - they apparently usually exhibit this behavior when they are killing/feeding, so those with delicate sensibilities shouldn't click.
posted by jonson
on Sep 11, 2003 -
48 comments
Figures show shark attacks down in 2001. Before September 11, it was the "Season of the Shark." Perhaps we can forgive the
newscasters their excess in this matter. Or may be it's another reason to make sure you get your news from multiple sources and different media--now, more than ever.
posted by piskycritters
on Feb 22, 2002 -
10 comments
Barry White to Serenade Sharks: Sharks are to be serenaded . . . at The National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham in an experiment to help them mate. His love songs and other romantic tunes will be pumped in to tanks containing dogfish, starry smooth hounds and tope. Just in time for Valentine's Day ;) Thanks again to the fabulous
Nutlog.
posted by ryanshepard
on Feb 10, 2002 -
8 comments
Tourists swimming with the fishes... Ok, more accurately swimming with sharks. Summer is coming and with it my little coastal town is starting to endure the first surges of tourist crowds. With the changing of the seasons comes the eternal question, just what can you convince tourists to spend money on? I live in great white shark country so it's unlikely that this particular tourist activity will take off locally. However, we have had problems with commercial shark chummers in the past.
posted by rdr
on Apr 15, 2001 -
8 comments
