Tag: sharks
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Ocean Movies you Love to Hate: Blood Surf (2000)
Combine surfing + sharks + reality TV + pirates + salt-water crocodile and you have Blood Surf, an ocean movie that goes by the taglines of “Where a surfers dream can become reality” and “Chicks dig scars.”
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Ocean Movies you Love to Hate: Tentacles (1977)
Suction cups of death threaten the tourists of a seaside resort in this cheap Italian knock-off Jaws. Fortunately, the hapless swimmers and boaters are saved by a plucky marine biologist who trains two killer whales to devour the eight-armed menace.
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Eight Experiences that Honor the Forces of the Ocean
While watching the new version of Point Break I was fascinated with the concept of the Ozaki Eight: eight ordeals that honors the forces of nature. So based on the concept discussed in the film I set out to develop my own eight experiences that would honor the energy and power of the ocean.
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Are Animals Conscious and Does it Matter?
Many people hope that some day we may meet an intelligent being from another world. Hollywood tells us this stranger will come flying down in a spaceship, and will look a bit like us. Most importantly, he’ll have a mind like ours and we’ll figure out how to communicate in a few hours. But maybe […]
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The Elephant Seals of Año Nuevo
The year was 1987 and I was searching for a place where black abalone were largely undisturbed so I could complete my dissertation. The island was the perfect location: isolated, difficult to access, federally protected, and surrounded by seal- and shark- infested waters. During my first low tide on the island I was ecstatic: blacks were common and it was the perfect place to conduct a study but there were elephant seals everywhere.
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Shark Attacks and the Surfer’s Dilemma: Cull or Conserve?
Sharks are frequently in the headlines these days as a series of attacks across the globe has turned Shark Week into Shark Year. With an unusual number of publicized attacks on the US eastern seaboard, Reunion Island, Australia and in South Africa, hardly a week goes by where the media or local politicians don’t cry out for action to increase the […]
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The Search for Monster Great White Sharks
You’re gonna need a bigger boat. — Chief Martin Brody (Jaws) First of all let’s get something straight: Great white sharks are not the biggest shark in the ocean. That distinction belongs to whale sharks (40+ feet) and basking sharks (30+ feet). However, since these are gentle plankton-munching giants most people don’t focus on their huge size. […]
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Shark attacks are on the rise: five things you need to know
We should be afraid of sharks half as much as sharks should be afraid of us. — Peter Benchley (Author of Jaws) [Listen and read] The classic tune to Jaws strike fear even in the most causal beach goer. As a marine biologist and surfer I spent a fair amount of time in the water […]
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Diving with fish, turtles and sharks (oh my!)
Diving underwater can be a surreal experience. Diving is one of the few adventures that transports you to a totally alien environment, one that is naturally devoid of human life. Unfortunately, the ocean world is far from free of our influences and finding pristine conditions is often limited to remote areas far from human civilization. However, there […]