My Reef's Diary - Coral Triangle

 My Reef's Diary - Coral Triangle

3 beautiful videos from My Reef's Diary. Check out his page for more beautiful videos and pictures.

Hammerhead Bat

Hammerhead Bat

I've always been fascinated by Bats ever since I found one dead. (I think it was a common pipistrelle.) I was amazed by how small and delicate it was but with razor sharp teeth.
The Hammerhead Bat is a Bat that I've only just learnt about in the last year.
Below are some facts and pictures. 

Enjoy...Steve...

That is One Big Nose.

Only the male Hammer-Headed Bat is blessed with such a large head, which they use to create incredibly loud honking noises. The large nose, larynx and lips allow the male bat create sounds that are extremely resonant. The females on the other hand have a head that is about 3 times smaller than their male counterparts. In fact, their head looks more like a regular ol’ fruit bat. It is funny how the males are always the ones that have to go out of their way to try and impress their female friends.

Pick Me, Pick Me.

Competition for female attention is quite fierce in the Hammer-Headed Bat population. Typically, males will all gather together in a group, which can contain as many as 130 individuals, At this point the female will fly over and assess the entire group of males. She will pick her favourite by landing on a branch next to the lucky winner. I guess it is kind of like picking baseball teams when you were a kid…..I feel bad for the last bat that never gets picked, but I guess that is life. He will just need to go back and work on getting an even larger nose for next year.

The Deadly Megabat

The Hammer-Headed Bat is the largest bat in Africa with a wingspan between 686 to 970 mm (2.3 – 3.2 feet). Typically, the males are larger than the females, which makes sense since they need to be able to carry that big head around all day. Although, it may be tempting to go up and pet this large, hammer-headed creature, you need to realize that this particular bat species is one of the 3 fruit bats in Africa that carry the Ebola virus, without showing any symptoms. Not only are they huge but they can also be deadly!

Source: wild-facts.com Pictures found via Google images.

Pangolins: 13 facts about the world's most hunted animal

Pangolins: 13 facts about the world's most hunted animal.

With its armoured shell and peculiar gait, the humble pangolin looks more like an anteater prepped for medieval battle than an animal under threat. Illegal trade in South Asia, however, has now rendered the scaly mammals the most trafficked animal on earth, with some estimates claiming that sales now account for up to 20 per cent of the entire wildlife black market.

In response to the pangolin's plight, numerous campaigns have been launched to raise awareness, including the Save Pangolins organisation and an app, Roll with the Pangolins, which was endorsed by Prince William in his role as President of United for Wildlife. What's more, in 2012 Sir David Attenborough chose the Sunda pangolin, a species distributed throughout South East Asia, as one of his ten favourite species he would 'save' from extinction.

So what is it that makes pangolin so special, and why has nobody heard of them? Here are 14 facts to get you up to speed on one of the most threatened species on Earth.

1) There are eight species of pangolin.

From one extant family, Manidae, there are eight species of pangolin still in existence worldwide, as well as several extinct species over their 80 million year evolution.

Four of the species are Asian: Chinese, Malayan (or Sunda), Indian and Palawan; while the others are African: Tree pangolin, Giant ground pangolin, Cape pangolin and Long-tailed pangolin.

2) A pangolin’s tongue can be longer than its body.

When fully extended, a pangolin's tongue can be over 40cm long, and starts deep in the chest cavity. Pangolin do not have teeth and are unable to chew, however, so use their sticky tongues to collect insects - up to 70 million a year - which are ground up by stones and keratinous spines inside their stomachs.

3) Pangolins are the only mammals in the world covered in scales.

The pangolin's large scales are made of keratin, the same material of which our fingernails, rhino horns and bird talons are made - and account for 20% of its weight. The scales are very hard and protect pangolin against animal predators, yet in traditional Chinese medicine are dried and roasted as a method of relieving palsy, stimulating lactation and draining pus. As a result, pangolin scales can sell on the black market for over $3,000 a kilogram, and have even been used to make coats.

4) The name means 'something that rolls up'.

The ground pangolin got its common name from the Malay (the national language of Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia) word 'pengguling', meaning 'rolling up', in reference to the animal's defence mechanism of rolling into a tight, near-impenetrable ball when threatened. Unfortunately, this practice makes it even easier for humans to capture and smuggle them, as hunters can simply pick up.

5) Some climb trees, others dig holes.

With their large, curved claws, pangolins are able both to grip on to overhanging tree branches and dig through concrete. Arboreal pangolins, such as the African long-tailed species, live in trees, while others dig burrows so large a human could stand up in them.

6) Even big cats don't know what to do with them.

Aside from humans, pangolins' main predators include lions, tigers and leopards. Often, though, rolling up in a ball is enough to outwit the big cats, as a pangolin's keratin scales are too hard for even a lion to bite through.

7) Nobody knows how long they live.

It is presumed that pangolins have a lifespan of twenty years in the wild, since the oldest recorded pangolin lived for 19 years in captivity. The creatures are very rarely found in zoos, however, as time spent in captivity tends to bring about stress, depression and malnutrition, leading to early death. As such, it is unknown how long a pangolin can live for.

8) They emit a noxious acid like skunks.

When threatened, pangolins defend themselves by rolling up in a ball and, if needed, lashing out with their tale - the scales on which can easily cut a predator's skin. In addition they are also able to emit a noxious-smelling acid from glands near the anus, similar to the that of a skunk, though pangolins are unable to spray the liquid.

9) Millions have been traded and killed in the last decade.

It is estimated that 100,000 pangolins are captured every year from across Africa and Asia, with most shipped to China and Vietnam, where their meat and scales are sold. As a result, all eight species of pangolin now feature on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of animals threatened with extinction.

11) Their eyesight is dreadful.

Of the eight species of pangolin only one, the long-tailed pangolin native to west and central Africa, is regularly active during the day. The rest are nocturnal and, relative to their body size, have very small eyes. This means they have poor eyesight, instead locating termite mounds and ant hills with a strong sense of smell and hearing.

Pangolin pups are carried on their mother's tail for three months, and remain with them for five months until they are strong enough to live alone.

12) Dating can be difficult.

Pangolins are sexually dimorphic, meaning the genders differ wildly in weight. Most male pangolins are up to 50 per cent heavier than females, while the Indian species can reach 90 per cent. There is no defined mating season, and pangolins are largely solitary aside from mating, so males attract the opposite gender by marking their territory with urine and waiting for a female to find them.

13) Their closest relative might not be an anteater.

They may be prehistoric, but scientists have changed their minds over the taxonomy of pangolins. It was previously thought the mammals were a member of the Xenarthra family, which includes the similar-looking anteaters, sloths and armadillos. New evidence, however, has shown a closer relationship to the Carnivora, a diverse order containing hyenas, bears and wolves.

Pictures and video source: found via Google 

What's the Difference Between Dolphins and Porpoises?

What's the Difference Between Dolphins and Porpoises?

Enjoy...Steve...

Dolphins have longer noses, bigger mouths, more curved dorsal fins, and longer, leaner bodies than porpoises.The Northeastern Offshore Spotted Dolphin, shown here, has a falcate, or sickle-shaped dorsal fin and light spotting on the belly.

People use the terms dolphins, porpoises, and whales to describe marine mammals belonging to the order Cetacea (from the Greek work ketos, “large sea creature”), and often use them interchangeably. The orca, or killer whale, for example, is actually the largest member of the dolphin family.

Dolphins are by far more prevalent than porpoises. Most scientists agree that there are 32 dolphin species (plus five closely related species of river dolphin) and only six porpoise species.

There are six porpoise species, according to research published in 1995 in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

They are:

• Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
• Burmeister's porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis)
• Vaquita porpoise (Phocoena sinus)
• Spectacled porpoise (Australophocaena dioptrica)
• Dalls porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli)
• Finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides)

Dolphins are also more talkative than porpoises. Dolphins make whistling sounds through their blowholes to communicate with one another underwater. Scientists are pretty sure that porpoises do not do this, and some think this may be due to structural differences in the porpoise’s blowhole.So what’s the difference? It essentially comes down to their faces (who can forget Flipper’s famous “grin”?), their fins, and their figures. Dolphins tend to have prominent, elongated “beaks” and cone-shaped teeth, while porpoises have smaller mouths and spade-shaped teeth. The dolphin’s hooked or curved dorsal fin (the one in the middle of the animal’s back) also differs from the porpoise’s triangular dorsal fin. Generally speaking, dolphin bodies are leaner, and porpoises’ are portly.

Dolphins and porpoises have many similarities, one of which is their extreme intelligence. Both have large, complex brains and a structure in their foreheads, called the melon, with which they generate sonar (sound waves) to navigate their underwater world.

It is likely that more (or fewer) differences between dolphins and porpoises will be revealed as researchers continue to investigate these intriguing sentinels of the sea.

Harbor Porpoise Identification Tips

ID: stocky, small pointed flippers, no beak
Size: average adult 5 ft and ~150 lb
Color: dark gray to black on top with white underside
Dorsal fin: small, triangle shaped fin and uniform in color
Group size: 2-5 animals
Behavior: Do not make a splash, shy and tend to avoid boats

Link to an amazing gallery of Dolphins.

Deep Divers: A Gallery of Dolphins

Dolphins have more elongated "beaks" than porpoises. 

Credit: Jan Zoetekouw (top); Gervasio S. _ Eureka_89 (bottom)/Shutterstock.com

Blanket Octopus

The Blanket Octopus

Enjoy...Steve...

Blanket Octopus is the common name used to describe four species of octopus belonging to the Tremoctopus genus. The four species are the Common Blanket Octopus, Gelatinous Blanket Octopus, Palmate Octopus, and Tremoctopus Robsoni. They are called so because of the transparent webbing connecting their dorsal and dorsolateral arms, which resembles a large a large flowing blanket.

These species can be found in the open seas of the Mediterranean as well as the North and South Atlantic Ocean. Sightings are rare, making the Blanket Octopus an elusive and mysterious species.

The "blanket" is a defense mechanism, and a handy one too, as Blanket Octopuses do not have ink to ward off predators. Instead, the Blanket Octopus will unfurl its blanket, making it look significantly larger and intimidating, with the intention of scaring off whatever threatens it.

Interestingly, Blanket Octopus is immune to the poison of the Portuguese man o' war, a jellyfish-like invertebrate known for its deadly venom. Taking advantage of their immunity, Blanket Octopuses will rip off the Man o' war's tentacles and use them to defend themselves from attacks.

Males and females look as though their two different species! Female Blanket Octopuses may grow in excess of two meters in length, whereas males only reach a few centimeters. The males have a detachable arm in which sperm is stored. When it is time to mate, the male detaches its arm and lodges it into the female's mantle. The male dies shortly afterwards while the female goes on to carry over 100,000 eggs that she keeps attached to her until they are ready to hatch.

Source: everythingoctopus.blogspot.co.uk

Are you brave enough to swim with great white sharks in the shallows?

Enjoy this amazing VR swim with a Great White Shark.

The Beauty of Pollination

The Beauty of Pollination

Enjoy...Steve...

I saw this animated GIF showing the incredible flight skills of a twirling hummingbird. I thought it was amazing and wanted to find the source of the picture. It comes from a section of a film called "Wings of Life". 

The scene is called "The Beauty of Pollination" and was shown at the 2011 TED conference to spread awareness to the importance of pollination.

This video was shown at the TED conference in 2011, with scenes from "Wings of Life", a film about the threat to essential pollinators that produce over a third of the food we eat. The seductive love dance between flowers and pollinators sustains the fabric of life and is the mystical keystone event where the animal and plant worlds intersect that make the world go round.

Written and directed by Louie Schwartzberg, “The Beauty of Pollination” is an eye-opening film that highlights the rising threat against the valuable pollinators who assist in the production of over 1/3 of the world’s food supply.

Using animation, Schwartzberg illustrates the mesmerizing interaction between plants and pollinators. This natural method is important in sustaining life on Earth. Pollination allows flora and fauna to thrive and establish a connection even if they come from different branches of life.