Pinger alarm system helps prevent "Cetacean By-catch"

Every year thousands of unintended marine mammals lose their lives by becoming entangled and or strangled in commercial fishing nets and lines. This is known as “Cetacean By-catch”.

Marine scientists estimate that more than 300,000 Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises (Cetaceans) accidentally drown in fishing nets every year. "Cetacean by-catch is a global problem and represents the single largest survival threat to many marine mammal populations around the world."

Scientists at the Future Oceans research laboratory in Queensland, Australia have developed a small but clever acoustic alert gadget that emits sound waves, tuned to alert Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises to the presence of fishing nets. These devices called Pingers have been scientifically proven to be the only known solution to significantly reduce cetacean by-catch.

Gibbs Quadski Amphibious ATV quad bike

is an off road, amphibious quad bike and is apparently the first land vehicle for sale that can exceed 10mph (16kph), in water. Equipped with all-terrain tyres and four-cylinder BMW-supplied engine, the vehicle can drive up to 45mph (70kph) on land and amazingly the exact same speed in water.

Driving it directly into water, the driver depresses a button and within 5 seconds the wheels tuck up under the sides of its body, presumably for better hydro-dynamics. Similarly on approaching land,  the driver depresses a button lowering the wheels into drive away position.

According to Alan Gibbs inventor and founder of Gibbs Sports Amphibians "You just drive straight into the water, quite fast, and keep going. It's sort of magic."

Watch an earlier prototype version of the Quadski in the video after the jump.

Aquadom, Worlds Largest freestanding cylindrical aquarium

represents an engineering architectural marvel, situated in the lobby of the Radisson SAS luxury hotel in Berlin.  This extraordinary aquarium is made of acrylic glass, 51cm thick, 25m high, 12 metres in diameter holding 1 million litres of salt water with a salinity of 3.3 %. weighing in  2000 tons when filled.

Visitors rooms in the hotel face the external body of the aquarium whilst an immersive panoramic experience can be had for viewers travelling within the core's elevator.

Sweet, Light Hearted Kites dance and thrill

A gorgeous aerial ballet of a train of six high performance precision kites, flying in tandem, spin, dance, radiate and thrill to the tune of Patrick Watson's scrumptious "Lighthouse".

Mega-Float: A Floating Airport Concept

looks to be stepping out of its cocoon to unveil the worlds first floating airport, in Japan, no less ? But how could this be, in one of the most seismically active volatile regions ?

Mystery Pic, bird moonlights as a rabbit ?

Hopefully someone may care to say in the comments what they believe this intriguing creature is ? Or, could the photographer have merely captured an image of some kind of ordinary water bird when it had kind of obscured its head ?

Hangzhou Bay Bridge, World's longest trans-oceanic bridge

is a long highway bridge with a cable-stayed portion across Hangzhou Bay in the eastern coastal region of China. The marathon-length links the center of the booming port city of Ningbo in eastern China's Zhejiang province with the municipality of Jiaxing spanning the wide blue waters of Hangzhou Bay.

With a total length of 35.673 km (22 mi), the bridge is expected to carry over 30,000 cars a day and will cut the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by between 20 and 30 minutes.

Including the engineering and technological development, the project took fourteen years at a cost of 55.5 billion pounds, and the sheer scale and location of the bridge meant that the 600 researchers and expert engineers needed to overcome many complex problems. They had to overcome the three biggest tides on Earth, the effect of typhoons and the difficult content of the sea soil. Read more, here.

A video report from China's CCTV News, here, outlines how the convenience of a faster route will boost economic activities in the region.

Sydney Harbour environs Vivid Lights Festival 2011

In it's third year, Vivid Sydney bathes the harbour environs with spectacle illuminations and big splashes of bright color, featuring breathtaking immersive light projections on the iconic Sydney Opera House sails, and building facades of the MCA, and Customs House.

Walking around the harbour foreshores are giant light sculptures of floating jellyfish and erupting fire installations as well as a number of human scaled illuminated sculptures some interactive.

For a mild taste of some aspects of the Festival, here is Christian Eduardo's entertaining Sydney Vivid festival time lapse video accompanied by a cool music track.



Here is a slick slideshow of some of the picturesque pieces and events in the Festival, which is continuing until June 13.

The Plastic Paradise Promo Documentary

"Scientists and health experts reveal that chemicals in many of the plastic products we take for granted are toxic and potentially to blame for epidemics of cancer and other diseases."

Almost everyday of our consumerist lives we purchase something in plastic, albeit as an object of use, wrapping or a container. Some of us are likely concerned with how we discard the used plastic items, but perhaps too many of us don't give it much thought as to how we dispose of the used materials and clearly see nothing wrong with discarding it into waterways. As all water and what it carries drifts, down and out into the ocean currents it consequently travels to a place now known as the Great North Western Pacific Garbage Patch. Some commentators refer to this location as an island, and although there maybe some truth in that a great deal of the refuse also gets lodged on many sandy beach islands within the area.

Midway Atoll is one such island and here in the video below, TV host and Filmmaker Angela Sun shows how riddled with plastic waste the Atoll has become. Angela is  on a personal quest of discovery to uncover the mystery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and in so doing illustrates the growing toxic confetti that causes the depletion of many marine animals.

"She encounters environmental activists staging elaborate stunts to raise awareness and legislators struggling to address the problem. She investigates the hidden truth about recycling and attempts to contact the leaders of a powerful petrochemical industry in control of our limitless production and consumption of plastic, an industry that does not take kindly to questions about oceans filling up with its garbage."



The video above is a promo and Angela Sun believes that if she can complete her documentary film, she can greater  influence, empower and motivate others into further forms of positive action. Thus, she needs more funds to complete her project and is seeking donations via her website.

Protei, Autonomous articulated Sailing Robot To Clean Up Oil Spills

A collaborative team of sail boat engineers, computer hardware and robot scientists are researching and developing a low cost open source hardware platform or sail boat skimmer to more efficiently collect oil from waterway oil spillages.The sailing boat is being specifically designed to autonomously sail  upwind, intercepting oil sheens going downwind.

"Spilled oil moves downwind from its source following surface currents. Traditional oil skimmers pull oil-absorbent booms and trace random linear paths in a sea of oil. But a better way to capture this oil is to sail upwind, intercepting the oil sheens traveling downwind. Protei harnesses the wind in order to power an unmanned sailing drone, pulling a long oil-absorbent ‘tail’ upwind. A fleet of many Protei will work automatically as a swarm, or be remotely controlled by coastal residents and on-line gamers."

The Protei team need more funds to continue to develop the project and are seeking financial assistance from anyone who either simply wants to donate, invest or even build their own vessels. The video here demonstrates a critical understanding of the issues, the international flavor of the collaboration, and a developmental line of the technology. Although the video suffers from poor sound quality, at least at the beginning of the video, it oughtn't be to difficult for you to do a little knob twiddling whilst watching this ecologically sound and environmentally friendly idea.

The Big Ship

is by Carlton Bright a freelance videographer, who reflected upon a composition by Brian Eno from the late 1970's of the same name.

According to Carlton, the video;
"slowly evolved, and it lent itself to some kind of "evolving" thing.. in this case an evolving thing going through space.. but a natural thing, not a man made thing.."

and

"The video was made on a shoestring budget, using household materials, such as aluminum foil with holes poked in it for the stars, carved Styrofoam, clay, a floodlight, a clothesline and a sliding door frame, talcum powder, and a few other things.. I had just lost my lease to my studio, so I had to make it in my 10"x 13" bedroom, and ironically, I think the limitations kept the thing from getting too complicated. ."



The gliding panoramic motion of the media art work, tends to captivate and entertain (like many an interesting video), wishing it were longer, not unlike, many of the cool ambient works of Brian Eno.

Aquatrack: Civil and Military Amphibious Load Carrier

is a ubiquitous use vehicle on land water snow and ice and exists as only one fully functioning demonstration unit that never received one order !

Aquatrack is capable of reaching places where most others can't. Aquatrack can move from highway into difficult terrain and then into 3 meter breaking waves without stopping.

It has a "5 tonne cargo capacity, capable of carrying a vehicle, stores, or personnel on land and sea. Driven by its tracks or twin variable pitch propellers or both together, it can operate on roads, harsh terrain, mud, soft sand or frozen waste and, without any preparation, move from land into river, lake, or rough seas.

At the shoreline, Aquatrack can enter or leave the water through surf 3 meters high, using both track and propeller drive until completely free of the shoreline area, At sea, Aquatrack's twin variable pitch propellers give speeds (fully laden) of up to 10km/hr. Aquatrack can remain fully operational in sea state 3 (wave height 0.61m), and survive in sea state 5 (wave height 3.05m).

The cargo deck area of the standard vehicle is 4.3m long by 2.6m wide but variations can be provided to meet individual customer requirements. This configuration can accommodate up to 5 tonnes of cargo. Possible loads include stores and equipments; up to 40 seated personnel; or up to 28 seated personnel and a vehicle (subject to vehicle size)." Source.

The documentary styled video here highlights the extreme conditions that this amazingly well engineered vehicle can work in, including how it can help clean up oil spillages and rescue people from floods.



Jane's Police and Homeland Security Equipment has a link to a more detailed overview of this incredibly useful amphibious machine.

Paritet Ellips: sci-fi fish-eye catamaran

is a luxurious high speed catamaran from a Russian boat manufacturer that traverses the water at zippy cruising speeds of 65 knots. The Parite Ellips has a twin hull design  of aluminum and magnesium alloy construction, 9m long by 4m wide or 28 by 12 feet.

From inside the cool aerodynamic design bubble frontal, passengers get an enclosed  panoramic view shielded from sea spray and wind.

On the face of it, this conventional catamaran with unconventional looks, seems to offer much fun and entertainment to be had by all, but at  approximately 200kUS$, is it merely an expensive novelty ? Or is it a likely set piece for some future blockbuster movie ?

Nevertheless :-)  "Beyond its resemblance of an extraterrestrial fish, the interior of the Ellips is quite lavish with its Recaro seats, shower room, two refrigerators, plus an 800-watt stereo system, a GPS, and an autopilot system. There also is an electronic compass, auto-pumps, an automatic anchor device and a canopy with side windows." via

Say, who's up for a seriously cool holiday getaway, currently on offer somewhere in the vicinity of the British Virgin Islands.



The music track from about 20 seconds into the video is abstracted from one of Vivaldi's Four Seasons that's been over dubbed with a drumming track.

The futuristic 'Tûranor' PlanetSolar catamaran

is the worlds largest solar powered boat and is presently preparing to depart Cancun having been there, promoting the use of sustainable energy to the delegates of the World climate conference of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

The 'Tûranor', a Swiss creation, is set to become the first boat ever to circumnavigate the world using dedicated solar power, slicing the water at a top speed of 14 knots

The double-hulled boat is 31 meters long, 29 m wide and 7.6 m tall with a crew of six, was developed and by Raphaël Domjan from Switzerland and funded by the German businessman Immo Ströher.

The craft was built with incredibly light yet very durable carbon fibre sandwich construction.by New Zealander, Craig Loomes who is considered to be one of the world’s most innovative boat designers and built by the Kiel-based boat-building firm, Knierim Yachtbau.  The following video shows the boat crisply sailing through the water with its almost 2 meter wide specifically engineered propellers.



'Tûranor' PlanetSolar uses the highest rated  Lithium battery cells available, powering two electric motors and the 500 square meters of solar panels allowing the catamaran to travel for up to three full days, even without direct sunlight. Go here to read more and or view more photographs of it here.

Underwater whale watchers encounter Humpback pod off Lahaina, Maui

The video abruptly begins from inside an Atlantis Submarine where passengers are experiencing with gasps of glee and excitement a school of humpback whales rollicking around the bough and port of the ship.

According to the notes accompanying the video:
The submarine tour guests witnessed a competitive group behavior by the humpbacks in which the males were vying for the attention of a female that swam around the submarine for 45 minutes. In 20-plus years of dives, Atlantis Submarines guests have seen a lot of Hawaii's marine life, but this undersea show by the humpbacks was a first!

"Humpback Whales have sleek (smooth and shiny) gray bodies that point down towards their snout (nose). They have a tail fin, a very small dorsal (back) fin, and 2 small flippers (fins). Whales can weigh up to 50-60 tons (1ton equals 2,000 pounds) and its size can be 50-55 feet. Humpback Whales got their names from hunters for moving the way it does when it dives or rolls over. Before it dives it inhales air and water. When it goes under water it exhales the air and water." via

Marcel the Shell with shoes on

is a hilariously entertaining animation directed by Dean Fleischer-Camp. Marcel is voiced (untreated & unenhanced) by a genius named Jenny Slate. Written by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp.



"Sometimes people say that my head is too big for my body, and then  I say compared to what ?"

Scientists solve the mystery of The Bermuda Triangle

Professor Joseph Monaghan and David May from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, have been researching the mystery of vanished ships and airplanes in The Bermuda Triangle, and now appear to have solved it.

"Oceanographic surveyors of the sea floor in the area of the Bermuda Triangle and the North Sea region between continental Europe and Great Britain have discovered significant quantities of methane hydrates. The methane—normally frozen at great pressure as gas hydrates embedded within subterranean rock—can become dislodged and transform into gaseous bubbles expanding geometrically as they explode upwards. When these bubbles reach the surface of the water they soar into the air, still expanding upwards and outwards.

Any ships caught within the methane mega-bubble immediately lose all buoyancy and sink to the bottom of the ocean. If the bubbles are big enough and possess a high enough density they can also knock aircraft out of the sky with little or no warning. Aircraft falling victim to these methane bubbles will lose their engines-perhaps igniting the methane surrounding them-and immediately lose their lift as well, ending their flights by diving into the ocean and swiftly plummeting." Source.


The video here shows what happens when bubbles of methane gas emitting from bottom of a glass of water sufficiently lower the density of the water causing the boat to sink.



While the science from the oceanographic survey and the video offers an insight to the exploding bubbles of methane gas, the photographic proof may take some time getting.

Man builds his own island home in Mexico

A carpenter has created his own ecologically sound island from discarded plastic bottles, which is situated about 50 ft off the shore in a bay in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. Evident in the documentary styled video seen below, the carpenter's diy island home is basically a food producing self-sufficient house boat, with alarming charm.

Since Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every hour you've got to wonder how many more industrious individuals might decide to build their own island !

Alternatively others could try to imitate David de Rothschild's adventurous plastic bottle yacht, Plastiki, which coincidently, as reported here, made land fall today.

"After sailing more than 8,000 nautical miles and spending 128 days crossing the Pacific, the world’s largest ocean, in a boat made of 12,500 plastic PET bottles, the Plastiki expedition and her crew have safely and successfully reached their planned destination of Sydney to cheers of welcome and support."

Lino surfing, A phenomenal stop-motion animation

Here is a hypnotizing and coolly executed stop-motion animation  with the pursuit of perfect waves on linoleum in the plastic world, made by Karim Rejeb.

In a recent interview Karim  was asked about his influences:

"The Universe. We are moving somewhere in between the infinitely big and the infinitely small. What is the purpose then and what is our task? I still don’t know how it is possible when you’re there in the barrel, how many correlations of things to make that happen. Is there a reason? Is there someone at the head of it? Surfing is for me just a place where I get some answers to my questions."

At 15 frames a second and with a length of 7'35" means an extraordinary number  of set ups and set downs moving each shot a small enough distance to successfully intimate real continuous motion seems a somewhat Herculean task ! Nevertheless the amazing soundtrack from bluesmatty keeps us amusedly motivated and entertained throughout.

Gulf Oil Volcano devastation grows at an alarming rate

Alabama resident John Wathen together with volunteer pilot Tom Hutchings, from the Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies made a flyover video over the area where the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank.

This polluting environmental disaster of unimaginable proportions, will no doubt go down as the largest and worst oceanic oil and gas spill ever - the gulf appears to be bleeding a red mass of floating goo. One estimate suggests "that the volume coming out of the hole is in the order of 4 barrels per second (around 350,000 barrels per day." And to think, a $500,000 switch could have prevented this, phew !

But wait there's more - The Natural Gas emissions are astounding as well.

"The Natural Gas doesn't just bubble to the top of the ocean and release into the air. It is absorbed into the water, like air is absorbed, and actually creates oxygen depletion. Hence, the emission of natural gas of these volumes into the sea is producing a significant area of Oxygen depleted water in the Gulf of Mexico which may be very large threat to fisheries and other wildlife in the area." VIA

As you watch the close up video of the hole remember the pipe is 5 feet in diameter. Watching this makes me shudder with disbelief, and shudder even more wondering if the hole could Embiggen anymore ?



Hey, without wishing to be alarmist, but what is going to happen when the hurricane season emerges ? Maybe help create habitat destruction of an immense order ?


Read more of the latest stories about the Mexican Gulf oil spill here.

But if you thought that this horrific accident was the first by BP oil, than think again. Science & Soul one of my blog roll friends shares with us his insightful history of the environmental diasters that BP oil has in the recent past, festooned upon the American continent.