Latest news with #GreatWhites
Time of India
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
'There's a shark in the pond!': 20-foot predator startles Rhode Island diners
'There's a shark in the pond!': 20-foot predator startles Rhode Island diners (Video credit: atlantic_shark) Memorial Day diners at a popular seaside restaurant on Block Island were treated to more than just seafood this week, they witnessed a massive 20-foot shark gliding through the calm waters of Great Salt Pond, just feet away from a small boat. The startling scene was captured on video by local resident Jen Seebeck, who was eating at Dead Eye Dicks, a waterfront restaurant overlooking the pond. The footage shows the shark's enormous dorsal and tail fins cutting through the surface as onlookers gasp. At least one person can be heard shouting the now-iconic phrase from the 1975 film Jaws, 'There's a shark in the pond!' The Atlantic Shark Institute, which reported the sighting, said the shark's species has not yet been identified, but estimated its length to be around 20 feet. The sighting instantly evoked comparisons to the legendary movie, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Close call on calm waters A small boat was seen cautiously motoring away from the powerful predator as it swam through the pond, which connects to the open ocean. Though sharks occasionally make their way into shallow or enclosed waters, the presence of such a large specimen in the small, tourist-frequented Great Salt Pond is rare and unsettling. 'Sharks are arriving in Rhode Island daily as water temperatures continue to rise and more and more species of shark find them suitable to their liking,' the Atlantic Shark Institute wrote in a social media post. 'Hopefully this shark will find its way out of Great Salt Pond soon and continue on its way!' Shark season begins Marine experts say the sighting, while dramatic, is not entirely out of the ordinary. As waters warm up along the Northeast coast, various shark species, including Great Whites, migrate closer to shore in search of food. Montauk, New York, just across the water, has already reported a large Great White shark sighting earlier this month via drone footage. 'This is consistent with seasonal behaviour,' marine biologists noted. 'As fish and other prey move closer to shore during the summer months, sharks naturally follow.'
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Yahoo
Inside the Darién Gap, one of the world's most dangerous jungles
Way back in 'ye olden days' of the mid-2000s, I was still a wide-eyed, fresh-faced backpacker looking to travel the world. The crazier and more outlandish the adventure or destination, the better. I ticked off a lot of epic things from my bucket list in the ensuing years: Swimming with Great Whites in Mexico, kayaking among glaciers in Antarctica, and making a week-long pilgrimage through a thousand years of history in rural Japan. But one thing that eludes me to this day is road-tripping the Pan-American Highway. Thanks to the Darién Gap, that trip may never get checked off my list. I'm just not that crazy. The Pan-American Highway is an epic 19,000-mile route that connects Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to the southernmost tip of South America in Ushuaia, Argentina. It's continuous except for one small section missing along the southern border of Panama, often referred to as one of the most inhospitable places on the planet — this is the Darién Gap. It's 66 roadless miles of impossibly dense, mountainous jungle and swamp filled with heavily armed paramilitary guerillas, drug traffickers, and some of the world's most deadly creatures covering the border of Panama and Colombia. In an article for the Council on Foreign Relations, Jean Gough, a Regional Director for UNICEF, sums it up: 'Deep in the jungle, robbery, rape, and human trafficking are as dangerous as wild animals, insects, and the absolute lack of safe drinking water.' The environmental impact on the area and the sheer cost of building roads through it have thwarted any previous attempts. Others are concerned that 'the Gap' is a natural barrier against drugs, disease, and undocumented migrants flowing freely into North America and the U.S. The first-ever successful vehicle expedition through the Darién Gap was led by British army officer Gavin Thompson. His team of six started in Alaska, driving all the way to Panama in a newly created Range Rover. Hitting the Darién Gap, he brought in a team of 64 engineers and scientists to hack their way through the jungle and float the Range Rovers across the rivers. But Thompson and every expedition since ran headlong into what the Gap is most infamous for: Lots and lots of things that will kill you. The list of deadly things inside the Gap is lengthy, and dehydration and starvation are the least of your concerns. Instead, you should be concerned with these very real threats. The fer-de-lance pit viper is among the most venomous creatures in the Darién Gap. They're irritable, fast-moving, and large enough to bite above your knees. Antivenom usually solves the problem if you get bitten. But, if left untreated, the venom can cause local necrosis (death of body tissue), leading to gangrene or, in the worst cases, death. Conflict journalist Jason Motlagh crossed the Gap in 2016 for a Dateline story. After receiving his group's antivenom kit and instructions before the crossing, he said, 'If one of us is bitten, we have ten minutes to inject the antivenom before death. We can only carry six vials. If a larger pit viper were to strike, the expert concedes no amount of antivenom would be enough to save us. We might as well lie down and smoke a cigarette until the lights go out.' It's becoming increasingly difficult to bring drugs into the US, so drug traffickers are turning to other avenues. The lawlessness and lack of residents make the Darién Gap a perfect path for smuggling cocaine and other drugs on their journey from South America. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have made a name for themselves since 1964, terrorizing the government and many cities in Colombia. Many from the group have made their home in the lawless jungles of the Darién Gap. A backpacker from Sweden was shot in the head in 2013 and found two years later. Multiple others have been kidnapped for weeks or months after venturing into the Gap. Since a peace deal in 2017 with the United Nations, the group has reformed into an official political party, but a few thousand rebels still continue with drugs, arms, and human trafficking. Spiders fill the jungles of the Darién Gap, but one of the most 'medically important' is the Brazilian Wandering spider. 'Medically important' is the nice term for 'you're going to have a really bad day if this bites you.' This family of spiders (there are more than one!) has a leg span of five to seven inches. They wander the jungle floor at night and love to hide in people's hiking boots, logs, and banana plants. They've been nicknamed the Banana spider, as that's often where people run into them. Bites from this spider can put you in the hospital or, from particularly bad ones, cause death in 2 to 6 hours. Scorpions look like they're from another planet. A few species prefer conditions in Colombia and southern Panama and call the Darién Gap home, including the black scorpion. Black scorpions (Tityus pachyurus) can be two to four inches long and have black or reddish-black coloring, which gives them their name. They live under rocks and logs and hunt for larvae and cockroaches at night. They are part of the thick-tailed scorpion family, giving them their stocky appearance. The sting is very painful but, thankfully, is rarely deadly to humans … as long as you are treated in a safe amount of time. Even the heat in the jungle can put a serious dent in your mood. Temperatures in The Gap can reach a balmy 95 degrees Fahrenheit with 95% humidity, creating a terrible problem if you run out of water. With trips through The Gap averaging between 20 to 50 days, you had better be prepared to stay well hydrated. There's a lot of water in the Darién Gap but it is far from clean. Even a sip can hold a host of viruses or parasites that could ruin the rest of your trip. So, a good water filter is a must. Many kinds of trees call the jungle home, and the local people make use of all of them. The fiber from the leaves of the Chunga Palm is used to make everything from furniture and hats to jewelry and fishing nets. Perhaps that's why this palm has one of the best defenses of any tree in the Gap. Long black spines — up to eight inches long — cover the Chunga to prevent animals from climbing and taking the fruit. Unfortunately for us, these spines are covered in all sorts of bacteria. One brush with a Chunga, and you might find yourself with infected puncture wounds embedded with shards of Chunga spines. During the mid-eighties, Helge Peterson found himself in Colombia trying to complete a motorcycle tour from Argentina to Alaska. But one small problem stood in his way: The Darién Gap. Convincing a young German backpacker to make the journey with him, they started their journey together. They began the 20-day trek hauling Helge's 400-pound BMW motorcycle into the jungle, through rivers and ravines. At the end of each day, tired and broken, Helge and his backpacking partner would set up camp and start the removal of ticks, sometimes several hundred at a time, from their skin and clothing. Ticks in the area can carry Ehrlichiosis or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, neither of which you want in the middle of the jungle days or weeks from the nearest hospital. Trench foot was first described during Napoleon's retreat from Russia in the winter of 1812, but the name references a condition most common during World War I. It starts with persistently wet skin that isn't allowed to dry. Wet conditions and limited blood flow cause the tissue to tingle or itch, often turn red or blue, and eventually decay. Any open wounds quickly develop fungal infections. With all of this happening in as little as 10 hours, it doesn't allow much time to fix the problem. Botflies like to get under your skin, literally. They start by laying their eggs on mosquitos. What do mosquitos like to do? Bite humans. This conveniently deposits the botfly eggs under our skin. They then hatch, and the larvae have a nice, warm place to live. Through a small hole in your skin, the larva can breathe. They feed on the flesh in their little skin cave and stay cozy and warm. Once they grow into bumblebee-sized adults, they crawl out to lay eggs somewhere else. If there are many larvae involved, it's called myiasis, meaning an infestation under the skin. Yum. That's why it pays to pack a very good bug spray. During the Cold War, the U.S. military ran thousands of training missions inside the Darién Gap, dropping bombs over the jungle. Most of them detonated. However, some did not. Those bombs have been covered over by jungle growth and are now hidden on the jungle floor under a thick layer of vegetation. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of undetonated explosives likely still lie in the jungle, waiting for some poor, unfortunate soul to step off the trail — what little trail is there — just a bit too far and set off a massive explosion. The Darién Gap is home to many predators, both human and animal, but one of the most deadly is the American crocodile. Crocodiles are apex predators, with no known natural enemies, and anything that they come in contact with is potential prey. That includes humans. Crocodiles prefer to hunt at night, but they will attack and eat prey at any time of day. They hide in the water near the edge and wait for an unsuspecting animal (or unlucky hiker) to come to the water, and then the crocodile strikes, dragging its prey under the water to drown before consuming. The above-mentioned article for CFR mentions one Haitian immigrant who struggled in the unyielding rain and wet conditions. 'The journey was really quite hard, especially when the rain came. It was just mud, rivers and going up mountainsides nonstop.' In fact, the Gap is among the wettest places on earth, and the intense rainfall can trigger surprise landslides. The worst part is that there is little hikers or travelers through the area can do to protect themselves. It's just a fact of life — and possibly death — inside the Gap. So the Darién Gap sounds downright peachy to visit, doesn't it? The post Inside the Darién Gap, one of the world's most dangerous jungles appeared first on The Manual.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aussie fishermen stunned by behaviour of massive great white shark as 'special' moment captured
Three Aussie fishermen had the "experience of a lifetime" while competing in the country's largest game fishing tournament over the weekend when they got up close and personal with a seriously inquisitive Great White shark. Skipper John Smith and his crew were fishing for marlins and other species of sharks off the coast of Port Stephens, NSW, when they began to live out a real-life scene from the classic move Jaws, as a large fin emerged from the water and headed straight for them. "They were drifting along about 30 nautical miles down and saw the fin. They had been fishing for Tiger sharks but they had a Great White turn up... it started eating their burley bag in the water," Troy Radford, President of Newcastle & Port Stephens Game Fish Club and host of the national tournament, told Yahoo News. A burley bag, filled with fish bait, creates a scent in the water that attracts sharks and it certainly did the trick on Saturday as the fishermen encountered two more Great Whites while on the water. And despite the pictured shark being almost the same size as the men's boat, one of the others was even bigger. "The shark in the pictures was well over five metres long and their boat was only five and a half metres," Troy told Yahoo. The fishermen, aged in their late 40s and early 50s representing the Lake Macquarie Game Fish Club, have been fishing for most of their lives and told Troy they were "excited and pretty chuffed" to encounter the massive Great White sharks in the water. Photos show one of the sharks up close and personal, with a fisherman even getting a chance to touch it. After following them for some time it eventually disappeared. "He came up and he's actually chewed on the corner of the boat, pulling the boat down. The boys were patting him on the head," the club president said. "They actually said that they didn't win a prize [at the tournament] but they feel like the real winners to experience something like pretty special. It's an experience of a lifetime." 👨 Fisherman's incredible catch set to 'feed whole family' for months 🙋♀️ Incredible moment family spot relative lost at sea 🎣 Fishermen catch fish 'rarely seen' in Aussie waters Remarking about the incredible scene, fishing veteran John Smith told the ABC the famous predator was "pretty much playing like a Labrador pup". Great White sharks are a protected species in Australia and catching them is strictly prohibited, with fines of up to $55,000 and one year imprisonment for those who do. There were 700 anglers completing over the weekend in the Port Stephens waters and much of the area will soon fall under the state government's proposed new offshore wind farm where fishing will be banned. However, the move has received considerable pushback, most notably from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton who said he would reverse the plan if he gets into power later this year. There has also been pushback against the proposal from the game fishing community, with Troy saying fishermen "mostly tag and release" fish and creating the offshore wind farm would be "devastating for marine life" in the area. "The fishermen seeing the sharks highlights how healthy that ecosystem out there must be to sustain three big, Great Whites swimming around," he said. However there is hope the 1,800 square kilometre farm which will span from Port Stephens to Swansea will help boost the country's renewable energy supply and create more jobs in the area. "It will create a lot of jobs in the Hunter [region], which is an area undergoing strong economic change with the move away from coal-fired power stations," Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen previously said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Why Are Dead Great White Sharks Washing Up On North American Beaches?
Scientists are stumped by a recent uptick in the number of dead Great White Sharks washing up on beaches in North America. For more than three decades the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperator has kept tabs on the apex predator and never reported a deceased sharks washing ashore, but according to recent reporting from the New York Times, since 2023 five Great Whites have washed up along the eastern Canadian coast. Another four dead Great Whites have shown up on U.S. beaches, bringing the total to nine dead sharks. What's unsettling about the shark corpses is that scientists can't seem to figure out what's causing the deaths. The sharks don't show any outward signs of injuries or trauma, ruling out the animals being either savaged by orcas (which has been recorded in South Africa and Australia), and they don't appear to be the result of being hit by a vessel. Most sharks have been found with full stomaches, eliminating the theory that they may have starved to death. But scientists have noticed unusual swelling in the brains of the sharks 'Three of these five seem to have the same potentially infectious disease affecting their brain,' Megan Jones, a Canadian veterinary pathologist, told the NYT. Scientists believe the deaths may be a result of meningoencephalitis, which is a condition where brain tissue swells. The working hypothesis is that the sharks' brains are inflamed, pressing against their skulls, which causes pressure that eventually leads to their ultimate demise. How they're contracting this ailment remains a mystery. 'I feel very strongly that there's something significant going on,' Alisa Newton, chief veterinarian for the shark research group OCEARCH, share with the NYT. The the ocean warming and currents changing, figuring out what's causing the shark deaths may provide insight into the state of the sea and how even the mightiest of predators is being impacted.
