NEWS
FROM JOANNA
D & R Homepage Calendar Email me
In D & R News:
.....PHOTO CONTEST winners are posted. 2007 Photo Contest We hope to see your photographs in next year's photo contest.
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Next Discover scubas at DuBois YMCA: 4 and 6 February 2008 @ 6:30 PM
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Trivia
question of the week:
Q: What sea creature breathes through its feet? |
|
Email me your answer (learntoscubadive@gmail.com)
Come
back next week (18 February 2008) for the answer. |
The
Answer to last week's question:
| Q: What sea creature has the fastest mouth? |
A: The frogfish has the fastest mouth in the sea. It takes only 6 milliseconds to open, swallow and close. |
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I am going to try to keep everyone posted on our local dives. Anytime we are diving you are welcome to join in. If you would like to receive notice of where we are diving, send me an email and I will add you to my list. The address I am using for my D & R newsletter will be: learntoscubadive@gmail.com
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PHOTOS:
Blue Hole Photos, Mt. Storm, Dutch Springs Photos, East Branch Photos, B & B photos, 2006 Student Photos, Blue Hole PHOTO STORY, Jay Street Bridge.
Jay street photos Cozumel winning Cozumel photograph 2007 student photos
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CLASSES:
Underwater photography class:
Would you like to take great underwater photos. I will be starting my Underwater Photography class at your request. We have two certifications available. We have the original PADI Underwater Photography Specialty as well as the new PADI Underwater Digital Photography Specialty. If you are interested in either of these classes, let me know so we can work on a schedule. Thanks. (limabean74@hotmail.com)
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Previous Trivia questions:
| Q: What animal is notably the only creature in the animal kingdom besides humans to acquire a tan from prolonged exposure to sunlight? |
A: Hammerhead sharks. Tanning occurs when a hammerhead is in shallow waters or close to the surface for long periods. |
| Q: The water of the dead sea is about 32% salt. (probably enough salt to keep even non-swimmers floating) Why is the dead sea so salty? |
| A: The dead sea has no outlets. Anything that enters the Dead sea has one way out--evaporation. The water easily evaporates; however salt and other minerals remain in the dead sea with no way out. |
| Q: What color blood do seahorses and starfish have? |
| A: Seahorses are a fish and like all fish have red blood containing hemoglobin. Starfish are echinoderms (spiny-skinned animals) and although this group has three circulation systems they do not have blood but all contain coelomic fluid a yellowish watery substance similar to human lymph. |
| Q: How does a hermit crab keep its shell on its back? |
| A: Hermit crabs are adapted to living in gastropod (snail) shells. The crabs soft abdomen is twisted to fit the spiral of the shell. The uropods at the base of the abdomen are modified, especially the left one, which is used to hook onto the columella of the shell. |
| Q: What dolphin has no dorsal fin and is able to move its neck unlike most dolphins? |
| A: The Amazon river dolphin is one of the few species of fresh water dolphins and the most well-known river dolphin . . . . A characteristic unique to the Amazon river dolphin is stiff hairs on the beak; the hairs are a sensory organ that help sense prey in muddy river bottoms . . . . . . . Unlike other dolphin species, they have no dorsal fin, but they do have a dorsal ridge. |
| Q: Where did the cookiecutter shark get its name? |
| A: The cookiecutter shark, Isistius brasiliensis (Quoy and Gaimard, 1824), is a small, deep-water shark named for the cookie-shaped wounds it leaves on larger fish and marine mammals. Unlike other shark species that lose teeth individually, the teeth of the cookiecutter shark are shed as a single unit. The bottom teeth are swallowed, possibly to help maintain calcium levels in the body. |
| Q: Can Sharks swim backwards? |
| A: Sharks swim using their rear or caudal fin to propel themselves forward and their rigid pectoral fins (large fins on the side) are used, like aircraft wings, to adjust their vertical movement. They are unable to swim backwards with these fins. Some bony fish, particularly those which feed on rocks or coral reefs, are able to use their more flexible pectoral fins to move backwards and forwards when feeding. |
| Q: What is the only Fresh water seal and where only can it be found? |
| A: Nerpa is Lake Baikal's Freshwater Seal. Nerpa is the only mammal endemic to Lake Baikal. |
| Q: What is the most venomous known fish in the world? |
| A: The stonefish, Synanceia verrucosa, also known as the the reef stone or dornorn is a carnivorous ray-finned fish with venomous spines that lives on reef bottoms, camouflaged as a rock. It is the most venomous known fish in the world. |
| Q: What freshwater fish can live out of water for several days at a time? |
| A: Anabas testudineus- the climbing perch. How does the climbing perch breathe out of water? Most fish breathe by absorbing into their bloodstreams the gases present in the waters they inhabit. However, above the normal gill chambers, the climbing perch has a special compartment that enables it to breathe even out of water. This unusual upper portion of the gill cavity contains bony plates covered with a membrane having a network of blood vessels. Air gulped by the fish passes into this section through a valved opening. Once spent, it is expelled through the gills. Though the climbing perch also has regular gills, these are small. So, to obtain sufficient oxygen and survive even in water, the fish must come to the surface to swallow air from time to time. In fact, if it were held under the water, this fish would drown. |
| Q: What is the largest known crab? |
| A: The Giant Japanese Spider Crab. It stands three feet high and its outstretched claws would extend over nine feet. This creature lives only around Japan at sea depths between 800 and 2,000 feet. |