Psychedelic fish

David Hall, AP

I'm still amazed by the Barreleye Fish I spoke about in the previous post and another funny odd fish have been discovered already. To be precise it has been discovered one year ago in the waters off Ambon island, Indonesia, but only in these days it has been classified as a new species with the name of Histiophryne Psychedelica, and if you see his swirl of tan and peach zebra stripes that extend from its aqua eyes to its tail you can easily undestand the reason of the name "Psychedelica". But it's not only this, infact this fish seems to jump chaotically on the seafloor like a crazy rubberball, and therefore deserve its nicknames "Psychedelic Fish" and "DiscoFish"!


David Hall, AP

The fish is a member of the antennariid genus, Histiophryne, a kind of fish known as frogfish that are really bizarree for having fins on both sides of their body that have evolved to be leg-like.
Our Psychedelic Frogfish however has several behavioral traits not previously known to the other frogfish. Each time the fish strike the seabed, for instance, it pushes off with their fins and expels water from tiny gill openings to jet himself forward. That, and an off-centered tail, causes them to bounce around in a bizarre, chaotic manner.

David Hall, AP

For more info about this outstanding animals visit the University of Whashington webpage about it


David Hall, AP

Take a look to the Psychedelic Fish in action:



Some other posts about incredible and bizarre cretures:

• Barreleye Fish: the weirdest creature you'll ever see
• The enigmatic Frilled Shark
• The Piglet Squid, a squid with Gonzo's face!
• The jellyfish who cheated death
• The colourful underwater world of Nudibranchs
• Return of the Giant Jellyfishes!
• Creatures from the Abyss

Barreleye Fish: the weirdest creature you'll ever see

Writing a blog like this, that often deals with animals as well as with oddities, believe me if I say that I'm quite an expert about strange creatures. Some of them have already been protagonist in this blog (look at the end of this post) many more will come pretty soon. However I think that the creature I'm going to talk about is a hands down winner in terms of queerness...


The grayish, barrel-like eyes are beneath the green domes, which may filter light. In this picture the eyes are pointing upward--the better to see prey above in the darkness of the barreleye's deep-sea home. Watching live fish the scientists discovered that the eyes can pivot, like a birdwatcher pointing binoculars.

It's a fish that has been known since 1939, but only recently it has been seen and photographed alive and with great surprise it appears to be completely different from what scientists thought from the mangled specimens found dragged to the surface by nets.
I'm speaking about Macropinna Microstoma, known as Pacific Barreleye Fish. As you can see it shows a really qirky appearance. It has a head like a fighter-plane cockpit: a soft transparent dome. this "dome" was never found in the dead specimens, probably due to its fragility, therefore the scientists imagined the fish without it like in the following drawing:



source: Fishbase.org

The barreleye lives more than 2,000 feet (600 meters) beneath the ocean's surface, where the water is almost inky. MBARI scientists discovered the barreleye fish from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and obseved that it spends much of its time motionless, eyes upward, .
The green "balls" you could easily spot in the transparent dome are actually lenses atop each of the fish's eyes and probably they filter out what little sunlight makes it down from the surface, allowing the fish to focus on the bioluminescence of small jellies or other prey passing overhead.
Another discovery compared to the past knowledge is that the fish is able to rotate the eyes forward to follow the prey, allowing the fish to home in on its meal.



The beady bits on the front of the Pacific barreleye fish, instead aren't eyes but smell organs.
So, to sum up in a totally unscientific way what it seems eyes are a nose, what it seems a sort of alien green brain are "sunglasses" end the true eyes are underneath at the bottom of a sort of barrel!

However the following video is better than a thousand words, to understand better the mysterious Barreleye Fish:


MBARI (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute) page about Pacific barreleye fish





Some other posts about incredible and bizarre cretures:

• The enigmatic Frilled Shark
• The Piglet Squid, a squid with Gonzo's face!
• The jellyfish who cheated death
• The colourful underwater world of Nudibranchs
• Return of the Giant Jellyfishes!
• Creatures from the Abyss

RORC Caribbean 600 a regatta through paradise on earth

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

In the caribbean islands is currently taking place a new regatta organized by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, it is called RORC Caribbean 600 and it's a daydream for sailors being set in some of the most beautiful islands of this wonderful part of the world.


regatta's route

Infact the race starts and finishes in Antigua, reaching in succession Green Island, Barbuda, Nevis, Saba, St Barth, Saint Martin, Tintamarre, Guadeloupe, Les Saints, Barbuda, Redonda and also Montserrat the island of the Soufriere Hills volcano famous for the 1995 eruption. Wow!
Carlo Borlenghi was there and sent me the following pictures:

The Start

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Passing Montserrat Volcano

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Photo: ©Carlo Borlenghi

Official event website

Dramatic moments in North Atlantic

In this dramtic sequence Spanish fishing trawler Monte Galineiro sank 250 miles (402 km) east off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland, February 22, 2009. Twenty-two crew members of the sinking vessel were rescued by the Canadian Coast guard ship Leonard G. Cowley in frigid, winter conditions. The shocked fishermen told that an explosion occurred in the Monte Galineiro's engine room and then in just a five minutes the vessel sank very fast. By an extraordinary stroke of luck, a Canadian coastguard patrol boat was just minutes away and managed to rescue all 22 men. Some didn't have life jackets on, and some jumped into the freezing water wearing regular clothes, one fisherman was wearing only underwear when he was rescued. One crewman had hypothermia and was treated on board. Another suffering from smoke inhalation was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in St. John's, Newfoundland.
All is well that ends well.

"La Maison en Petits Cubes" best animated short film

I'm very happy about the choice of the Best animated short film that today won the Oscar award. Because it's deeply water-related, and so I've the chance to speak about it here, and moreover it's a wonderful little jewel. After having won the festivals of Annecy and Milan, contrary to the expectations that were all for "Presto" by Pixar (that rarely let slip this Oscar), it won also the most prestigious of the awards. I'm speaking about "La Maison en Petits Cubes" (Tsumiki no ie), by Kunio Kato.



Obviously it is protected by copyright, therefore I cannot show it here, the only thing is a short clip at the end of this post, but believe me it simply doesn't give you an idea of how intense and delicate is this short film. So purchase it as soon as possible and you won't be disappointed.



This is the story of an old man living alone in a town that has become submerged. His answer to the slowly rising water is to keep building on to his original home--like placing cubes on top of cubes to keep out the water. When he loses his favorite pipe, he wears a scuba wetsuit to retrieve it. As he descends and sees the earlier, now submerged, levels of his home he relives in his mind his life and loves. The idea is great and thanks also to an incidental music particularly on the beam it's all very sweet and sentimental.



The scuba diving in particular is a great plot device. The metaphorical aspects are the real strength of the film: Building your own life block after block each one on top of the previous one to escape to a sea that never stops to rise... and then descending in your own life, stage after stage, and looking at your own memories and to other houses that no more reach the surface...
I wondered if the whole story of the rising sea level is also an attempt to draw attention to global warming.



This short masterpiece has been written and directed by Kunio Katô, and the following are the full credits:

Directed by: Kunio KATO
Country: Japan
Year: 2008
Running time: 12 mn 03 s
Techniques used:Drawing on paper, 2D computer
Process: Colour
Category: 2008 Short films
Target public: All audiences
Directed by: Kunio KATO
Producer: Kusakabe MASANORI, Yuko SHIN
Produced by: ROBOT COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
Script: Kunio KATO
Graphics: Kunio KATO
Storyboard: Kunio KATO
Layout: Kunio KATO
Scenery: Kunio KATO
Animation: Kunio KATO
Camera: Kunio KATO
Music: Kenji KONDO
Compositing: Kunio KATO



Kunio Katô website
Robot Communications Inc (production house) website

Crying Dolphins entrapped in an ice hole

(Pam Snow/AP/The Canadian Press/Nor'wester)

Just after Nari's one, another moving story about dolphins have just happened in Seal Cove, Newfoundland, Canada. Five exhausted dolphins have been trapped behind drifting pack ice. The animals somehow became separated from the open Atlantic and have been swimming for four days in a shrinking open-water area, just 100 feet from shore. They kept going round circles, trying to keep this little pool of water open so that they can have their breathing area. There was no where else for them to go.
The inhabitants of the little village could clearly hear them crying all night long.


(Pam Snow/AP/The Canadian Press/Nor'wester)

When it became apparent that the dolphin couldn't survive anymore without an immediate intervention a group of men in a boat cut a quarter-kilometre path through ice and led three white-beaked dolphins that had been trapped since the weekend to freedom.



One of the dolphins was so weakened by the ordeal that a 16-year-old boy wearing a survival suit went into the frigid water to attach a harness to it.
The animal was towed to open water, where it swam away.



Further info in the following videos:

Nari, the dolphin savaged by a shark, protected by his mate and saved by humans.

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

This is a story that moved a lot of human beings this week. Nari, a dolphin severely wounded by a shark have been protected and escorted by his mate Echo for three days and then led by him to the seaside for help.
Before he was savaged by a three meters Bull Shark, Nari, the 12-year-old dolphin, usually came for a nightly hand-feeding ritual on the coast of Moreton Island, near Brisbane, together with his other 12 mates. Marine vets feared he had died when he did not appear at feeding time for days.
However, on Tuesday night Nari reappeared at the beach, looking tired and frail. He was led in to shore by his mate Echo looking for the help of humans.
Vets and Volunteers immediately captured Nari without any struggle and transferred it to Sea World on the Gold Coast where it underwent surgery for deep wounds and was given antibiotics to prevent infection. It is recovering under the watchful eye of marine vets and is expected to rejoin the pod and his mate Echo within eight weeks.



Experts suggested that Echo's sympathy for Nari may stem from an incident in 1996 when Echo was himself attacked by a shark.
Having disappeared the same day as Nari and reappeared at his side There is no reason to think other than that Echo stayed with Nari for a few days, waiting until Nari was well enough to make it back to the feeding area. How can we call this thing other than love and friendship?
What has thrilled wildlife experts even more is the trust that Nari has appeared to put in the humans who were able to lift him without a struggle into a boat and take him to the mainland to be treated by vets.




'The injury is quite severe - the bite went right through the skin, flesh and blubber down to the muscle and Nari's pretty sore. We're going to cut out the large piece of flesh that has been ripped by the shark and treat him in a special quarantine pool at Sea World. Then it will be a case of the wound healing from the inside out. We're got high hopes he'll recover and then we'll release him back into the wild where we're sure his friend Echo will be waiting for him.' said a vet.


Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Photographer : Kit de Guymer

Enjoy a video of the story: