Shark Release

We went down to Collaroy Beach two weeks ago and witnessed the release of four young Wobeggong Sharks. It's all part of Project Wobbegong:

With shark populations collapsing worldwide and local wobbegong numbers in decline, the juveniles are part of a research program investigating whether sharks bred in captivity can thrive in the wild.

The joint venture between Sydney Aquarium and Macquarie University, called Project Wobbegong, is already a success, with 12 out of 17 individuals released setting up home in the area or returning on a regular basis.

A crowd gathered on the beach, waiting for the sharks, including camera crews.

And divers:

Ow

Brazil:

"A black police helicopter dropped white rose petals over mourners and a nation was left struggling for answers."

My High School Had a Steel Drum Band

What a strange memory I just had: My high school had a steel drum band. They even put out albums. How weird is that? I've actually just found them online, and found out that they're the third oldest still-playing steel drum band in U.S.:

Old Sayings....Reconsidered: "Never Bring a Knife..."

Never bring a knife to a gunfight—but a blender might be alright. You could whip up some daiquiris, get all the prospective gunfighters good and drunk, and when they pass out you could steal their guns and replace them with knives. Then, when they wake up, you could yell, "Never bring a knife to a gunfight, bitchez!", and shoot them.

Never bring a knife to a gunfight—bring a blender instead. And rum, limes, and a sweetener of some kind. (I prefer powdered sugar.) And make sure there's a power source for the blender. I don't know about you, but I've always pictured gunfights taking place in a barren place in the great outdoors—so you might want to consider a generator. And you're going to need a bunch of knives, to put in place of the guns on the gunfighters after they pass out, which of course means that you're bringing knives to a gunfight, which takes us right back where we started.

How about you just not go to gunfights? Is that so hard?

Googling The Corniolis Effect

I was just checking my visiter status, which tells me how people end up here at Little Australia, and I found that someone was directed here after googling, "What is the Corniolis Effect?"

That's so funny I think I may actually have to go to the bathroom.

P.S. I think you meant to go here.

Stick Cocoon Creature, Banksia Man, and Singing Tree

Update: Fresh news: New case moth news from May 31, 2014!

**

The eagle-eyed Christine stopped us yesterday on our hike in Ku-Ring-gai National Park, saying, "Thom, look at this."

I looked at this:

It was about four inches long. It was soft: you could squeeze it, like it was an empty sac. It smelled resiny.

"It's a cocoon," Christine said. "I remember them from when I was little."

I've just looked it up, and I quickly found a remarkably similar photo—even down to the way those outer sticks are configured: it's the cocoon (empty, pretty sure) of the caterpillar of a case moth, possibly the Saunders' Case Moth, Metura elongatus. Oh, you have to go here, too. And holy crap, here, too. (I've just realized, this is related to the "Walking Turd" from December, but a different species, clearly.)

Good eye, Christine.

Now here's Christine and a scary Banksia  Man. (Guess which ones which.)

Aren't she perty?

And a tree:

Oh, Vienna!

***

Christine suddenly burst out in song on the way home, singing along with a song on the radio that I'd never heard in my life.

The 2nd Most Deadly Snake in the World

The eastern brown snake is the species responsible for most deaths caused by snakebite in Australia, although, with the advent of efficient first-aid treatment and antivenom, there are now usually only one or two deaths per year. A large adult brown snake is a formidable creature. They may exceed two metres in length and, on hot days, can move at surprising speed. It has a slender body and is variable in colour ranging from uniform tan to grey or dark brown. The belly is cream, yellow or pale orange with darker orange spots.

And I got to stick my camera in a brown snake's face today. Huuuhhh-zzzah!

One good way to identify the eastern brown:

When attacking, the brown snake winds its body into an 'S' shape, raising itself off the ground.

One not great pic. (This snake was scary fast.)

And a video. Stop it at the 22-second mark, and you can see the snake rise up into the distinctive brown snake "S" shape. (And you can hear Christine in the background say, in a way that means oh so much more than you know, "I think it's a brown snake Thom." She said that several more times in the few minutes I was with that snake.)

Eels, Leeches, And a Giant Spider on My Face [updtd]

So you're in Australia. In the southeastern state of New South Wales, the North Carolina of Australia. In Sydney. (Let's call it Wilmington). Go straight north from the city center about 20 miles, er, about 32 kilometers, and you run into Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.

Now you all know where to search for my body.

Right. To the latest excursion.

I entered the park at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, and soon heard a "knocking on a hollow wood box" bird-call I am completely unfamiliar with. Five-second video:

New Nudibranch Discovered in Gulf of Mexico

Not to be outdone by Madagascar (post directly below this one), a new species of sea snail has been discovered off Florida:

Biologists with the Florida and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), along with scientists from California State Polytechnic University, have identified a new marine species found in the Gulf of Mexico. A scientific publication released Thursday officially announced the discovery of Chromodoris fentoni, a type of shell-less snail known as a nudibranch.

Seems to be related to the sea hare I video'd a few months ago. Looks like they are.

New Lemur Species Discovered

Amazing. Will they ever stop finding new species in Madagascar?

A Double-Banana

In all my years on Earth I have never once seen, or even heard of, a double-banana—like a two-yoked egg—but I have now! Behold: