shortformblog:

Director = David Gordon Green; flop = The Sitter RT @huffpostent: Director defends notorious flop huff.to/15R746x

— HuffPo Spoilers (@HuffPoSpoilers)

April 25, 2013

Annoyed with all the click-baiting on Huffington Post? @HuffPoSpoilers has got you covered. This is one of the more…

Simpler solution to ignoring HuffPo’s clickbaiting: Don’t follow or read anything on or done by HuffPo.

Whale Sharks of Cenderawasih Bay

Cenderawasih Bay means “Bird of Paradise Bay” in the Indonesian language. Located in the northern Province of West Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Cenderawasih Bay is the largest Marine National Park in Indonesia, and part of the Bird’s Head Seascape. It harbors the world’s largest fish- the largest shark: the whale shark (Rhincodon typus).

Since at least the 1940’s, but only discovered by Western scientists in 2006, a unique interaction has been occurring between whale sharks and local fisherman operating from floating platforms called “bagans.” After the sun sets, the fisherman lower large nets under the platforms and then turn on strong lights focused into the water. Baitfishes attracted by the lights congregate under the platform just above the nets. When the nets are lifted, the fish are trapped inside. Initially, whale sharks (mostly juveniles) were attracted to the dead fish often thrown overboard by the fisherman. Later, they learned to suck the fish from the nets, stealing part of the catch. In order to dissuade the whale sharks from this behavior, the fisherman began to feed the whale sharks, which they regarded as a sign of good luck.

As a result of this interaction between the whale sharks and the fishermen in Cenderawasih Bay, it is now possible for snorkelers and SCUBA divers to spend hours with these magnificent creatures. And while there are many other places in the world where whale sharks occasionally congregate in large numbers, including Holbox and Isla Mujeres in Mexico; the Maldives; and Darwin Island in Galapagos, those areas only experience whale sharks a few months out of each year. Cenderawasih Bay, on the other hand, has whale sharks year round.

Whale Sharks are both the largest fish and the biggest shark in the sea, reaching lengths of over 40 feet and weighing up to 15 tons. Age estimates are as high as 60 years, but no one really knows how long this species lives. Like other sharks, females are larger than males. They eat enormous amounts of plankton, krill and small fish. Even though they are filter feeders, they still have several thousand tiny teeth that are of little use. They can filter over 1500 gallons of seawater each hour, not by ramjet fashion but by sucking in large amounts of water and expelling it past their gill arches, which have filtering screens. While not much is known about these harmless giants, scientists have learned that they do not become sexually mature until they are approximately 30 years of age and 25 feet in length. They have never been observed mating or giving birth, and it was not until 1995 that scientists finally discovered that they are ovoviviparous, which means that the egg cases hatch in the mother’s uteri, and the female gives birth to live young. They learned this when a female whale shark was harpooned off Taiwan, and 300 fetal specimens of varying lengths and ages were found in her two uteri.

cynicaltechnophile:

newsweek:

What BP Doesn’t Want You To Know About The 2012 Gulf Oil Spill

“It’s as safe as Dawn dishwashing liquid.” 

That’s what Jamie Griffin says the BP man told her about the smelly, rainbow-streaked gunk coating the floor of the “floating hotel” where Griffin was feeding hundreds of cleanup workers during the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently, the workers were tracking the gunk inside on their boots. Griffin, as chief cook and maid, was trying to clean it. But even boiling water didn’t work.

“The BP representative said, ‘Jamie, just mop it like you’d mop any other dirty floor,’” Griffin recalls in her Louisiana drawl.

It was the opening weeks of what everyone, echoing President Barack Obama, was calling “the worst environmental disaster in American history.” At 9:45 p.m. local time on April 20, 2010, a fiery explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig had killed 11 workers and injured 17. One mile underwater, the Macondo well had blown apart, unleashing a gusher of oil into the gulf. At risk were fishing areas that supplied one third of the seafood consumed in the U.S., beaches from Texas to Florida that drew billions of dollars’ worth of tourism to local economies, and Obama’s chances of reelection. Republicans were blaming him for mishandling the disaster, his poll numbers were falling, even his 11-year-old daughter was demanding, “Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?”

Griffin did as she was told: “I tried Pine-Sol, bleach, I even tried Dawn on those floors.” As she scrubbed, the mix of cleanser and gunk occasionally splashed onto her arms and face.

Within days, the 32-year-old single mother was coughing up blood and suffering constant headaches. She lost her voice. “My throat felt like I’d swallowed razor blades,” she says.

Then things got much worse.

Like hundreds, possibly thousands, of workers on the cleanup, Griffin soon fell ill with a cluster of excruciating, bizarre, grotesque ailments. By July, unstoppable muscle spasms were twisting her hands into immovable claws. In August, she began losing her short-term memory. After cooking professionally for 10 years, she couldn’t remember the recipe for vegetable soup; one morning, she got in the car to go to work, only to discover she hadn’t put on pants. The right side, but only the right side, of her body “started acting crazy. It felt like the nerves were coming out of my skin. It was so painful. My right leg swelled—my ankle would get as wide as my calf—and my skin got incredibly itchy.”

[Photo: Benjamin Lowy/Getty]

Not entirely certain how reliable “The Daily Beast” is. taking with a grain of salt.

First off, this is from Newsweek. And the writer is a Fellow of the New American Foundation who has written about global warming for outlets including the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Time, NPR, the BBC and The Nation, per his bio. He is the author of six books that have been translated into sixteen languages. Put down the salt. It’s not healthy for you anyways. 

Point of order: Salt is very healthy for you.

In fact, all living creatures require it in order to regulate numerous bodily systems. But, as with most everything, you should only consume it in moderation.