Great White sharks in the Mediterranean

It is a little-known fact that Great White sharks can be found in the Mediterranean Sea, and perhaps even less-well known is that they arrived there some 450,000 years ago from Australia, according to new genetic studies.

According to a BBC article published today:

“Researchers writing in Proceedings of the Royal Society B believe the arrival may have been simply a migratory ‘wrong turn’ by a few pregnant females.

A tumultuous climate between ice ages may have been the cause.

The species – Carcharodon carcharias – would have remained in the Med because it returns to spawn where it was born.

It was previously assumed that the great whites in the Mediterranean were most closely related to their nearby cousins in the Atlantic Ocean.

But now, a team led by Les Noble of the University of Aberdeen has examined the several groups of sharks’ mitochondrial DNA – genetic material passed through the maternal line that is particularly suited to tracing lineages.

The team found that the Mediterranean sharks were very different to the Atlantic group and more like sharks from Australia and New Zealand.”

Great White shark attacks in the Mediterranean

The great white shark is most commonly associated with the coasts of Australia, California and South Africa, but there have been occasions when this increasingly rare animal has been spotted in the Mediterranean. Some experts believe that the Mediterranean is a nursery where great white sharks give birth and raise their young. The Sicilian channel, near the Italian island of Lampedusa, is the only location in the Atlantic region where both pregnant females and newly born great whites have been sighted.

A great white shark was caught in Malta by Alfredo Cutajar in April 16, 1987. This shark was also estimated to be around 7.13 m (24 ft).

The map below shows confirmed sightings of great white of great white sharks in the mediterranean sea since the early 20th century:

Gallery: Rich life under the sea

Gorgeous photographs of Gelatinous Zooplankton, Pelagic Molluscs, Crustacea, Eukrohnia, Tompteris, Colonial radiolarians and Globigerinoides ruber (pink variety)…

Census of Marine Life (2006) scientists trawled rarely explored tropical ocean depths between the southeast U.S. coast and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, revealing a newfound variety of zooplankton and other small creatures.

OK, its a bit technical but anyway, they look cool.

From Livescience.com, an original content site that chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology.

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Google diving into 3D mapping of oceans

We’ve got Google Earth and Google Sky. Next up will be a map of the world below sea level–Google Ocean.

The company has assembled an advisory group of oceanography experts, and in December invited researchers from institutions around the world to the Mountain View, Calif., Googleplex. There, they discussed plans for creating a 3D oceanographic map, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The tool–for now called Google Ocean, the sources say, though that name could change–is expected to be similar to other 3D online mapping applications. People will be able to see the underwater topography, called bathymetry; search for particular spots or attractions; and navigate through the digital environment by zooming and panning. (The tool, however, is not to be confused with the “Google Ocean” project by France-based Magic Instinct Software that uses Google Earth as a visualization tool for marine data.)

From CNET : Read more

Giant sea creatures discovered in Antarctica

Researchers aboard the Aurora Australis, an Australian vessel, have discovered a trove of strange creatures on the sea floor near East Antarctica.

Some of the video footage we have collected is really stunning — it’s amazing to be able to navigate undersea mountains and valleys and actually see what the animals look like in their undisturbed state,” said Aurora Australis voyage leader Dr Martin Riddle.

“In some places every inch of the sea floor is covered in life. In other places we can see deep scars and gouges where icebergs scour the sea floor as they pass by. Gigantism is very common in Antarctic waters — we have collected huge worms, giant crustaceans and sea spiders the size of dinner plates.

From Mongabay.com. Read more here