Dec 172010
 

Check out this Video, it’s a Shocker! On the banks of the Amazon river some Brazilian guys have managed to catch an Electric Eel after a bit of afternoon fishing, while one guy stays with the catch his friend goes off to fetch a knife to cut the line and let the eel go. In the mean time a Caiman turns up who was quite pleased to see that someone had caught a little fishy for him. But the Caiman then makes the mistake of taking a bite out of the Electric Eel who then turns on the power and shocks the Caiman and kills it. Goes to show there’s no such thing as a free lunch. He won’t be making that mistake again!

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Dec 132010
 

It’s been a while since we had 10 interesting facts about one of the crazy creatures we love, so this time the turn falls to our lovely friend the shark! Sharks have been in the news a lot recently, and for all the wrong reasons. Furthermore we will add a few false myths regarding sharks; but first lets crack on with 10 facts about sharks.

Galapagos Shark

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Nov 102010
 

Check out this amazing Octopus! It’s like a crazy contortionist twisting and turning and slipping into all kinds of crazy shapes. It is well known that animals can change their colours or behaviour (mimicry) to fend of predators or fool prey but this nimble octopus is one of the only creatures able to change its shape as well!

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Oct 252010
 

A quick glance at our glossary will tell you that venom is administered differently to poison even though they are both toxins and might actually end up harming you in the same way. Venomous creatures will bite you, sting you, or inject you with its toxins in order to cause you all manner of harm, including paralysis, stopping you breathing, mess up your blood and cell damage. Venomous creatures are predators and therefore have one purpose: to kill.

Duck Billed Platypus

Platypus

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Feb 122010
 

Whale Sharks are amazing creatures. Growing to be over 12 meters long and over 20 tonnes these monsters are surprisingly timid. They are the largest shark, and therefore the largest fish in the world. Despite being a shark, they don’t live up to the usual expectations of violent killers associated with some members of the Chondrichthyes (Sharks and others) class. They are filter feeders, and trundle along with their mouths wide open, eating large volumes of mainly plankton, krill and some small fish. Whale Shark Continue reading »

Feb 072010
 

This fish looks funny. Why oh why is there such a peculiar protrusion sticking out from its head with an eyeball at each end? Obviously it has an advantage in head butting competitions outside the Friday night local but other than that, what could that head possibly be good for?

Many variations for the use of the ‘hammer’ have been dreamt up over the last few hundred years ranging from aerodynamics, hunting techniques and prey manipulation to improved eyesight. Well actually all these are quite sensible suggestions it turns out, and all have some degree of credibility. The Hammer on the head is officially called a Cephalofoil.  Indeed the unique shape of the head provides lift and improves swimming abilities making them surprisingly agile. For many years the main plausible explanation for this obscure growth is that it aids in electroreception where the large area of the sharks’ head improves the speed and efficiency of locating and catching prey.

Hammerhead

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