REAL LIFE READS: Shark rides waterslide and The Pink Dolphin

[HKofsesshoumaru 673]

I marked this post with a because of the dolphin article not the shark thing.

Shark Commits Suicide on Waterslide

Posted Dec 18th 2008 6:00AM by TMZ Staff

There's nothing quite like taking a cool trip down the water slide at the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas, plunging into the refreshing pool at the end, and ... HOLY CRAP!! THAT'S A SHARK!

But it was all too real when hotel staff saw that one of the sharks from the famous resort aquarium had somehow jumped out of its tank and onto a nearby water slide -- where it managed to slide down into the pool.

It all went down before the pool opened Tuesday -- so nobody was in the water -- but here's where it gets tragic: A rep for the Atlantis tells TMZ the shark died a short time after swimming in the chlorinated water. Here's the heartbreaking statement:

"Yesterday morning at around 9:30 AM, prior to the resort's waterscape opening to guests, a 12+-year-old female reef shark jumped over an 18 inch wide and 1 foot high sustaining structure into the resort's Leap of Faith water slide.

The Atlantis Aquarists believe the shark was startled by an unusual circumstance that we have no way of defining completely. In the over ten years guests have experienced the Leap of Faith, the reef shark itself, harmless to humans as it is fed regularly by our staff, had shown no previous incidences of leaping out of the water in the marine habitat ...

... The habitat itself is part of the resort's open system which filters water from the Atlantic Ocean and is completely separated from the chlorinated water system on the slides. Once the shark fell onto the slide and into the chlorinated water, it was in significant distress.

The Marine Aquarium Operations team responded immediately and was able to retrieve the animal at the bottom of the slide and return the animal to the main marine habitat in an attempt to resuscitate her. Despite the team's best efforts to recover the animal, it died shortly after the occurrence.

There was no danger to our guests or staff, both of whom interact with these sharks daily in our various interactive programs (we have guests enter the shark habitat to swim and interact with the sharks in bathing attire only).

In fact, our concern was for the animal itself who defied nature to take this leap. The entire team at Atlantis is truly saddened by the loss of this animal who had resided in the Atlantis marine habitat for over ten years."

I think this is from that Resort you see advertised on TV where the people are riding a water slide down the front of what looks like a Aztec temple into a lagoon. Poor shark. I wonder what spooked it?

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Pinky. the schockingly pink albino dolphin calf

Photo: CATERS NEWS

Pinky is a little bottlenose dolphin calf, but it's very special.. it's totally, absolutely, shockingly pink! It was discovered in an inland lake in Louisiana, Lake Calcasieu, and has become such an attraction that conservationists have warned tourists to leave it alone. Pinky's color come from the fact that it is an albino, as it is well-demonstrated by its reddish eyes.

Photo: CATERS NEWS

Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, who photographed the animal and was the first who spotted it, has been studying it for some months now. Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side.

Photo: CATERS NEWS

According to marine biologist Dagmar Fertl, this is only the fourteenth spotting anywhere in the world (the first coming in 1962). Biologists speculate that, in addition to the rarity of their birth, the scarcity of albino bottlenose dolphins might be due to their having poor eyesight, increased sensitivity to sunlight, and a coloration that provides poor camouflaging, factors which could significantly decrease their chances of reaching maturity.

There are some spiecies of dolphin that could be pink, as the freshwater variety in the Amazon, the Amazon River Dolphin. The boto, as they are called, are the largest river dolphins on the planet. And while they are very pink, they also have gray splotches on their backs and fins. In Hong Kong lives another type of pink dolphin. The Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin is found all over Asia, but its most well-known population lives in the Pearl River Delta. The Pearl River dolphins vary in color from snowy white to cotton candy pink, with some yellows and grays thrown in, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. However we are speaking of different species. Pinky is a true rarity because it's a common Bottlenose Dolphin, that are always grey.

The name Pinky is lame. Couldn't they come up with something better? He is cute though

Edited March 3, 2009 by HKofsesshoumaru

[Serena 12]

Yeah he is, but that shade makes the poor little guy look sunburnt....

[HKofsesshoumaru 673]

It does look sunburned!

[Ladywriter 7,783]

very cute

[Gabriboy 100]

spam