Repost TampaBay.com: Woman Gets Ride on Back of Shark

A woman swimming in the Atlantic off Behune Beach found herself picked up and carried on the back of a shark, news-journalonline.com reports.

“My first thought was ‘I hope this is a manatee,’ ” Judy Fischman told the Daytona Beach News-Journal. “Then I saw the black tail. … Then I saw other sharks and I thought, ‘My God, how am I going to escape a whole group of sharks?’ ”

She started punching the animal, “then a wave came. All of a sudden they were gone,” she said. “They probably realized I’m not food and let go. Maybe they thought I was a seal. I had on a black bathing suit.”

New Dolphin Feeding Strategy – Mud Rings

This has been posted multiple other places but seemed interesting enough to post here. The clip is from the new Attenborough series “Life”:

This is yet another case of clever animals quickly adapting their behavior in beneficial, clever ways (see my earlier post on orcas to see another example).

Check out the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary newsletter from spring of 2002 that first reports this behavior.

Tree Kangaroos – Another Unsuspecting Recipient of Crittercams

Tree kangaroos are just one of the latest type of animal to be subjected to critter camerization. While there may be some stunned and confused tree kangaroos walking around initially, the act of attaching cameras to these fuzzy mammals may give researchers some insight into their behavior. The critter cams used for this specific venture were developed and provided by national geographic. See the video describing the research below:

There are approximately 12 species of tree kangaroo, but the focus of this particular effort is the Matschie’s Tree-kangaroo, resident of Papua New Guinea, and as described in the related article, decidedly similar in appearance to a plush toy. They are considered critically endangered, but are targeted by conservation efforts that include locals who highly value these animals.