Photo of the Day Archives - Page 9 of 13 - Mission Blue

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Photo of the Day ~ Shards of Turquoise Ice on Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal, in the southern part of eastern Siberia, is an incredible natural wonder of the world that one can only hope to visit at least once in their lifetime. Mission Blue founder Sylvia Earle had the opportunity to dive there with James Cameron in a Russian Academy of Science sub in August of 2010. It’s not just the oldest freshwater lake on Earth, at 20 to 25 million years old, it’s also one of the largest and deepest, holding an astounding one-fifth of the world’s freshwater.
The images from this March are astounding! Photo (c) Jeffersons Opinion
Learn more here: http://bit.ly/10MkgSY…

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Photo of the Day ~ Giant Gorgonian

Thanks to our Mission Blue partners at Marine Conservation Institute for this photo of the day! “Size does matter, if you’re a Gorgonian coral.” Two of their Board members spotted this 5.7m (18 feet and 8 inches to some of us) tall coral in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands! The diver image has been added for scale. More details here: goo.gl/jkQVI…

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Photo of the Day ~ Giant Isopod

A giant isopod can be any of the almost 20 species of large isopods (crustaceans related to shrimp and crabs) in the genus Bathynomus. The species are noted for resemblance to the common woodlouse or pill bug, to which they are related. The few specimens caught in the Americas with baited traps are sometimes seen in public aquariums. They grow to between 7.5 and 14 inches and can weigh up to 4 lbs.  We think he’s kind of cute, in an alien kind of way!
In the bonus video below from the Sustainable Seas Expedition, shared by photographer Kip Evans, National Geographic & NOAA, Sylvia Earle dives deep off the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico – and finds Deep Sea Isopods!…

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Photo of the Day ~ Elephant Tang

The newly discovered Elephant Tang, or Zebrasoma flavescens elephantiasis, uses his long, proboscis-like snout to borrow deep into the reef in search of small crustaceans and other sustenance. The myriad of life forms created by evolution will never cease to amaze us!…

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Photo of the Day ~ Northern Elephant Seal Pup

Baby northern elephant seal, napping. Photo by Claudio Contreras Koob.
Claudio is one of a team of ILCP photographers headed for the Project Seahorse Expedition to Danajon Bank in the Philippines. Check it out on his blog!
You can help this expedition to document one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on planet ocean by supporting their Indie Go Go campaign here! They’re making available incredible prints by four of the world’s top nature photographers in exchange for your support.
Claudio Contreras Koob Photography…

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Photo of the Day ~ Belize Reef, Mesoamerican Reef Hope Spot

Facebook follower Tony Rath sent us this vision of paradise from a Belize Reef, part of Dr. Sylvia Earle’s Mesoamerican Hope Spot.
“Sometimes I come across a photo that makes me look twice. At first I thought ‘this looks like a heck of a low tide, all that coral is exposed.’ But looking closer, I noticed a slight break of waves over the top of some of the coral heads.”
“In fact, the water is so clear, that it is an illusion that the coral heads are above water. This photo provides a clear view of what our barrier reef in Belize is – not rubble and dead coral skeletons – but a living, growing, healthy organism.”
Credit: Tony Rath Photography / http://www.facebook.com/belizephotography…

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Photo of the Day ~ Water Bears

Is this an alien? No, but of all the animals on Earth, the Tardigrade might be the best candidate. That’s because Tardigrades are known to be able to go for decades without food or water, to survive temperatures from near absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water, to survive pressures from near zero to well above that on ocean floor, and to survive direct exposure to dangerous radiation. The far-ranging survivability of these extremophiles was tested in 2011 outside an orbiting space shuttle. Tardigrades are so durable partly because they can repair their own DNA and reduce their body water content to a few percent.
Some of these miniature water-bears almost became extraterrestrials recently when they were launched toward to the Martian moon Phobos onboard a Russian mission but stayed terrestrial when a rocket failed and the capsule remained in Earth orbit.…

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Photo of the Day ~ CITES stands up for sharks and rays!

In a dramatic Plenary session, trade restrictions were adopted today for ALL five species of sharks (Oceanic Whitetip, Porbeagle, Smooth, Scalloped & Great Hammerhead) and two mantas (Giant and Reef Manta Rays) proposed! Success of listing proposals means their international trade must be legal and sustainable in 18 months.
Photo: (c) Shark Stanley…

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Photo of the Day ~ Blanket Octopus

Normally we might expect males to be larger than females, but when it comes to blanket octopi, females can reach up to six feet while males are at most an inch or two long. The males have a specially modified third right arm which stores sperm, known as a hectocotylus. During mating, this arm detaches itself and crawls into the mantle of the female to fertilize her eggs. Weird but true! 
Photo Credit: Unknown…

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