Uncle John's Creature Feature Bathroom Reader For Kids Only!
Page 10
When sea horses decide to have a family, it’s the dad who does the heavy lifting. In fact, sea horses and their cousins, pipefish, are the only species on Earth in which the dad gets pregnant. The male sea horse has a pouch just like a kangaroo, into which the mom drops nearly 200 tiny eggs. And for the next month, that’s where they grow. When it’s time to give birth, the dad becomes a rocking horse: He grabs hold of a seaweed stem and rocks back and forth to launch his baby sea horses into the world.
WATER WORLD
• 71% of the Earth’s surface is water.
• 97% of the Earth’s water is in the ocean. Less than 1% is fresh water.
• 80% of all life lives in the ocean.
• 99% percent of the living space on the Earth is under water. (Less than 10% of that space has been explored.)
• If you were to stand at the deepest spot in the ocean, the water pressure would feel as if you were trying to lift up fifty Boeing 747s.
• There’s enough gold in the ocean to give a nine-pound chunk to every person in the world.
• If you removed the salt in the ocean, you could cover all the land on Earth in a layer of salt five feet deep.
• The weight of the garbage dumped into the ocean every year is more than three times the weight of the fish caught in the same year.
• There’s as much ice in Antarctica as there is water in the Atlantic Ocean.
• There are 25,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean—more than all the other islands in the other oceans combined.
• What’s the tallest mountain on Earth? It’s mostly underwater. Mauna Kea in Hawaii rises 33,465 feet from the ocean floor, beating Mt. Everest by more than 3,000 feet.
MORE SHARK FACTS
Sharks never get cancer. Scientists hope to discover the shark’s secret defense to help us create anti-cancer drugs.
The swell shark from New Zealand barks like a dog.
Bull sharks are the only sharks that can live in both salt and fresh water. There’s a lake in Nicaragua that’s full of them.
Here are some of the things that have been found inside a shark’s stomach: an alarm clock, an unopened bottle of wine, a drum, a bicycle, a treasure chest, a suit of armor, and a torpedo.
OFF THE DEEP END
Q: What happened to the fishing boat that sank in piranha-infested waters?
A: It came back with a skeleton crew.
Q: If they made a movie starring the Loch Ness monster and the great white shark from Jaws, what would the movie be called?
A: Loch Jaws.
Q: Why is it so easy to weigh fish?
A: They have their own scales.
Q: What sits at the bottom of the sea and shivers?
A: A nervous wreck.
Q: What sea animal can be adjusted to play music?
A: The tune-a fish!
THE BLOOP
There’s something very loud deep in the ocean.
DID YOU HEAR THAT?
The ocean is a noisy place. Undersea volcanoes rumble, whales sing, dolphins whistle, and shrimp snap. Scientists have been listening to the sounds for years through a network of underwater microphones. But researchers were startled in 1997 when they heard a noise in the Pacific Ocean, louder than anything they’d ever heard before (the microphones that picked up the sound were over 3,000 miles apart). It sounded like this: “BLOOP.”
Was it manmade? No, no one has ever made a machine—not even a bomb—as loud as the Bloop. Was it a whale? No. Blue whales are the loudest animals on the planet, but the Bloop made their call sound like a “peep.”
So what was it? Nobody knows.
SURF’S UP—WAY UP!
Ken Bradshaw holds the record for surfing the biggest wave, an 85-footer at Waimea Bay, Hawaii, on January 20, 1988. Giant waves break as far as two miles from shore so surfers like Ken usually get towed out from shore on Jet-Skis. Some even drop in from a helicopter!
This surfer is taking a giant wave in the Big Wave Invitational surfing championship in Waimea Bay, Hawaii, in 2004.
DAUNTLESS DOLPHIN
On August 20, 2000, Davide Ceci was boating with his father, Emanuele Ceci, in the Adriatic Sea near Manfredonia, Italy, when he fell out of the boat. His father was busy steering the boat and didn’t see the 14-year-old go overboard. Davide didn’t know how to swim; the last thing he saw before sinking beneath the waves was the boat sailing away. Then Davide felt something large push him up to the surface. It was a dolphin. And amazingly, Davide knew this particular dolphin by name. “Felippo” had shown up in the bay two years earlier and had become the unofficial mascot of their seaside community. The boy held on tightly while Felippo chased down Mr. Ceci’s boat, then swam alongside until Davide’s dad was able to reach down and pull his son to safety.
SCUBA DO!
Sailor, scientist, inventor, explorer, filmmaker, and TV host, Jacques Cousteau made it possible for humans to explore the world under the sea.
How long can you hold your breath underwater? Most people can only hold it for a minute or two. And until 1943, that was the longest most divers could spend under the surface. That’s when French naval officer Jacques Cousteau and engineer Emile Gagnan invented a device to let divers breathe underwater for hours. They called it the aqualung, and it wasn’t long before he started using it to get an “up close” look at the astounding world of undersea life.
The experience changed him forever. A few years later he set out on his research ship, the Calypso, to explore the oceans of the world. Cousteau visited every body of water on Earth, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mississippi River. He revealed the amazing beauty of the ocean depths in his award-winning films The Silent World and World Without Sun and in his 1970s television show, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. By the time he died in 1997, Cousteau had done more to teach people about the oceans than anyone who’s ever lived. Best of all, he gave all of us the opportunity to become underwater explorers—just like him.
DIVING DOWN
Here’s a quick guide to the history of deep sea diving.
2500 BC—A Greek named Scyllis invents the breathing tube. While being held prisoner by the Persians, he discovers their attack plans and jumps overboard. That night, using a reed as a snorkel, he swims underwater from ship to ship and sabotages the Persian fleet.
1535—Guglielmo de Lorena makes the first practical diving bell—an upside-down pot lowered into the water, trapping air that divers can breathe for a short time.
1690—John Lethbridge invents the first “diving suit,” an enclosed wooden cylinder with leather sleeves. To everyone’s surprise, it works.
1788—John Smeaton makes a better diving bell. This one has a hand pump to get fresh air. Within 10 years, his bell is used all over Europe and America.
1837—Augustus Siebe invents the first rubber diving suit sealed to an attached diving helmet. This type of diving suit is still used today.
1865—Two Frenchmen invent the “Aerophore”—an air tank strapped to the diver’s back and connected by a mouthpiece. It inspires Jules Verne to include one in his novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
1917—The Mark V Diving Helmet becomes the official diving helmet of the U.S. Navy. (It still is.)
1930—William Beebe sets a depth record of 1,426 feet in a round steel ball called a bathysphere attached to a mother ship by a steel cable.
1930—Guy Gilpatric invents rubber goggles. Snorkels and fins are already in use.
1943—Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emil Gagnan invent the aqualung, the first practical SCUBA gear.
1954—Georges Houot and Pierre-Willm take the newly invented bathyscaphe, a submarine-like submersible, 13,287 feet under the sea—a new record.
1960—Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh pilot the bathyscaphe Trieste 35,820 feet into the Mariana Trench. It is the absolute bottom of the ocean, and no one will ever go deeper.
SWIM SCHOOL
You probably know that fish swim in schools. But did you know a group of sharks is called a
shiver? Try to match each sea creature with its group.
1. Starfish
A. Glide
2. Jellyfish
B. Gam
3. Turtles
C. Bale
4. Oysters
D. Smack
5. Dolphins
E. Swarm
6. Seahorses
F. Army
7. Eels
G. Troubling
8. Whales
H. Colony
9. Rainbow Fish
I. Herd
10. Crabs
J. Party
11. Goldfish
K. Bed
12. Sardines
L. Cast
13. Herring
M. Family
14. Flying fish
N. Pod
DID YOU KNOW?
A school of fish can also be called a shoal, a haul, a draught, a run, a catch, a flutter, a cast, a throw, or a warp of fish!
M, 13-F, 14-A.
9-J, 10-L, 11-G, 12-
5-N, 6-I, 7-E, 8-B,
D, 3-C, 4-K,
ANSWERS: 1-H, 2-
IT’S SLIMY! IT’S DISGUSTING! IT’S A HAGFISH!
This slimy eel can tie itself in knots!
Hagfish are the vultures of the sea. They live in the mucky goop that covers the ocean floor, feeding on the bodies of dead fish that sink down from the surface. The way they like to eat the carcasses is truly gross: They crawl inside the body and eat their way out. These primitive fish haven’t changed for over 300 million years. Hagfish are nearly blind, and have three hearts but no jaws, stomach, or bones. They are also called slime eels, and here’s why: When another predator grabs them, they cover themselves with slime—gobs of it. A hagfish can crank out a gallon of the stuff in seconds. Then it ties itself in a knot, which usually lets it slip out of the predator’s grip. Hagfish also use the knot trick to clean off their slime once they’re free. And if that doesn’t do the trick—they sneeze!
REAL MONSTERS?
Meet Oregon’s most famous sea serpents.
Fishermen have been sighting sea serpents off the Oregon coast for more than 100 years. Two of them have become so well known that they have their own names: Colossal Claude and Marvin the Monster.
COLOSSAL CLAUDE
This monster was first seen in 1934 swimming near the mouth of the Columbia River. Eyewitness L.A. Larson described it as “eight feet long, with a big round body, a mean-looking tail, and an evil, snaky head.” Three years later, Claude was spotted again by another person, who described the creature as being a long, tan-colored, hairy monster with a head like a horse. Other fishermen saw Claude, too, but they were reluctant to get too close for fear the beast would flip over their boats. But the schooner Arpo sailed within a few feet and got a good look at the monster as it snatched a big halibut off the boat’s fishing line. According to Captain Chris Anderson, the monster had “glassy eyes, and a head like a camel.” Even odder was the fact that Colossal Claude seemed to be covered in fur.
MARVIN THE MONSTER
When this creature made its first appearance in 1963, it scared the wetsuits off some oil company divers exploring an offshore canyon. Fortunately, the divers were able to film the 15-foot-long monster and show the movie to marine biologists at universities in California, Washington, and Texas. Marvin the Monster has popped up many times since then, and film of him swimming around underwater has been shown on television. But scientists still have no idea what kind of creature Marvin—or Claude, for that matter—might be.
STOP THAT LOBSTER!
It’s not a good idea to eat the claw that saved your wallet…
A LUCKY CATCH
One hot August evening in 2006, Paul Westlake of Milehouse, England, decided to jump into the ocean to cool off. When he got out, Paul realized that he’d lost his wallet somewhere in the water. It was too dark to dive down to find it, so he figured it was gone forever.
A few days later, a local diver spotted a lobster scurrying along the ocean bottom…carrying a wallet in one of its claws. The diver caught the lobster (and the wallet), and went home. That night, over a delicious lobster dinner, he thumbed through the contents of the wallet and found a hair salon appointment card for Paul Westlake. When he called the next day, the hair stylist thought it was a prank. But when the diver brought the wallet by, the salon notified Paul, who was soon reunited with his soggy wallet. Paul never got to thank the diver (he had walked away without identifying himself), and he felt awful when he found out the lobster had been eaten. “I have never eaten a lobster,” he said, “and now I never will.”
RUBBER DUCKIES OVERBOARD!
In 1992 there was a shipping accident that spilled 29,000 rubber ducks and other bath toys into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The little yellow ducks floated on the ocean for almost a year, just going with the flow…until one day a few thousand washed up on the shores of Alaska. Many more continued their journey north through the Bering Straits and were frozen in the Arctic icepack. By 2003—11 years later—these frozen adventurers had finally made their way across the Pole to the North Atlantic and were spotted bobbing merrily off beaches from Maine to Massachusetts.
DAVY JONES’ LOCKER
Uncle John wants to know—who the heck is Davy Jones?
For centuries, when a sailor was drowned at sea, sailors would say, “He’s gone to Davy Jones’ Locker,” meaning he was buried at the bottom of the sea. But where did the phrase come from? The first written reference to Davy Jones was in the 1751 novel The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, where he was described as a real sea devil with saucer-like eyes, three rows of teeth, horns, a tail, and blue smoke coming out of his nose. The 2006 movie Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest presented Davy Jones as an evil mutant mix of human and octopus. But how did he get the name Davy Jones? One theory says “Davy” comes from St. David, the patron saint of sailors, and “Jones” is from Jonah, the Biblical seaman who got swallowed by a whale, and whose name still means bad luck to sailors.
But there’s another legend. According to this story, Davy Jones was a 16th century Welsh innkeeper with a nasty side business: He would get sailors so drunk that they’d pass out. Then he’d stick them in his ale locker (a room used to store barrels of ale) until some friends arrived with a cart to haul the unconscious sailors to the nearest ship that was short a few crewmen. Jones got a tidy fee for each “delivery.” As for the drunken sailor, he’d wake up when the ship was far out to sea, with a headache…and the shock of his life.
HERE BE TREASURE!
Tales of pirate gold, lost and found…
DOUBLE TROUBLE.
Ever dream of finding buried pirate booty? Travel to the Costa Rican island of Cocos and you may get a two-for-one. In 1818, somewhere in the island’s tree-covered hills, Benito “Bloody Sword” Bonito buried a load of Spanish gold worth $300 million. In 1820 another pirate, William Thompson, hijacked the legendary Treasure of Lima (the wealth of more than 50 churches in the Peruvian capital), and stashed it on Cocos. Since then, hundreds of treasure hunters have scoured the island—including President Franklin Roosevelt—but no one has ever found either hoard.
HAPPY ENDING?
Captain “Black Sam” Bellamy’s ship, the Whydah, sank off the coast of New England in 1717. Along with the 143 pirates who drowned was a fortune in gold and silver. Deep-sea diver Barty Clifford searched for 15 years without success, but in 1984 he finally found the ship. So far, more than 100,000 treasure items, including chests of gold and silver doubloons, have been pulled from the wreck of the Whydah. Clifford is certain that most of the treasure is still lost in the sand, waiting to be found.
BATTLE, BARF, AND BULLION
Whale vomit is as rare as gold, and worth a whole lot more!
THE BATTLE
Somewhere down deep in the ocean, two of the world’s largest predators will face each other today in a battle of life and death. On one side is the bull sperm whale—60 feet long, 65 tons, with a mouthful of razo
r-sharp teeth and a nasty attitude. A sperm whale can hold its breath up to two hours while it dives more than a mile below the surface to hunt for its favorite food—the giant squid. The monster squid are as big as the whales that hunt them. With a sharp beak, suckerlined arms, and two whip-like feeding tentacles, a giant squid is no pushover. No one has ever witnessed a fight between these deep-sea behemoths, but battle scars are visible on the whales when they surface—deep gashes from the beaks, and round welts left by the suckers. Sometimes the squid escapes, disappearing behind a cloud of dark ink. If the whale wins, it swallows the squid whole. But the squid gets revenge: Its beak is indigestible, which irritates the whale’s stomach until sooner or later it barfs it out.
THE BARF
For most creatures, that would be the end of the story. But not the sperm whale. The black gooey vomit drifts along the ocean currents, soaking up the sun. Over time it hardens into a sweet-smelling, waxy lump known as ambergris. Or, as sailors have long called it, “floating gold.”