Snow Monkey!

I haven't posted a random picture in quite a while. I get National Geographic pictures on my google homepage and had to share this with you. It's a cute snow monkey taking a bath in Japan. This monkey looks like a person I've seen somewhere... at school, on tv, or on the street... not sure. Anyway, this thing is so absolutely cute!

Babies being born!!!

I found two articles on Yahoo News that announced the births of two rare animals.

A female giant manta ray was born at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium on Saturday. This is the first manta birth in captivity. According to the Japanese sources, "the baby manta, rolled up like a tube, came sliding out of the mother manta, then quickly spread its fins and began swimming around." Her wing-span was recorded to be 6 feet wide. The baby manta's mother was pregnant for 374 days! Yay for adult and baby rays! See the article here.

The aquarium was featured on a Discovery Channel program and is the second largest in the world. They are probably most popular for their tank with surviving whale sharks. Sounds cool and hopefully I can go someday! I love aquariums... I've been to quite a few around the world.

My favorite is the Maui Ocean Center, not because I'm from there; they have scalloped hammer head sharks, green turtles, and a great array of aquatic life, including amazing corals. They also have a tiger shark! When I saw it coming straight at me through the glass I had a 'sense of impending doom' as they call it in EMS. It wasn't like the others and instilled fear in me immediately. It turned and I recognized it right away. I like sharks so it was an exhilarating scary experience. I also like the Seattle aquarium. The aquarium in Melbourne, VIC, Australia was cool... they have the leafy sea dragon seahorse thing because they're only found off the of western and southern coasts of Oz! Oregon's in Newport is okay, but I usually go when the weather's not the nicest. Honestly though, not my fav. The one in Boston was neat; it was one of the first in it's style. I think the aquarium on Oahu (Waikiki) was designed after Boston. I'm sure I've been to more but I can't think of them...

An endangered turtle, Sacalia bealei, was born at the Tennessee Aquarium. This adorable little reptile is called a "Beal's four-eyed turtle, named for two white spots on the back of its head that look like a pair of eyes, hatched from a clutch of three eggs. The turtle weighed 0.21 ounces and was 1.52 inches long when it hatched June 9." There are only 18 of these turtles in the world. Their population was decimated in their native lands in Asia because they're apparently tasty and have medicinal properties. Read about this little dude here. Look at his little claws and adorable tail! I want one!

I'm a Yap

So, I have an island... it's Yap Island.

It's in the Pacific Ocean, part of Micronesia and just north of West Papua and Palau. I added an asterisk (under the Y) to show you where the island is...



This is the picture that inspired me to do a little more research on my island. It's of a reef scallop that I got from google. It looks so cool. I saw something that looks sort of like this while I was snorkeling off Kangaroo Island, South Australia. I think I saw a sea slug though and it was brighter and had white (ha ha! A patriotic sea slug for former British colonies.) I don't know what I really saw because I get frightened when I snorkel and the current was strong and we were in between canyons of coral (I'm afraid of coral too). Anyway, this thing is neato!



Yap is also known for it's absurdly large, stone money. They probably started with small money and as people got richer, the stones needed to get bigger. I don't know really, but I'm speculating and need to do further research. Here's a pic of a Yapese with three stone monies.



Cool huh? Well, I sure do think so. I just decided that some day, I will visit Yap Island. This is now a part of my list of things to do and near the top. Maybe when I'm rich, I'll bring my dad, mom and brother with me... yeah, I'm dreaming again.

I am tiger, hear me roar!

So this picture is from my google homepage from National Geographic. This was taken in Seoul, Korea. Isn't it interesting? I have no idea where they are in the city... Well, I think it is interesting and wanted to share with you all...

Fuzzy Penguin

I like penguins. I found this picture and had to put it up. They're such amazing creatures... seemingly stupid, but still amazing. I think it's crazy how they live their lives in the harsh conditions of Antarctica. Other than surviving, one of the coolest things penguins do is exiting water. They're such powerful swimmers and literally fly out of water with such force! Anyway, this little one is too cute.

Primate Watering

Hello again. Here's another monkey picture I found. I think I feeling my roots... ha ha. Yeah, I'm a dorky science geek. I think this is funny. When I first saw this picture I thought of this clip that was played on E's The Soup. It was from a Spanish-language television station of a woman spraying her self with water. She was supposedly washing a car but there was no car in the scene. Weird. Anyway, just wanted to share.

A Monkey, an Orange Popsicle, and a Chain

What do you think about this picture?

I see a monkey with creepy eyes and some weird ear curvature that's holding an orange popsicle and chained up. Hmmm.... I got this off Yahoo! News while looking for random pictures.

I am drawn to this picture although it makes me feel oddly weirded out. So many questions...

I guess it reminds me of the orangutans at the Singapore Zoo. They were roaming free in an area built especially for them based on their natural environment. They had blocks of colored ice that had treats frozen in the middle (it was hot and they get two treats in one!). It was fun to see how some just licked the block of ice over and over again, while others tried to bite and rotate, bite, examine and rotate. One smart female threw the iceblock down and broke it on the cemented area of the "cage". That was fun to watch and they all seemed as content as a zoo animal could be.

This monkey, however does not look so happy; in fact, it looks frightened, suspicious and protective of it's treat. Why is it chained up? I just don't understand. If you have something to add, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

My Encounter with Buddy

As my friends and I were walking up the hill in NW Portland to enjoy the sunny day, we came across a man and a tortoise. Buddy was just walking up and down a stretch of grass along side the road and often veering off course into the road. We stopped to chat. Buddy was friendly and allowed me to pet his shell and head! The best part was when he stepped on my foot. They move pretty quick for being "slow" animals. Oh, and he was super duper cute when he ate grass... actually I think that was my favorite part of our visit. I so want one but I know the consequences... they can live for 100+ and grow to be up to 300 pounds! Oh well, we can't get everything we want. So I leave you with a picture of a rare Galapagos tortoise named George.




(from Yahoo! News)