While KJ and I were searching out interesting ocean facts, we ran into a number of fun items about the ocean. Here are some that we found particularly neat:
- The Gulf Stream, off the East coast of the USA, flows at a rate about 300 times faster than the average flow found in the Amazon river. Fun since this we will be starting off in the Gulf Stream.
- There are enough gold particles floating in the ocean that if you sifted all the ocean water you would end up with 20 million tons of gold. Hmmmm....... KJ, this is called panning ...
- The heart of a blue whale is the size of a Volkswagen Beetle.
- The greatest range of tides is in the Bay of Fundy (between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). Depending on the time of the year the high tide and low tide, in a given day, can range 53 feet!!! That's about a 3 story building.
- The longest bony fish in the world is called an Oarfish (Regalecus Glesne). It is often the source of sea-serpent sightings. It has a horse looking head!
- The deepest verified SCUBA dive was done by Nuno Gomes in the Red Sea. Using SCUBA gear, he descended to 1044 feet! (makes my 148 feet in Truk Lagoon seem silly!)
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So... just how high can that Oar Fish stick that horse shaped head up out of the water? I would not want that peeping in my portholes.
ReplyDelete@jomamma: No one is certain. Very little is known about the Oarfish. Most Oarfish that are found on the surface of the water are either sick and dying or already dead.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, I'm with you, I would not want it coming up and peeping into the boat. But... that would make for a cool picture!
That would be a cool picture, but that would really scare the beejeezus out of you. Right up there with the Karackin.
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