Basking sharks are one of the largest sharks of the world's temperate oceans. Only the mighty whale shark is bigger. Despite a superficial similarity to the fearsome great white shark and a massive jaw one metre wide, basking sharks are actually harmless filter feeders. They use more than 5,000 gill rakers to strain plankton from around 1.5 million litres of water per hour. Basking sharks are born travellers, covering large distances in search of food, at the very leisurely pace of only three miles per hour. There is only one species of basking shark.
The basking shark (Cetorhinus maximus) is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark, and the second of three plankton-eating sharks, the other two being the whale shark and megamouth shark. It is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations to filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged mouth and highly developed gill rakers. The shape of its snout is conical and the gill slits extend around the top and bottom of its head. The gill rakers are dark and bristle-like and are used to catch plankton as water filters through the mouth and over the gills. The basking shark is usually greyish-brown in color with mottled skin. The caudal (tail) fin has a strong lateral keel and a crescent shape. The teeth of the basking shark are very small and numerous and often number one hundred per row. The teeth themselves have a single conical cusp, are curved backwards and are the same on both the upper and lower jaws.
Basking sharks are a migrating species and are believed to overwinter in deep waters. They may occur in either small schools or alone. Small schools in the Bay of Fundy and the Hebrides have been seen swimming nose to tail in circles in what may be a form of mating behavior. Despite their large size and threatening appearance, basking sharks are not aggressive and are harmless to people. It has long been a commercially important fish, as a source of food, shark fin, animal feed, and shark liver oil. Overexploitation has reduced its populations to the point where some have disappeared and others need protection.
Lake Bled is a glacial lake that lies in the municipality of Bled, located in northwestern Slovenia. The picture perfect lake features a small island in the middle which is home to the Assumption of Mary Pilgrimage Church. You can often hear the bell of the church ringing, as it is believed that visiting the church to ring its bell brings good luck. The romantic church is a popular place to have a weeding, as is the nearby Bled Castle. Visitors to Lake Bled can enjoy a walk around the lake, try their hand at fishing, or take a swim in its lovely emerald waters in the summer months. There are also ample opportunities for hiking in the nearby Triglav National Park. The closest airport to Bled is the Airport Joze Pucnik Ljubljana, just outside the city of Kranj.
Victoria Falls, the largest waterfalls in the world, is a destination like no other. The falls are part of the Zambezi river, which forms a border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. At the falls the Zambezi river cascades an amazing 108 meters (360 feet) over a width of 1,708 meters (5,604 feet). The falls were named after Queen Victoria by the European explorer David Livingstone who is thought to be the first European to view the falls. The native name of the falls is Mosi-oa-Tunya which means ‘Smoke that Thunders’.
Victoria falls is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is visited by roughly a million tourists per year. One particularly popular feature of the falls is Devil’s Pool, a pool at the edge of the falls where people can swim and look over the falls without being pulled over by the current due to a natural rock wall that creates the pool. This can only be done from September to December when the river flow is at a safe level. Devil’s Pool is located on the Zambian side of the falls and is accessed from Livingstone Island, while most of the viewing areas of the falls are located on the Zimbabwean side. Visitors can view the falls from both countries, but there are considerable visa charges involved in doing so, on top of the day pass charges each country assesses to visit the falls. Visitors can find accommodations in Livingstone, Zambia, and the town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
The shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) is believed to be the fastest-swimming of all sharks, thought to be capable of attaining bursts of speed of up to 35 kilometres per hour, and famed for making spectacular leaps of up to six metres out of the water. The shortfin makos’ high tail produces maximum thrust to propel the shark rapidly forward, both in extreme bursts of speed, and for sustained, long-distance travel. The shortfin mako also has a heat exchange circulatory system that enables the body to be warmer than surrounding water, and thus maintain a high level of activity. This large, stream-lined shark has a distinctively crescent-shaped caudal fin, a long, conical snout, large black eyes and razor-sharp, blade-like teeth. The upper body is a brilliant metallic blue, while the underside is snow-white, with older, larger specimens tending to be darker with reduced white areas. Juveniles are therefore generally paler than adults, and also differ by possessing a clear black mark on the tip of their snout. The shortfin mako can be distinguished from the only other mako shark, the longfin mako (Isurus paucus), not only by having shorter pectoral fins, but also by the white colouration on the underside of the snout and around the mouth, which is darkly pigmented in the longfin mako.
Given this shark’s relative notoriety, particularly among anglers, surprisingly little is known of its biology. Reproductive knowledge of the solitary shortfin mako is sparse, largely because pregnant females usually abort embryos upon capture, making study difficult. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with embryos being nourished in the uterus by a yolk sac rather than placenta. Once the young have hatched, uterine cannibalism known as oophagy occurs, in which the growing young feed on unfertilised or less-developed eggs. Litters of between 4 and 25 live young are born in the late winter and early spring, after a 15 to 18 month gestation period. This is followed by an initial relatively fast growth rate. Females are believed to rest for 18 months after birth before conceiving again. Females appear to become sexually mature at around 17 to 19 years of age and males mature around 7 to 9 years. The maximum known age of a shortfin mako is 32 years.
The shortfin mako primarily feeds on a wide variety of fishes, such as swordfish, tuna, mackerel, cod, sea bass, and even other sharks, including blue sharks (Prionace glauca), grey sharks (Carcharhinus species) and hammerheads (Sphyrna species). However, squid, sea turtle heads, and a ‘porpoise’ (probably a pelagic dolphin) have also been found in the stomachs of these sharks. This is a wide-ranging shark found in tropical and temperate waters throughout the world’s oceans. In the Western Atlantic, the shortfin mako occurs from the Gulf of Maine to southern Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. In the Eastern Atlantic, the distribution ranges from Norway, down past the British Isles, the Mediterranean, the Ivory Coast and Ghana to South Africa. In the Indo-Pacific, the shortfin mako shark is found from East Africa and the Red Sea to Hawaii, including waters around Pakistan, India, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. In the Eastern Pacific, the range includes waters south of the Aleutian Islands and from Southern California, USA, to Chile. The shortfin mako is usually pelagic, but can sometimes be found close inshore. Although normally occupying surface waters down to around 150 metres, this shark has been recorded at depths of up to 740 metres. There is evidence to suggest that this species migrates seasonally to warmer waters.
Eden National Park
Eden National Park is a mountain resort which exists at 3000 feet above the sea level. Most of the area in the National Park is man – made! It is a great sculpt that point towards the fact that man can re – create the nature and rebuilt the environment. This was exposed in the days of 1971. The resort was a logged area that was covered by the thick blanket of the wild grass. The main aim of building this resort was to restore the nature and its beauty. As soon as the roof of this resort was constructed out of the mountain slope thousands of seedlings of the pine tree was planted. As the pine grew it created high canopies which permitted other trees and plants in their growth. This led to the formation of a secondary forest. At present there are around 100000 pine trees that are prevalent in around 80 hectares of the park. The pine – trees offer a refreshing backdrop to the attraction spots of this National Park.
Firstly you make a friendly relation with the tourist guide present in the premises of the park. The staff of this National Park is very friendly and cordial. They provide us with all what we will need at the time of our trip. As soon as you start your trip to the park you must start with the Shuttle Tour. After this you can go for the mountain trail. We can rather term it as the mountain challenge! You will be provided with a map so that you are not lost from your track. If you will try to go on the supplementary track you will land on the jungle adventure which will be quite tough!
The corridor of your jungle escapade will be grubby but you will come across loads of weird species. After this you will land on the Lola’s garden. In this garden you will come athwart to the beauty of nature and the copious richness of the ecosystem of Davao. You can enjoy your leisure time in the park by strolling at the place you like. You can then take the stopover at the sky riding spot. You will surely enjoy each minute you spend at this place! The very next spot of for you to stopover is the Fishing Village. The tourists are allowed to fish Tilapia and Hito. These varieties of fishes serve as the dish for the local residents in the region. So you can enjoy your trip to England by tripping the Eden National Park. I hope this will be one of your most mesmerized visits through out your life.
Nosy Iranja is a small tropical island located off the Northwestern coast of Madagascar, 45km (28 miles) South of Nosy Be, a slightly larger and more popular island. Nosy Iranja consists of two islands that are connected by a bank of white sand only visible at low tide, but can still be traversed at high tide. Nosy Iranja is emerging as a popular tourist destination in Madagascar due to the idyllic white sand beaches and the excellent diving and snorkeling that can be had there. Visitors also come for the interesting wildlife, including green and hawksbill sea turtles, large coconut crabs, and many varieties of bird life.
Once a backpacker’s secret, Thailand’s Phi Phi islands exploded onto the tourist map after the release of The Beach, a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio that was filmed on one of the islands. Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Lee are located between the island of Phuket and mainland Thailand off the West coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Ko Phi Phi Don is the larger of the two islands and is home to permanent residents and a myriad of accommodations for tourists. Ko Phi Phi Lee has spectacular white sand beaches and can be visited by boat only, with trips leaving from the larger island throughout the day. Visitors can enjoy diving, snorkeling and kayaking in the waters off both islands.
