The weird, wild, and amazing natural world

[Sionnach Glic]

[Lighthawk]

Ha!

[Lighthawk]

Blue holes are giant and sudden drops in underwater elevation that get their name from the dark and foreboding blue tone they exhibit when viewed from above in relationship to surrounding waters. They can be hundreds of feet deep and while divers are able to explore some of them they are largely devoid of oxygen that would support sea life due to poor water circulation - leaving them eerily empty. Some blue holes, however, contain ancient fossil remains that have been discovered, preserved in their depths.

[Tsukiyumi]

Awesome.

[shran]

I wonder, would there be life out there without the need for oxygen?

[Mikey]

Well, someone just posted about the finding of anaerobic (HS-dependent) multicellular organisms, but IIRC it had nothing to do with blue holes.

[Sionnach Glic]

Aye, I posted that a while back. The first multi-cellular organism that could survive in anaerobic conditions.

And, of course, there're millions of micro-organisms that can exist without oxygen.

[Lighthawk]

Red tides are also known as algal blooms - sudden influxes of massive amounts of colored single-cell algae that can convert entire areas of an ocean or beach into a blood red color. While some of these can be relatively harmless, others can be harbingers of deadly toxins that cause the deaths of fish, birds and marine mammals. In some cases, even humans have been harmed by red tides though no human exposure are known to have been fatal.

[Mikey]

I've seen all sorts of pictures, but thankfully I've never personally been in the vicinity of a red tide.

Of course, I have been around a Crimson Tide:

[Sonic Glitch]

I've seen all sorts of pictures, but thankfully I've never personally been in the vicinity of a red tide.

Of course, I have been around a Crimson Tide:

[Lighthawk]

While many see these apparently perfect ice circles as worthy of conspiracy theorizing, scientists generally accept that they are formed by eddies in the water that spin a sizable piece of ice in a circular motion. As a result of this rotation, other pieces of ice and flotsam wear relatively evenly at the edges of the ice until it slowly forms into an essentially ideal circle. Ice circles have been seen with diameters of over 500 feet and can also at times be found in clusters and groups of different sizes.

[Mikey]

eddies in the water

Oh, is he?

[Lighthawk]

eddies in the water

Oh, is he?

Yeah, it's where we toss the smart asses

[Foxfyre]

eddies in the water

Oh, is he?

Yeah, it's where we toss the smart asses

you gonna hop in or do I have to push you?

[Graham Kennedy]

Volcano Lightning, generated by the static created when the particles of ash rub together :