A Tribe Called K2 Buhl-oog!

From 2003 to 2008, an international research team led by University of Alaska-Fairbanks scientists Natalia Shakhova and Igor Semiletov surveyed the waters of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, which covers more than two million sq km of seafloor in the Arctic Ocean.

"This discovery reveals a large but overlooked source of methane gas escaping from permafrost underwater, rather than on land," the study says. "More widespread emissions could have dramatic effects on global warming."

Earlier studies in Siberia had focused on methane escaping from thawing permafrost on land.

Scientists have long thought the permafrost under the East Siberian Arctic Shelf acted as an impermeable barrier that sealed in methane, a powerful greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

But the research team’s observations showed that the permafrost submerged on the shelf was perforated and leaking large amounts of methane.

More than 80 per cent of the deep water and more than half of the surface water had methane levels about eight times higher than found in normal seawater, according to the study published in the journal Science.

The release of even a fraction of the methane could trigger abrupt climate warming. Current average methane concentrations in the Arctic average about 1.85 parts per million, the highest in 400,000 years, said Dr Shakhova.

Reported by Bjarne Wildau

In Australia, where the danger of the deadly jellyfish is not ignored, beaches known to be infested have signs warning people when to swim and when not to.

The box jelly fish is clear as glass and prefers shallow water with sand bottoms – just like the millions of tourists coming to Thailand every year.

Nine year old Swedish girl Ida was nearly killed in yet another attack of the deadly box jellyfish in Thailand. Only the fast action of a Swedish fire-fighter likewise on vacation in Thailand, saved her life.
The incident took place on Koh Mak near Koh Chang. This is significant, because previously all attacks and deaths by box jellyfish have been in the Andaman sea. With this incident, the Gulf of Siam can obviously no longer be considered box jellyfish free waters.
The ordeal of Ida and her parents are described in detail in an article in Swedish language in Aftonbladet (http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6723047.ab )
The Rosenberg family from Tyringe in the southern part of Sweden had just started their winter vacation in Thailand. Jenny, 36, and her husband Frederick Rosenberg, 35, were out snorkelling in the waters off Koh Mak Island. Their daughter Ida was splashing around in the water closer to the beach. Suddenly the parents heard her screaming in pain.
“We started swimming like mad towards the shore," the mother told Aftonbladet.
When they reached their daughter Ida, she was already unconscious on the beach. The fire fighter Anders Brunzell, 42, was fighting desperately to save her life. Ida’s heart had stopped beating by an allergic shock from the dangerous jellyfish.
The Swedish fire-fighter explains:
“I and my family were sunbathing a bit away. We ran to Ida and saw that her right leg was completely covered with long threads, like glass noodles. There was only one thing to do," says Anders who with his wife Marie began to rip off the tentacles with their bare hands.
Anders, who works as a fire-fighter in Stockholm, began heart massage and mouth-to-mouth first aid. He then ordered staff at the nearby hotel to get vinegar which will stop the tentacles of jellyfish from stinging more. He also borrowed oxygen from the hotels scuba diving school.
“The only problem was that the oxygen mask was made for diving, so it did not work, "says Anders.
But little Ida woke up thanks to the fire-fighter and his professional skills.
Then Ida was carried to a boat which brought her to the mainland, where an ambulance was waiting and brought her to a hospital.

Today, two days after the jellyfish attack, Ida is doing fine under the circumstances. She is conscious again, but is badly burned on the leg and other body parts. Over the next few days, she and her mother Jenny will stay at the hospital in Trat for observation.
“Because she was unconscious for so long, the hospital staff is worried that she has had brain damage. She is a bit groggy and still has a fever. But, everything else seems okay”, says Jenny.
Jenny is grateful for the Thai health care, and for Anders’s rapid action.
"What do you say to a man who has saved the life of one’s daughter? There are no words to describe my emotions. But one thing is clear, were it not for him, Ida had been dead today.”
But she is critical that the hotels did not warn tourists of the dangerous jellyfish, although several people have died earlier.
“No signs, no information. The day after Ida was burnt I was told that people were down there in the water at the same place swimming again. This should not be allowed to go on”.
“On the other hand, I myself have read in the newspaper back in Sweden about similar events in Thailand. But as with everything else one thinks that "it does not happen to me". Stupid really," Jenny admits.

What to do if you are attacked by the jellyfish?
Somchai Bussarawit, Chief of Reference Collection at the PMBC’s Phuket Aquarium, is working with the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Australia to identify the collected specimens. His advice to victims of the jellyfish is:
Any person who has suffered a possible box jellyfish sting should get out of the water as soon as possible, have his or her pulse rate monitored, and undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of heart failure.
* The sting should immediately be treated with vinegar to stop further injection of the toxin, the PMBC advises.
* Do not rub or scratch the site of the sting or apply fresh water or alcohol to it, the PMBC advises.
* Dr Somchai reiterated that there have been no box jellyfish sightings on west coast beaches, where the seawater is generally too saline an environment for box jellies.
However, he advises seaside resorts to keep many bottles of vinegar as a standard part of their first aid kits as it is effective in treating stings from other kinds of less venomous jellyfish.
Not all attacks are deadly
The pdf file in this link informs scientifically and in depth about the life cycle and precautions one should take in relations to the box jellyfish. Some beaches extends nets from the shore into the water which will hold the grown jellyfish out. Click to read the full report: http://scandasia.com/upload_files/cubo_brochure.pdf

By BRITTON BROUN, TOM HUNT and TIM DONOGHUE – The Dominion Post

A day after hundreds fled their seaside homes to escape a tsunami, people have been warned to stay away from the water, with massive earthquake aftershocks possible in Chile and the seas continuing to surge.

DESPERATE DAYS; More than 700 are dead and thousands are without food, homes, electricity or water, days after an earthquake devastated Chile.

The death toll in Chile is also expected to rise, with at least 300 reported dead last night after Saturday’s 8.8-magnitude earthquake, the seventh-largest on record.

The earthquake devastated Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, and generated a tsunami that swept across the Pacific before hitting New Zealand yesterday morning.

It caused tidal surges of close to 1.5 metres in Napier and more than a metre on the Canterbury coast.

Leon Mickelson was fishing for paua at Red Rock Beach in Hawke’s Bay when he was swamped by a metre-high surge of water, followed by two more waves. He had no idea a tsunami alert had been issued.

COSTLY CATCH: Leon Mickelson suffered cuts and bruises when he was swept over rocks as he gathered paua at Waimarama.

“This wall of water just hit me. I was getting tumbled across all the rocks, it was unbelievable. The force was just unstoppable. There was no way you could fight it, you just had to roll with it.”

The water then sucked him 20 metres out into the ocean, bouncing over rocks. “It was like being in a washing machine. It just completely and utterly caught us out.”

Mr Mickelson, 30, managed to swim ashore, and suffered cuts and bruises.

Lower Hutt teacher Joe Nawalaniec was left clinging to rocks near Cape Turnagain in southern Hawke’s Bay when the surge hit.

“The water went milky and turbulent like it was boiling,” he said.

“It’s just a massive big surge of water that starts going up and up and up. You expect it to be a tidal wave but it’s not a wave at all.”

The 45-year-old paua fisherman was aware of the tsunami alerts but thought the wave had passed by.

Diane Ross, from Waikanae Beach Holiday Park in Gisborne, helped evacuate hundreds of people from the beachfront property at 6.45am to a marae on higher ground.

She was stunned by what had happened to Gisborne Harbour while the Turanganui River – which connects the harbour to the open sea – was virtually drained.

“I was blown away by how low the tide was and 15 minutes later it was all back again. The river dropped 1.5 metres in 10 minutes. It was really scary.”

She said the tsunami threat was taken seriously, with the normally crowded beach empty yesterday.

At least 50 other Gisborne locals, and some families up the coast, were moved from their homes until the afternoon.

Interislander ferries had to go through the Northern Passage after Tory Channel was closed. Ferry trips were delayed and trains operating on the coast stopped at the time the first surges hit.

Though the waves ranged from 30cm in Wellington to a metre in Gisborne Harbour and around Akaroa, near Christchurch, they were much more dramatic in the Chatham Islands, where swells of up to three metres were recorded.

Chatham Hotel owner Valentine Croon woke his 40 guests at 5am. “We thought nothing was going to happen, then [Petre] Bay emptied right out at about 8.30am. Everyone took it pretty seriously.”

Civil Defence Minister John Carter said the tsunami warning system worked well, five months after it was heavily criticised in the wake of the Samoan tsunami.

Though the tsunami warning was called off yesterday afternoon, Civil Defence warned people to keep away from the water, with more waves possible today.

Trainer Dawn Brancheau Drowned Before Eyes of Dozens of Shocked Spectators

By LEE FERRAN and RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Feb. 25, 2010

The swing of a ponytail was likely what caused a killer whale in Orlando’s SeaWorld to attack and drown an experienced trainer before the terrified eyes of dozens of bystanders, a SeaWorld official said today.

Chuck Tompkins says Tillikum the killer whale is a good animal, "not depressed."

"What we have found out is that Dawn [Brancheau] had just finished up a very good session with this animal. … She was interacting with him, petting him on the nose," Chuck Tompkins, curator of zoological operations at SeaWorld Orlando, told "Good Morning America." "Dawn had very long hair in a ponytail. That ponytail had swung in front of him. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her underwater and held her underwater."

Eyewitnesses could see clearly through the viewing glass as the 12,000 pound killer whale named Tillikum thrashed Brancheau viciously underwater.

"We thought it was part of the act," said tourist Wayne Gillespie, who was at the killer whale show with his wife and two children. "We thought maybe they were playing together until we realized he was thrashing around pretty hard. That’s how we knew something was wrong."

Within minutes the Shamu Stadium, where the killer whale show takes place, was evacuated. Brancheau was pronounced dead at the scene, Orange County Sheriff’s homicide investigators said Wednesday.

Though it’s the third time Tillikum has been involved in a person’s death, there are reportedly no plans to take the massive animal out of the show.

"We need to evaluate how to do this the right way," Tompkins said. "We need to evaluate our handling procedures and how we interact with him. … I can guarantee we will make any change necessary.

"He’s a good animal," he said.

Brancheau spent 16 years of her life working with killer whales, and Tompkins said she was one of the best.

"We’re a small team of people here. We work very closely together," Tompkins said. "It’s a huge loss."

Tillikum, a male or bull whale, has lived at the park since 1992, and is one of eight killer whales there.

Dan Brown, vice president and general manager of SeaWorld Orlando, said Brancheau was one of the park’s "most experienced trainers."

"It is with great sadness that I report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon," said Brown Wednesday. "We have never, in the history of our parks, experienced an incident like this," he said.

"We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends and of the trainer and will do everything possible to assist them in this difficult time."

This is a pro Japanese slanted article from the Japan  Times, so read with a cynical eye. . .

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20100220a2.html