Pete Thomas Outdoors

Video reveals another close call with tiger shark at Bahamas

Another video has surfaced showing a large tiger shark almost biting a scuba diver participating in a group feeding expedition in the Bahamas.

Fast-forward to the 2-minute mark and watch the diver scurry upward, in haste, to avoid an apex predator intent on chomping the bait the diver was holding near his midsection.

Now click on the following link to a video posted in early March, and watch as a different scuba diver yanks his foot from the jaws of a large tiger shark that for a moment seemed to regard the appendage as food.

Upon review, can anyone say with confidence that these types of out-of-the-cage feeding operations are safe for humans and good for sharks? Is an attack imminent in what appears to have become the Wild West of shark diving?

Granted, both videos help to illustrate that sharks are wary, specialized predators, because sharks involved in both close calls did not actually bite anyone.

But large sharks -- like large terrestrial wild animals -- are not friendly toward humans. They're powerful and unpredictable, and luring them in with the promise of food in this manner, and hand-feeding them, is asking for trouble.

Agree or disagree?

It's worth noting that the accompanying video, uploaded by a YouTube user named Robert Frixenhoff, might have been posted to illicit reaction from within the shark-diving community. The footage is from last August and watermarked into the video, on the lower right corner at the 11-second mark, is "Jim Abernethy's Scuba-Adventures.com."

Abernethy, whose dive company is in Florida, is no stranger to controversy. In 2008 one of his clients, Markus Groh, died after being bitten by a shark while diving outside a cage off Florida. In January of 2011, Abernethy was bitten on the arm by a lemon shark at the Bahamas, and air-lifted to a Florida hospital.

If the Bahamas is the Wild West of shark diving, here's hoping the next dramatic video showdown, likewise, does not involve the spilling of blood.

-- Pete Thomas

Dallas Seavey, 25, sets age record in Iditarod sled-dog race

With his dad and grandfather still following in his wake, Dallas Seavey made history Tuesday night by becoming the youngest musher to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome.

Seavey, 25, crossed the finish line before cheering fans on Front Street at 7:28 p.m. local time, completing a grueling 975-mile competition that began March 4.

He finished comfortably ahead of Aliy Zirkle and Ramey Smyth, who were expected to finish second and third, respectively, and beat an age record held by five-time Iditarod champion Rick Swenson, who won his first time out in 1977 at age 27.

Zirkle, 41, who held the lead for much of the past week, posed the only real threat to Seavey after following him out of the White Mountain checkpoint, 80 miles from Nome, with more than an hour to make up.

But she could not gain enough ground in what's billed as "The Last Great Race."

Sled-dog racing is definitely in Seavey's blood. His father Mitch, winner of the 2004 Iditarod, was in seventh place at the time his son crossed the finish line.

Dan Seavey, 74, who finished third in the first Iditarod in 1973, was 53rd out of 55 mushers still in the race.

Defending champion John Baker was in eighth place and four-time champion Lance Mackey was 27th.

On beating his father, Dallas Seavy quipped to the the Alaska Dispatch, "I think he always hoped it would come after he retired."

Smyth, 36, might have contended more closely for the title were it not for a mishap at the start of the race, and illness among some of his dogs late in the contest.

On the first day of the Iditarod, Smyth tumbled from his sled after falling asleep, and spent the next 40 minutes chasing after his team of dogs.

The annual race, which was first staged in 1973, is a tribute to the role sled dogs have played in Alaskan culture and a means of preserving an  historical trade route.

Dallas Seavey poised for historic Iditarod triumph

Barring unforeseen circumstance, Dallas Seavey, a third-generation musher from Willow, Alaska, will become the youngest person to win the historic Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Seavey, 25, who was the first musher into the White Mountain checkpoint, maintained a commanding lead when he pulled out Tuesday morning, and was expected to cross the finish line at about 6 p.m. to complete the historic 975-mile competition.

In the accompanying video, courtesy of the Anchorage Daily News, Seavey talks about his recipe for success on what is often a grueling competition in harsh elements that test the mettle of mushers and their dogs.

 

His closest competitor on Tuesday morning was Aliy Zirkle, but she appeared to have been too far back to mount a significant threat.

Among those Seavey will out-pace are his father, Mitch Seavey, who was in seventh place early Tuesday, and his grandfather, Dan Seavey, who was in 55th place and close to the back of the pack.

Dallas Seavey, after arriving at White Mountain, told the Daily News that becoming the youngest Iditarod champion was his goal all along.

"That's been something I've really been working toward for five years now, and now that it's almost a reality is pretty cool."

Tagged gray whale from Russia stops short of Cabo San Lucas

For a while it seemed as though the remarkable odyssey of a tagged whale from Russia would include a visit to waters off Cabo San Lucas on Baja California's tip.

But Varvara, a Western Pacific gray whale whose cross-ocean journey began at Sakhalin Island off Russia's eastern shore, appears to have stopped short of Land's End by about 60 miles, before turning back to the north.

Her position as of Monday, according to an update issued by Oregon State University's Marine Mammal Institute, was at the northern end of Magdalena Bay (see graphic).

Magdalena Bay is one of a handful of bays or lagoons utilized by about 20,000 Eastern Pacific gray whales for nursing and mating, after a long migration from Arctic feeding waters.

Varvara's journey is the longest and most significant of any tagged whale from the critically endangered Western Pacific gray whale population, because it provides more evidence that at least some of those 130 or so whales are also migrating to Baja California lagoons.

Varvara's trip follows that a year earlier of Flex, a male Western Pacific gray whale who surprised scientists when he crossed the Bering Sea and joined with Eastern Pacific grays during their southbound migration. The tag worn by Flex, however, stopped transmitting off southern Oregon.

Last summer, scientists David Weller and Amanda Bradford presented a paper showing that four Western Pacific gray whales, cataloged as part of a photo-identification study, had turned up in Baja's renowned San Ignacio Lagoon.

Despite this mixing, the Western Pacific population is considered genetically distinct.

-- Pete Thomas

Note from the Marine Mammal Institute: "This research was conducted by A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute in collaboration with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Kronotsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve and the Kamchatka Branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography. The research was contracted through the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with funding from Exxon Neftegas Ltd. and Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd."

Condor Kirk's epic Pacific Crest Trail hike in 3 minutes (video)

Hiking enthusiasts who followed Kolby "Condor" Kirk's 1,700-mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail last fall are sure to appreciate the compilation of images and footage he crammed brilliantly into a short video uploaded last week to popular acclaim.

It shows Condor, a.k.a. The Hike Guy, at various points along the trail, his many expressions helping to illustrate both feelings of satisfaction after completing a long leg, and the toll a hike of this magnitude can exact (Condor lost 90 pounds during the five-month expedition).

 

The adventurer from Bend, Oregon, took up the quest after losing his job and subsequently gained widespread notoriety in hiking circles. He began at the Mexican border and did not quit until he had hiked most of the length of California. Finally, sapped of strength and energy, he wrote on his Facebook page:

"Well, my friends, I have found my northern terminus. After hiking for hours through 18 inches of snow in the Trinity Alps Wilderness, I came to the realization that I have found my limits."

The Pacific Crest Trail runs 2,650 miles between the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada borders.

Stated a  KCET report after Condor's hike came to an end: "While Kirk did not finish, he and many others will tell you that it's not about finishing, but the journey. Congrats, Condor! You're an inspiration to us all!"

Woman survives 365-foot plunge after bungee cord snaps

Would you go bungee jumping after watching the accompanying video? It shows Erin Langworthy's 365-foot plunge over and into Africa's  Zambesi River, after her bungee cord snapped.

 

The Australian tourist suffered extensive bruising and a broken collarbone but described her survival as "a miracle," according to some reports. 

The harrowing incident occurred New Year's Eve after she had taken the bungee leap of faith from the Victoria Falls Bridge.

There may have been enough tension in the cord before it snapped to slow the descent and prevent more serious injuries, or death.

But for Langworthy, 22, the ordeal did not end after a violent landing that made her feel as though "I'd been slapped all over."  The rope was still secured around her legs and it kept getting snagged as she was being pulled through rapids.

She gasped for breaths while repeatedly trying to untangle the cord from rocks. She ultimately swam to the river bank.

"When I was first pulled out of the water, they put me on my back, and so all the water that I’d inhaled meant that I couldn’t breathe," she told Australia's Network Nine television. "So I made them roll me onto my side, and that’s when I started coughing out water and blood."

Langworthy was treated at a clinic before being evacuated to South Africa. She had been with Safari Par Excellence, which had boasted a long safety record.

Gray whale greets scuba divers off Laguna Beach (video)

 

Pacific gray whale sightings have begun to surge off Southern California, just in time for today's official start to the whale-watching season. But marine mammal enthusiasts are still excited about a sighting logged more than a week ago by scuba divers who captured rare underwater footage of a juvenile gray whale off Shaw's Cove in Laguna Beach, Calif. (The video, filmed by Rebecca Ziegler, is posted above).

If you look closely at the footage you can see barnacles and lice—the telltale markings of a gray whale—on the young whale's head.

About 20,000 Pacific gray whales migrate each fall and winter from Arctic feeding grounds to lagoons along Baja California, where calving and nursing occurs.

The whale in the video appeared to have been curious about the bubble-blowing divers. Juvenile gray whales often travel by themselves and can be more adventurous than adult male and pregnant females, who are trying simply to reach the lagoons as quicly as possible.

Alisa Schulman-Janiger, director of the ACS-LA Gray Whale Census and Behavior Project at Point Vicente on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, said this could be a record December in terms of gray whale sightings.

Man wearing jet-wing joins fighter planes over Swiss Alps

It must be exciting to pilot a fighter jet, but imagine strapping a jet-powered wing onto your back and flying alongside the sleek and speedy aircraft.

Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy accomplished this last week above the Swiss Alps, having joined two Albatross fighter jets, in formation, for a brief flight before parachuting with his custom-built wing suit to the ground.

 
The suit the former Swiss fighter pilot  designed weighs about 120 pounds and has a span of about six feet. It's controlled via hand-throttle and can reach speeds in excess of 130 mph. He joined the fighter jets after jumping with his wing from a helicopter.

Rossy, 51, is nicknamed "Jetman" and is the only man to have flown with a jet-powered wing. He first accomplished this in 2006. He first flew over the Swiss Alps in May of 2008. He later flew across the English Channel and last May he soared over the Grand Canyon.

After his brief flights -- they generally last about 10 minutes -- he parachutes with the wing to the ground.

He hopes eventually to be able to achieve the ability to take off and land from the ground.

Teen sailor Laura Dekker safely crosses Indian Ocean

Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, 16, has successfully crossed the Indian Ocean and has made port in Durban, South Africa, her agent announced Monday.

Dekker, whose is on a controversial quest to become the youngest person to sail around the world, had kept her Indian Ocean route a secret because of concerns about piracy. She has been sailing aboard a 38-foot sailboat named Guppy.

Lyall Mercer, Dekker's agent, stated in a news release that the sailor endured periods of harrowing seas during her crossing from Australia to South Africa. "Every sailor knows the Indian Ocean is a dangerous place, but Laura did it in style and this is a credit to her professionalism and ability," Mercer said.

Southern California's Abby Sunderland was rescued from the Indian Ocean in June of 2010 during attempt to become the youngest to solo-circumnavigate the planet in a sailboat.

Australia's Jessica Watson, who completed a non-stop circumnavigation in May of 2010, just days before turning 17, is unofficially the youngest. ("Youngest" records are no longer kept by governing agencies.)

Dekker, who turned 16 during her layover in Darwin, Australia, has now crossed the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. She must still round the Cape of Good Hope and sail to Gibraltar, up the west coast of Africa, to complete her odyssey.

Mobile cage lets divers cruise alongside great white sharks

Lawrence Groth of Shark Diving International has posted a video showing intimately close encounters with great white sharks aboard the company's self-propelled shark cage, which has a pilot  in the back and a photographer up front.

The contraption was designed and built by Groth to help film crews obtain footage f the apex predators in the pristine waters of Guadalupe Island, 165 miles west of Baja California, Mexico.

Though the video is promotional, it also contains amazing white shark footage from arguably the world's top white shark-diving destination. The mobile cage is appropriately named Pelagic Explorer, and as you can see, it puts shooters close enough to capture every detail, and in what seems relative safety.

Now if the cage should break down in the company of great whites? Presumably, Groth has contingency plans.