BERBAGI RUANG DENGAN HEWAN LIAR di alam adalah salah satu anugerah terbesar yang ditawarkan oleh kehidupan. Mungkin Anda pernah bertatapan langsung dengan orangutan di Kalimantan, atau mungkin Anda pernah melihat ikan badut dengan lembut merawat telurnya di terumbu karang. Anda mungkin pernah melihat pasukan semut pemotong daun yang sedang mengangkut potongan tanaman kembali ke koloninya, atau mengintip dari balik haluan kapal hanya untuk melihat lumba-lumba.
ASK DIVERS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST what makes for a great dive, and most will agree that a wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) is involved. There is something about the face of an adult wolf-eel staring at you from its den that turns an ordinary dive into a great one. The specific conditions don’t matter. Cold temperatures, terrible visibility, or strong currents are easy to forget when a wolfie — as we call them locally — appears.
It is early June, the onset of winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and an army has just reached its destination. It has marched from the ocean’s depths into the shallows, amassing among the pilings at Blairgowrie Pier in Port Phillip Bay, south of Melbourne, Australia.
As I drove west past Port Alberni on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on my way to a photo shoot, I watched in disbelief as the temperature gauge in my vehicle rose from 64°F (18°C) to 113°F (45°C). I thought something was wrong with my gauge, but a local radio station reported the same temperature. British Columbia had record-high temperatures throughout the province that week in June 2021.
When you think of a billfish, what comes to mind? Perhaps it’s a swordfish, a sailfish, or even the giant marlin from Ernest Hemingway’s classic The Old Man and the Sea. It can be confusing because 12 species are collectively known as billfish: one swordfish, four spearfish, two sailfish, and five marlins.
Her legs move quickly as she scrambles over the sand toward a large coral reef. It’s a bold and risky move, as the expanses of sand between coral patches are full of predators waiting to take advantage of a lone spiny lobster.
In November 2021 I was diving on the HMHS Letitia shipwreck in Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, one of Canada’s Maritime provinces. The British hospital ship, which lies near a gray seal colony, ran aground and sank in 1917 while returning from Liverpool, England, with wounded Canadian soldiers.
Crocodiles are apex predators, and in the wrong place and time, humans are potential prey. There are exceptions, but most of these wonderful and primitive reptiles won’t squander encountering a potential meal. When swimming in any reptile habitat, know who and what you may encounter, or don’t swim at all. The resident American crocodiles at Jardines de la Reina routinely share their waters with snorkelers and divers, but Jen Hayes didn’t feel the same comfort working in Nile crocodile waters in Botswana.
Our group of six researchers back rolled off the vessel near Jupiter, Florida, and began our descent to the sandy bottom nearly 80 feet (24 meters) below. As the wreck became visible, our team streamlined into formation to begin our task: searching for goliath groupers.
Saat Anda terjun ke dalam air yang berwarna hitam seperti malam, ribuan cumi-cumi yang berdenyut mencari pasangan tiba-tiba mengelilingi Anda. Aktivitas kawin terjadi di mana-mana saat beberapa pejantan menyerang satu betina. Kromatofor cumi-cumi yang bersemangat (sel pigmen) memancarkan warna-warni yang mengingatkan kita pada lampu neon di Las Vegas dan membuat kita berada di tengah-tengah pertunjukan cahaya yang hidup dan bergerak. Aksinya begitu hingar-bingar sehingga hewan-hewan tersebut masuk ke dalam peralatan Anda dan memantul di setiap inci tubuh Anda.
