SeaWayBLOG: May 2009

Botos, the amazon river dolphins that shapeshifted into handsome young men

Photograph by Kevin Schafer

The Amazon River Dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), which in Brazil is known as "Boto", is a freshwater river dolphin endemic to the Orinoco, Amazon and Araguaia/Tocantins River systems of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. It is the largest of the river dolphins. The neck vertebrae of the Amazon River Dolphin are not fused together, and therefore the Boto is able to bend its neck in a 90 degree angle to its body, and skillfully hunt fish in the flooded forest.

Photograph by Kevin Schafer

In a traditional Amazon River myth, at night an Amazon River Dolphin becomes a handsome young man who seduces girls, impregnates them, then returns to the river in the morning to become an Amazon River Dolphin again. This dolphin shapeshifter is called an "encantado" and their golden underwater world is called "Encante". This tea-like brew of silt and rotting vegetation make the Botos seem to glow orange underwater while they are actually grey and pink. Their mythical status may have been shielded them from exploitation, however the the growing use of gill nets, which can entrap and quickly kill dolphins, and the always rising exploitation of the Amzon Forest are quickly becoming a rising menace for them.

Photograph by Kevin Schafer

National Geographic Photographer Kevin Schafer has made this wonderful reportage about these amazing and playful animals. Click here to see the whole National Geographic gallery and for any further info.

Photograph by Kevin Schafer

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Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2009

Photo: ©ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

This weekend it has been the time of the Rolex Capri Sailing Week 2009, and as usual I show you a nice gallery by Carlo Borlenghi. Unfortunately also this event has not been blessed by the wind (from this point of view 2009 up till now has been one of the most ungenerous years for sailing...).

However Rolex Capri Sailing Week it's always a great event due to the particular magic of the Neapolitan wonderful little island.
Enjoy the pics and visit REGATTANEWS for all the images from the event.

Photo: ©ROLEX/Carlo Borlenghi

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VOR: the race of Ericsson in Oskar Kihlborg's pictures

© Oskar Kihlborg

It has been four months since my last post about the Volvo Ocean Race (you can see all the previous entries clicking here). In the meanwhile the crews have surpassed the 75% of the course and are currently racing the 7th leg from Boston to Galway. Ericsson 4, the boat helmed by Torben Grael is firmly in the lead of the overall ranking. There is probably no better way to resume what has happened than looking at this very nice gallery by Oskar Kihlborg, Ericsson sailing team official photographer, that summarize some of his best shots from the whole race.

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Dog-O-Matic: would you throw your dog in a washing machine?

Some months ago in a funny post entitled "Four reasons not to bathe your cat" I published some amusing pictures clearly showing how little the felines like to be washed. Dogs seems to like it a little bit more or at least they are much more patient and willing to endure any kind of "torture" for their beloved owners.
Nevertheless, as a great animal lover, I'm quite puzzled if this so called "Dog-O-Matic" is a great idea that can ease the annoying operation of your washing your dog or it's just a "waterboarding" torture for animals... Undoubtedly the sad mug of the imprisoned fellow here above seems to opt clearly for the second hypothesis...

The "Dog-O-Matic", a laundromat-style dog washing machine that can wash your pooch in about a half hour, was designed by a French entrepreneur that insists that the animals don't suffer at all and he is currently planning to start a distribution in Great Britain after the great success that the prototype obtained in his hometown.

It costs the equivalent of £13 to wash a small dog, £22 for medium size, rising to £31 for the largest customers. Cats can also be washed at the small-dog price.

The washing takes half an hour but the biggest part is for the drying

Here is a video of the contraption in action:

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Color, Water, Insects

As you may know if you've already seen this and this post I'm a great fan of macro photography and I'm particularly amazed at insects world and its correlation with water. This time I've chosen five wonderful pictures that give a particularly artistic interpretation of this theme with wonderful saturated pastel colours.
The first, the second and the last one are taken by Leon Baas a dutch artist who is really skilled in this kind of artistic approach to insect macro photography as you can see in his Onexposure webpage. The third picture is by a swedish artist called Istvan Lichner and the fourth is by a nature photographer known as Peaquod. Clicking on the pictures you'll be redirected to their galleries on Flickr and Onexposure. Enjoy this little but really colourful and amazing gallery!: