A nature photographer had a shock earlier this month when she set out to photograph a beautiful sunset, and instead stumbled across a large alligator in the process of devouring a smaller one. The encounter happened on March 6 at Orlando Wetlands Park, which is a popular destination for hiking, birding, and photography.
According to the Miami Herald, D’Angelo was waiting for the perfect moment to capture a landscape shot when she heard a huge splash behind her.
“Turning around I saw an alligator with something dark in his mouth,” she said. “I’ve got pictures of alligators eating ducks, so that was my first thought. Being a wildlife photographer for seven years brought the camera to my eye. I just started shooting.”
D’Angelo shared her work on a Facebook group dedicated to the park, asking whether the smaller creature may be a tegu lizard, but other members confirmed that it was indeed a smaller gator.
“He was snapping his prey’s neck with the first slam. The others were to crush bones and pulverize it. All like snap, snap, crack!” said D’Angelo.
Although shocking to witness first-hand, alligator cannibalism is quite common. In August 2018, another wildlife photographer came across a similar scene in a marsh near coastal Texas. As Live Science reported at the time, Brad Streets initially spotted what appeared to be entrails floating in the water near a large gator. Upon closer inspection, he realized there was a smaller animal within its jaws.
“The larger males, they’re opportunistic. They see a smaller alligator – it’s a nice snack for them,” research biologist James Nifong said. “It usually happens with larger adult males that have established a certain territory. During mating season, when subordinate males come along, they fight – and the winner eats the loser.”
Alligator safety
Alligator attacks on humans are very rare, and you can avoid a close encounter by taking some simple precautions. Watch out for clues like large indentations in the mud where the animals have been resting beside lakes and rivers. You may also spot smears of mud where an alligator has slid into the water.
You may also hear an alligator before you see it, particularly during mating season in the late spring when the males are especially vocal.
If you are in the Florida Everglades or other alligator territory, only hike during daylight hours and swim in designated areas. Keep dogs away from the shores, as a gator might see your pet as a potential snack.
If an alligator does take an interest and begin to charge, your best course of action is to run away. The animals can move at a brisk 11mph, but not for long, and tend to zig-zag rather than running straight. For more advice, see our guide what to do if you see an alligator in Florida.
Antarctica’s Cape Crozier is not somewhere tourists or even scientists usually go. To protect one of Earth’s largest Adélie penguin colonies, the area requires special permission to visit.
Some estimates have put as many as 600,000 of these 10-pound, flightless birds gathering on this desolate coast, with Mount Terror looming in the sky above.
And yet, earlier this winter, on a National Geographic tourist expedition, photographer Jeff Mauritzen captured images of one penguin unlike any other—a paleanimal that appeared as if some of its black feathers had been stripped of their color.
“Yes, it’s an isabelline, or leucistic, penguin,” confirms P. Dee Boersma, a penguin expert at the University of Washington in Seattle, by email.
“The penguin looks washed out or like it was bleached. It is a genetic mutation,” says Boersma, a National Geographic Explorer.
Unlike albinism, which occurs when a person or animal’s body produces no melanin, or pigment, leucism happens when those pigments are prevented from being distributed to all the body parts. Leucistic and isabelline are sometimes used interchangeably to describe the pale brown or blonde coloration of penguins with this condition.
Surprisingly, this is not Mauritzen’s first rodeo when it comes to leucistic penguins.
“I’ve seen millions of penguins,” says Mauritzen, who leads National Geographic photography tours. “But I’ve seen two of these now.” (See pictures of other unusually colored animals.)
In 2019, Mauritzen photographed a leucistic king penguin on South Georgia Island, which is 1,200 miles from the tip of South America.
The most oddly colored species
Leucistic penguins are rare, but not unheard of. In fact, penguins with this condition have been identified in a number of species, including chinstrap, rockhopper, and macaroni penguins. (Read: “Rare pale-colored penguin and seals spotted on remote island.”)
What’s more, a 2000 study revealed that some penguin species are more likely to display leucism than others.
“Adélie penguins were among the most common,” says Boersma, who has also witnessed leucism in this species.
In all, gentoo penguins were most likely to be leucistic, with an occurrence rate of one in 20,000. Adélies were next, with one in 114,000 animals showing leucistic traits, while chinstraps came in third at one out of every 146,000 birds.
So far as scientists can tell, penguins with leucism live normal lives, and are neither shunned by their peers nor targeted by predators at higher rates. (Read: “Yellow penguin spotted in Antarctica—here’s why it’s so rare.”)
“Nature is just continuously surprising us,” says Mauritzen.
“For somebody like myself, who’s been to many, many places and had many amazing wildlife encounters, seeing something like that still is just so exciting and astonishing.”
FREMONT, CA — Viji Chary loves this photo of her daughter chewing on a magazine titled Better Nutrition! Her daughter was 10 months old at the time.
Thank you for sharing your photo, Viji!
If you have an awesome photo of nature, breath-taking scenery, kids caught being kids, a pet doing something funny, or something unusual you happen to catch with your camera, we’d love to feature it on Patch.
We’re looking for high-resolution images that reflect the beauty and fun that is Northern California, and that show off your unique talents.
Artwork in the desert? Let’s discover “Land Art”, art that blends with nature
Land art is a contemporary art form that is characterized by the artist’s direct intervention on the natural terrain. The exhibition “Forever Is Now” organized annually at the Great Pyramids of Giza and the surrounding plateau in Egypt represents a unique example of how land art can enhance and interact with its surroundings. Through the use of natural materials and interaction with the environment, artists have created striking works that become an integral part of the natural landscape. In this article we will explore the exhibition “Forever Is Now” and its ability to combine art and nature into a unique and evocative experience.
Where are the Best Bluebonnet fields near me? Moms are asking!
Spring is here and that means the beautiful bluebonnets are starting to pop up all over town. We often hear from local Moms that they’re looking for where to see bluebonnets nearby.
We all want that perfect photo of our kids in a bluebonnet flower field but sometimes they can be hard to find.
The Bluebonnet Flower is the State Flower of Texas and is actually purple in color. The bluebonnet has been the state’s flower since 1901.
They were given their name because the shape of the petals resembles the bonnets worn by the pioneer women.
Bold colors are beautiful choices for bluebonnet sessions – including shades of blue, as well as the more subdued vintage style of clothing, denim, simple sundresses, straw hats, etc.
Don’t wear white against a backdrop of bright blue flowers, as it can cast a blue shade onto your outfits. Also, do not overdress as if you’re heading to church. Casual and comfortable work really well.
Our Top Tips to get the most out of your visit to find Bluebonnets
As with any bluebonnet area, please be careful as bees are usually very attracted to these flowers.
Also, snakes love to burrow in the flower patches so be VERY careful with your little ones! It’s best to pick a spot on the outside of the bluebonnets!
Many people say it is illegal to pick the bluebonnets.
It’s not but to let everyone enjoy them, leave them be and try not to stand on them to get that perfect photo.
These flowers are native to Texas and have a very light fragrance.
Teach your kids to leave the area as you found it, so others may enjoy it.
Here’s a Top Tip!
When my kids were younger I used to bring a stool or chair to sit on.
Have the kids wear their rain boots too so they wouldn’t be too muddy.
With boots on, we didn’t have to worry about them stepping on bees
Also, don’t forget a towel to dry their feet or even use to sit on!
Here are some of the best places to find Bluebonnets near by in Plano
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Bluebonnets at the NE intersection of Spring Creek Parkway and Custer Road: (Behind the 7-11)
Right on the Bluebonnet Trail.
The field behind the 7-11 has had some great patches of bluebonnets for the last several years now.
Just off 423, it’s a huge sloping hill with plenty of bluebonnets for a wide shot filled with flowers.
This greenbelt land now has a “no tresspassing sign” so please respect that, as it is private property. You can see the bluebonnets from inside the Zion Cemetery during opening times.
For this reason, this spot may not be the best one to go to for photos inside the fields themselves.
Warren Park’s Freedom Meadow
Address: 7599 Eldorado Pkwy. Frisco, Texas 75034
In 2017, this area was seeded with native bluebonnets plants with the help of the Frisco Garden Club.
The Frisco Fire Department keeps this area well-watered, which results in reliable bluebonnets every year. The native wildflowers are not only beautiful but serve as bee and butterfly habitats.
It is also a memorial paying tribute to the lives lost in the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Allen – Bethany/Alma (in the median)
Know before you go
These can be great bluebonnets but they are in the median of a very busy road! Please be careful!
Heard Museum – McKinney
Address: 1 Nature Pl, McKinney, TX 75069
There is a charge to enter the Museum. Call them before you go to ensure they have Bluebonnets in bloom.
Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center in Denton
Address: 3310 Collins Rd, Denton, TX 76208
A great place not only for bluebonnets but other wildflower pictures and hiking to add to the fun.
McKinnish Park and Sports Complex and the Mary Heads Carter Park both typically have nice patches of bluebonnets. These are both in/near pretty populated areas so once they start sprouting, people will find them and they won’t be as pretty.
Driving to nearby Flower Mound or to Fort Worth (Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge usually have nice blooms as does the Botanical Research Institute of Texas) will probably help you snag some better pictures.
Mary Heads Carter Park, Carrollton
Be quick to get to this one, as it’s in a very built-up area, and is well known so it could get spoiled with heavy foot traffic.
MMcInnish Park & Sports Complex, Carrollton
Head there to find thick bluebonnet fields among its 220 acres.
Trinity River Audubon Center in Dallas
Another great hiking location with trails to discover all sorts of animals, as well as picture ops.
George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
15 acres of land right off SMU Boulevard in the Downtown Dallas area. A huge bluebonnet field and beautiful wildflowers too.
The Grapevine Texan Trail
Take the Southbound Texas State Highway 121 and the Texan Trail exit.
Bluebonnets have been sighted in years past in the fields north of the frontage road, on the right before Main Street.
Relatively safe and easy to access. This is a popular bluebonnet photo location in the metroplex.
Cedar Hill State Park in Cedar Hill
Although there is a small fee for entering this state park, it is well worth it to capture some lovely shots of our state flower.
Entrance Fees: Per person (children 12 and under are not charged) – $7 per day, for day use, $5 per day for overnight stays. The park gate opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 10 p.m.
Fort Worth Nature Center in Fort Worth, TX
$5 for adults and $2 for children for admission to the center. Bluebonnets are not as prolific at the nature center as they are in some other areas, but a visit to the nature center can make the photo session more fun.
There are plenty of bluebonnets within the park, but for a unique picture check out the fields near Penn Family Farm. Windmills and old barns make great backgrounds.
If you want a day trip from Dallas, driving out to Decatur will take you along some nice country roads and you might find a more unspoiled patch. Decatur is about 60 miles northwest of Fort Worth on I-35 W.
This would be a fun day trip – about a 45 minute drive from Plano, TX.
Every year the Ellis Bluebonnet Festival from April 14-16, 2023 and have been known to have the BEST place to take pictures!
This is a HUGE arts & crafts festival with loads of family entertainment, activities, music, food, and more. And it’s all FREE admission!
This is the official Texas Bluebonnet Trail and is so very pretty. This year, they’re celebrating 70 Years of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails. Their estimated peak is 2nd-3rd week in April.
Ennis was designated by the 1997 State Legislature as the home of the Official Texas Bluebonnet Trail and was designated the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas.
From April 1-30, Ennis showcases over 40 miles of mapped driving Bluebonnet Trails sponsored by the Ennis Garden Club.
Visitors will be able to pick up a map at the Ennis Welcome Center, download a map or download the free Ennis Y’all app and follow the interactive bluebonnet map, or watch a video at the Ennis Welcome Center regarding the trails in April.
Top Tip: You may find some local lakes that have Bluebonnets too, including Lake Lewisville, Grapevine, Joe Pool, Ray Roberts and Lake Ray Hubbard as well as sites closer to Central Texas, including San Antonio and further south in Big Bend, Texas.
Looking for a Photographer for your Bluebonnet Photos?
These are our favorite local Photographers, who have all been highly recommended by local Moms.
Our Directory also has 55 Local Photographers, some of which will be hosting Bluebonnet Mini’s!
What other places can we add to our list?
Related Links
Why not explore more of Plano? Find out about more about the City.
AUBURN — Many of artists featured in “Made in NY 2023,” which opens March 25 at the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, have been inspired by nature.
For some, such as Maureen Church, of Rochester, the goal with her piece “Erie Canal at Dusk” is to capture the beauty around them.
“These paintings are part of a series based on my recent plein air landscape works,” Church said in her artist’s statement. “I use rich colors and wild brushwork to represent the beauty I see in nature.”
Other artists focus on a particular aspect of nature. Henry J. Drexler, of Norwich, still lives near the dairy farm where he grew up. His artwork “Bovine Madness XXXV” begins with images of cows that he manipulates to eliminate depth.
“Whether painted in black and white or fanciful hues, I strive for playful, abstract works of bovine madness,” he said.
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Artist Joyce Hertzson, of Pittsford, actually uses bits of nature in creating her artwork “After the (F)fall,” printing leaves and branches on rag paper.
“The finished print is always full of surprises,” she said in her artist’s statement. “Even using the same set of elements and process, I am never guaranteed the same outcome.”
Other artists use their creations to warn of humans’ abuse of nature. Saranac Lake artist Barry Lobdell’s photograph “Chevron Sky” was taken Nov. 6, when the temperature reached 70 degrees.
“Not a normal temperature for Saranac Lake in November,” he said.
While the weather made for a beautiful photo, he asked: “Is this beauty only skin deep, hiding within it the danger which is inherent in our unnaturally warming planet?”
Bill Hastings, of Ithaca, is a naturalist and gardener who is acutely aware of humans’ impact on nature.
“Every action has an impact,” he said. So with his piece “Sway,” he does his part to reduce, reuse and recycle by “utilizing a ubiquitous material that seems unavoidable in contemporary culture: plastics.”
Concern for the environment led Cyndy Barbone, of Greenwich, to alter her art-making material for her work “Our Rights Are Protected in New York State.” Conscious of the growing water crisis, she decided to stop dyeing her yarn.
“I have replaced color with white or natural by using varying thicknesses of linen to explore how transparency and density in weave structure can convey images, thereby eliminating the vast amount of water used in dyeing,” she said in her artist’s statement. “The illusion of light in the resulting work is a powerful metaphor for the human spirit.”
A total of 320 artists submitted 480 entries for this year’s “Made in NY” exhibition. Jurors Gary Sczerbaniewicz, Theda Sandiford and Kevin Larmon selected 81 pieces from 79 artists for the show, which will run Saturday, March 25, through Sunday, May 28, at the Schweinfurth. The free opening reception will be 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and prize winners will be announced at 6 p.m.
Cayuga County-area artists in the show include Mnetha Warren, of Aurora (“Wonder Bread,” 2022), Denise Moody, of Skaneateles (“Her Trunk,” 2023) and Donalee Wesley, of Marcellus (“The Revelation,” 2023).
The exhibition is funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The exhibition will open along with two others at the Auburn gallery: “Triggered, Truth & Transformation” exhibition by New Jersey artist Theda Sandiford and “Positive, Negative, Shallow, and Deep,” by Oswego artist Tyrone Johnson-Neuland. (Editor’s note: Each exhibition will be featured in an upcoming edition of The Citizen’s entertainment guide, Go, and on auburnpub.com.)
Maria Welych is marketing director for the Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, a multi-arts center that opened in 1981 thanks to a bequest from Auburn-born architect Julius Schweinfurth. The center’s programs include more than a dozen exhibitions each year and educational programs for children and adults, which feature local, national and international artists. For more information, call (315) 255-1553 or visit schweinfurthartcenter.org.
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In an expansive and high-ceilinged auditorium in the Silver Spring Civic Center, a small collection of images hung unobtrusively on the wall in a front corner of the room.
Kevin Lukusa at Sligo Creek Trail in Takoma Park (Benjamin Israel/Taking Nature Black & U.S. Forest Service)
The images came from a project called “Belonging: The Black Americans in Nature Photography Project.” The project, released along with an accompanying ebook last spring, aims to increase Black representation in nature imagery and help reclaim Black narratives in natural spaces.
Despite the exhibit’s small place in the auditorium’s corner, the pictures—and their theme—took center stage on March 10, the in-person day of Nature Forward’s four-day “Taking Nature Black” conference.
“This conference, and all of you, are reigniting an appreciation for the land and a deep love for each other [and] our communities, to create places where we unapologetically know we belong,” said Jalonne White-Newsome, Senior Director for Environmental Justice at the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
Queen Shabazz and Melchisedek Messiah Shabazz at Forest Hill Park in Richmond, Virginia (Benjamin Israel/Taking Nature Black & U.S. Forest Service)
White-Newsome served as the keynote speaker during the in-person part of the conference. She joined a packed lineup of in-person and virtual conference speakers that included federal environmental officials alongside local grassroots activists, scientists and artists. Many of the event’s local speakers and panelists also appear in the “Belonging” pictures.
The “Belonging” project, created through a collaboration between Taking Nature Black and the U.S. Forest Service, shows off natural spaces in the DMV region. Participants could choose where they wanted to have photos taken.
Kayla Benjamin covers climate change & environmental justice for the Informer as a full-time reporter through the Report for America program. Prior to her time here, she worked at Washingtonian Magazine…
More by Kayla Benjamin
YOUNTVILLE — The exhibition of entries in the first Photo Finale, part of the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration, is on display at the Jessup Cellars Gallery in Yountville through March 31.
The open invitation photography competition is the brainchild of Napa Valley photographer MJ Schaer, who started working on the idea in September 2022. Schaer said his goal was “to attract professional and amateur photographers throughout the wine country to break out their cameras and capture that one-of-a-kind image.”
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Schaer, who served director as well as founder for the inaugural photo competition, said he was pleased with the response, which brought in 72 submissions from 44 photographers, all studies of the wild mustard plant that blooms in profusion throughout the valley and serves as a cover crop in vineyards during the winter.
The show opened at Jessup on March 4. It “celebrates nature’s unmatched ‘yellow gold’ beauty and (the) splendor of the winter mustard bloom that blankets Napa Valley’s landscape and vineyards, up and down the valley from December through March,” Schaer said.
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Photographers had four categories from which to choose: landscape; people/pets; innovative and food and wine.
Judging from the winners, dogs proved to be a popular choice for subjects appreciating mustard.
Schaer said the first, second, third and honorable mentions ribbons have been awarded to the top four photographs in each of the 2023 categories.
— First place: Dean Busquaert
— Second place: MJ Schaer
— Third place: Nancy Hernandez
— Honorable Mention: Jena Kaeppeli
— First place: Kennedy Schultz
— Second place: Lyra Nerona
— Third place: Marilyn Ferrante
— Honorable Mention: Ronda Schaer
— First place: Francine Marie
— Second place: Katherine Zimmer
— Third place: Francine Marie
— Honorable Mention: Hilary Brodey
There were no entries in the food and wine category this year, Schaer said.
Voting for Peoples’ Choice is open until March 29 in the Gallery at Jessup Cellars, Schaer said. The Peoples’ Choice award will be announced on March 30 at the closing reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The show “has been a big success,” Schaer said. “Plans for 2024 are already in the works.
“I am so pleased with the entry submissions by professional and amateur photographers,” he said. “The unique facility at Jessup Cellars Gallery gives the exhibition a true wine country setting and experience.
“This year, Nature’s Mustard Plant is getting the recognition throughout Napa Valley that it deserves.”
Artist Jessel Miller, owner of the Jessel Gallery in Napa, led the effort to re-establish a winter celebration of mustard after the demise of the Napa Valley Mustard Festival in 2010. The idea took off this year, inspiring everything from mustard infused menus at restaurants to mustard treatments at local spas, as well as mustard-inspired art.
A complete list of Mustard Celebration activities can be found on the website, www.napavalleymustardcelebration.com.
Photo Finale 2023 exhibition at Jessup Cellars Gallery, 6740 Washington Street, Yountville, is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily. The photographs are available for purchase. For more information, visit the photo-finale.com
Photos: Mustard in the vinevards of Napa Valley
Mustard
Recent rains and mild weather have resulted in the much anticipated splash of color in the Napa Valley. Mustard is seen in this vineyard along Los Carneros Avenue, south of Napa, on Thursday morning.
Register file photo
Darms Land Mustard
A tree stands sentinel over rows of grape vines and mustard on Darms Lane on Tuesday afternoon.
Register file photo
Hillside Mustard
Mustard blooms in a hillside vineyard along Thompson Avenue during a storm on Monday afternoon.
Register file photo
Mustard
Mustard adds a touch of color to this vineyard along Orchard Avenue in north Napa.
Register file photo
Calm Before the Storm
Mustard has already popped up in some vineyards, such as this one on Old Sonoma Road. Rain is expected to move into the Napa Valley over the next few days.
Register file photo
Mustard and Barn
Mustard blooms along Milton Road in Carneros on Friday afternoon.
Register file photo
Mustard
A carpet of mustard grows betweens rows of dormant grape vines along Rutherford Road on Wednesday afternoon.
Register file photo
Blooming Mustard
Mustard blooms among rows of vines along Highway 29 north of Yountville.
Register file photo
Mustard and Trees
Flowering trees provide a brilliant backdrop for a mustard-covered vineyard along Silverado Trail near Glass Mountain Road in St. Helena on Monday afternoon.
Register file photo
Mustard
Mustard along the Napa River Trail near Napa Valley College.
Register file photo
Mustard and Fog
Mustard blooms among rows of vines along Highway 29 north of Yountville.
Register file photo
Mustard in the vinevards of Napa Valley
Star Vineyard, Rutherford
Contributed by William May
Check out Napa Valley’s 2021 mustard bloom. The yellow flower has carpeted the valley.
Jennifer Huffman, Register
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Photo Illustration by Kelly Caminero / The Daily Beast / Alamy
A controversy is raging within the small but fiercely passionate world of ichthyology (the study of fishes). Depending on who you talk to, either a rare deep-sea shark washed up on the shores of Greece’s Anafi Island in 2020, and marked the first-ever recording of a goblin shark sighting in the Mediterranean Sea; or, some scientists faked the whole discovery using a plastic toy and duped the whole world with some trickery that’s not much more advanced than a simple social media prank.
The fight stems from a paper published in the journal Mediterranean Marine Science last May, which detailed a goblin shark specimen that a citizen scientist stumbled upon while walking along the Greek beach. The paper, authored by three marine biologists from three different universities (two in Greece and one in Scotland), included a photo taken by a citizen scientist depicting an unusually small, gray-blue and remarkably well-preserved goblin shark. It was an incredible finding—the kind scientists pray might fall into their lap during the course of their careers.
And for some, it was too good to be true. The photo rang alarm bells for some marine scientists almost immediately after it was published.
Why These Ocean Pics Are Both Stunning and Terrifying
“It looks like a very common toy,” Vicky Vásquez, a shark expert at the Pacific Shark Research Center in Monterey, California, told The Daily Beast. In the ensuing kerfuffle, Twitter sleuths pointed out that the shark in the image bore an uncanny resemblance to a goblin shark model manufactured by Italian toymakers DeAgostini, right down to the seam on the side of the mouth.
Marine biologists across the globe have been pushed into picking sides—some who are highly skeptical the goblin fish specimen is the real deal, and some who still maintain that the specimen could be genuine. The authors stand by their work, going as far as to write an extra defense of the paper, published last week, that pushes back aggressively on the idea they published a toy model in a peer-reviewed journal and passed it off as scientific evidence. (The authors did not respond to The Daily Beast’s requests for an interview.)
It is hard to believe a single study—and really, a single photograph—has elicited so much sniping in the last year between scientists, a community that’s often portrayed as level-headed, sometimes to the point of dullness. But the stakes of the new fight are high, in part because of the nature of the goblin shark itself, and in part because the age of disinformation has spurred researchers into a more combative state to scrub away false information as fast as possible, before it has a chance to take hold.
Rare as Gold
Goblin sharks, the common name for Mitsukurina owstoni, are a reclusive and somewhat mysterious species. They make their home in the deep ocean, as far down as 1,300 meters (4,300 feet), where light is scarce and the pressure is strong enough to snap human bones. There, they mostly feed on fish, squids and crustaceans, which they snatch up with their razor-sharp retractable jaws.
Fewer than fifty goblin sharks have been scientifically documented, though they occasionally turn up as bycatch in commercial fishing nets. Their range includes the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. But scientists really have no idea where they breed or how long they live.
The new study reports that the goblin shark photo was taken on August 25, 2020, “found by a citizen on Klisidi beach of Anafi Island,” credited to Giannis Papadakis. The paper does not specify who Papadakis is, or whether he is the one who first found the specimen on the beach. (As mentioned, the authors did not respond to questions from The Daily Beast.)
A photo of the goblin shark in question, published in Mediterranean Marine Science in May 2022.
Giannis Papadakis
Nevertheless, finding a genuine juvenile goblin shark in the Mediterranean would signal a significant range extension for these benthic behemoths and could even provide tantalizing clues as to where they breed. That is, if the find is real.
Jürgen Pollerspöck has doubts.
An independent shark researcher based in Germany, Pollerspöck has seen a plethora of deceased sharks over the course of his career. He came across the paper on the Anafi Island goblin shark last July, and added the article to an online shark, ray and chimera research database he helps curate. He more or less forgot about it until a couple of months later, when he finally had time to sit down and read it.
Something about the discovery struck Pollerspöck as… fishy. “After reading the article in detail, I had doubts about the record,” he told The Daily Beast in an email.
Head of a goblin shark on display at a muesum in Australia.
Dianne Bray / Museum Victoria
Pollerspöck, along with three other shark experts, decided to write into the journal detailing their concerns. Mediterranean Marine Science published their comments last week.
In those comments, the researchers point out that the shark-in-question only appeared to have four gill slits, even though goblin sharks have five. Its jaw was fully protruded in hunting position, rather than relaxed, despite lacking visible teeth. And its nose had a weird downward droop unlike most goblin sharks’ characteristically stiff, straight snout.
But the biggest red flag they found was that the picture lacked any measurement scale. The authors only vaguely listed the specimen as “not exceed[ing] 80 cm (2.5 feet) in total length,” which would make it the smallest goblin shark on record. Goblin sharks regularly grow to lengths of 2.5 meters (8.5 feet).
“Fishing in the Mediterranean has a long tradition,” Pollerspöck said. “It would be a surprise if such a large animal had remained undiscovered until today.”
The original authors didn’t relent in the face of Pollerspöck and his co-author’s comments—instead, they doubled down, writing a rebuttal (also published in the same journal) that defended the findings. The authors provided new clarifications meant to address some of the issues, including a more precise measurement of 17-20 cm (just over half a foot) long, and an assertion that the specimen was unusually small because it was embryonic. They chalked the weird nose and teeth up to individual variation, and blamed the extended jaw on stress before death. The gill slits, they insisted, were all there if you zoomed in.
“The fact that they had a rebuttal is what really, really got me hooked,” said Vásquez. “I thought it was just gonna get very quickly retracted.” In most cases of academic fraud or mistaken identity, the journal pulls the questionable paper soon after well-qualified experts raise concerns. This is what happened in a famous case of fish fraud from the late 1990s, when someone tried to pass a poorly photoshopped picture of a coelacanth off as a new species. In this case, however, Mediterranean Marine Science has let the paper stand. (The journal did not respond to requests for comment.)
Others were also critical of the rebuttal, especially that it was an embryonic specimen. “I don’t think that argument holds a lot of water,” Chip Cotton, a marine biologist at SUNY Cobleskill in New York who specializes in deepwater sharks, told The Daily Beast. He explained that it’s rare for an embryonic shark to wash up on beaches intact; they’re much more likely to get eaten by hungry marine scavengers, especially in the deep sea. Cotton suspects that such a tender morsel would almost certainly be gobbled up before it came anywhere near the shoreline. “The odds are just astronomical,” he told the Daily Beast.
When Cotton first saw the photo, he suspected it might be a cat shark with a fake snout photoshopped onto its face. However, he’s since come around to thinking that the specimen is probably a toy spruced up with some color editing. Likewise, Vásquez believes that the specimen in the photo is way too rigid to be a real deep-shark, whose skulls stay hard but whose bodies and fins tend to become flabby and flaccid on land.
Inside the Controversial Claim Rocking the Weather World
Playing Defense
Not everyone is convinced the shark is plastic. “When I first looked at it, I thought it was odd. But the more I look at it, the more I think it’s an actual specimen,” Glenn Parsons, a marine biologist at the University of Mississippi who helped describe the first documented goblin shark in the Gulf of Mexico two decades ago, told The Daily Beast. He cites the fine white edging on the shark’s fins, which is characteristic of late-term embryos in many shark species.
However, if the shark is a model, those white tips could be the result of plastic degradation and sun bleaching, according to reporting by Gizmodo. Still, it’s hard to tell from a single mid-quality photo. “You really can’t prove it unless you have it in your hands,” Parsons told the Daily Beast.
Perhaps the biggest worry among scientists isn’t really the fact that the photograph itself might be fake, but the consequences downstream. Phony range extension data might seem harmless, but it can have sweeping consequences. “It can certainly throw off the science,” biogeographer Alexa Fredston of the University of California, Santa Cruz told the Daily Beast. This can influence everything from government funding to ecological models to how (or whether) conservation policy gets enacted.
Fredston also worries that the dust-up could scare researchers off of crowd-sourced data. Thousands of species have been successfully documented or rediscovered thanks to the efforts of citizen scientists, while peer-reviewed mix-ups involving such data remain rare, she said. “I really hope it doesn’t prevent people from engaging with citizen science.”
But even if the shark is fake, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a case of intentional fraud. Vásquez and Cotton believe it’s possible that the authors simply got overexcited about what would have honestly been a pretty cool discovery, and didn’t do their due diligence in following up. Or, they said, it could be that, as early-career scientists, they felt enormous pressure to publish something in an academic journal, like a great white that has to keep moving to survive. Pollerspöck himself assumes good intentions—if sloppy science—on the part of the original paper’s authors until proven otherwise.
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Victoria Newhouse wasn’t planning to write a book about parks.
The Manhattan-based architectural historian and author of Parks of the 21st Century: Reinvented Landscapes, Reclaimed Territories (Rizzoli),came to it by chance when she was asked by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to write a monograph on their eponymous Cultural Center and park in Athens, designed by Renzo Piano. “One part of it was a desert garden,” she says. “I’m not a landscape architect, I’ve never given much thought to it, but I was fascinated when I learned what a boon is taking place in parks around the world. Nature played such an important role over the pandemic,” Newhouse continues. “And parks were a godsend.”
Humans need nature now more than ever. In fact, the desire to spend time in nature is one of the biggest drivers of wellness tourism this year. “Nature became this massive value, it’s a complicated reaction to the pandemic,” says Beth McGroarty, VP Research, Global Wellness Institute (GWI), a leading global research and educational organ for the wellness industry. “The hunger for nature and the elegiac love of nature is fueling wellness travel and shifting it,” she continues.
Parks are an easy way for locals and wellness travelers to embrace the meditative aspect of immersion in a beautiful green landscape. City parks provide a serene oasis for tranquil pursuits such as tai chi and yoga, picnicking, walking and hiking trails, swimming in lakes and pools. Travelers can also learn a lot about a destination by visiting its parks. Mexico City’s Chapultepec Park is packed with families on weekends, a reflection of Mexico’s family centric culture. Couples at the Luxembourg Gardens, in the heart of Paris, illustrate why it is known as the City of Love. What unites every culture–and seems to also inspire wellness travelers these days–is our hunger for nature, even if it’s a patch of greenery in the center of the city.
Thomas C. Wales Park, Seattle, WA
Stuart Isett/www.isett.com
Newhouse and her co-author, Alex Pisha, a senior landscape architect at Sawyer | Berson Architecture & Landscape Architecture, LLP, started by researching parks online. They were looking for new parks around the globe that were not only beautiful, but built with the intention of making a contribution to the natural environment–for example, helping with water management and purification or the handling of floods. Two examples that ended up in the book are Brooklyn Bridge Park and Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, each set along the East River in New York City.
“Both accommodate tidal flooding, which you can’t prevent,” she says. “You can welcome in the water, but you need to make sure there’s a way for it to recede.” Landscaping–selecting the right plants–can really help. For example, “the East River is partly saline, so you need salt-tolerant plants,” she says. Parks that rely on repurposing or building on top of existing infrastructure were also something Newhouse and Pisha sought out. A perfect example is the High Line, built on a series of elevated railway tracks in lower Manhattan. According to Newhouse, “Most parks, like the High Line, have retained elements of their industrial past.”
Hinge Park, Vancouver, British Columbia
PWL Partnership Landscape Architects Inc.
When Newhouse and Pisha found parks that met their criteria, they went for a visit, and the book, with its beautiful photography and detailed descriptions, reflects that first-hand experience. Highlights include The Culture of Water Ecology Park, in Chang Chun, China; Shanghai’s Riverside Park, Pudong, a necklace of parks along river fronts in Shanghai; and Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon Park in Zurich, a vertical park with climbing vines, birds and thickets of flowers. The biggest challenge, they learned, is not building, but maintaining parks. “Maintenance is so important, and that’s a big problem everywhere,” she says. “Parks are suffering, they need millions of dollars in maintenance. We need to think about what it will cost not only to build it but also to maintain it.”
Nonetheless, according to Newhouse, who sat on the jury of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize for three years, “We are living in a heyday of park building, comparable to the 19th century.” The 19th-century was a boon time for large parks, which featured mini-forests, lakes and walking trails, with some of the greatest created by Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Central and Prospect parks in New York City, and Washington and Jackson parks in Chicago.
As urbanization grew, and green spaces shrank, parks were needed more than ever. The first national park was Yellowstone, established in 1872 with the goal of conserving its wildlife and nature so that it could be enjoyed by generations. Environmentalist John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, was instrumental in the creation of Yosemite National Park, which was designated by an Act of Congress in 1890. The National Park Service was established in 1916.
Fast forward over 100 years, and the need for green and natural outdoor spaces has grown exponentially. Wellness travel experiences outdoors have become increasingly elaborate and nature-immersive: touring with research guides and conservationists at Tswalu, South Africa’s largest private wildlife reserve, in the stunning southern Kalahari; luxury glamping at secluded retreats near Texas’ Big Bend National Park, outside Marfa, TX; wildlife conservation drives through the breathtaking Grand Teton National Park and a private flight over Yellowstone, with a park drive to witness repatriated gray wolves, with the Four Seasons Jackson Hole.
Also a must on the list: visits to spectacular urban parks, with Parks of the 21st Century: Reinvented Landscapes, Reclaimed Territories as your guide.
