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‘Sup, Beaches

March 21, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org 2 Comments

By Blog Beachcomber Hannah Hall

“Let’s go to the beach, each,  let’s go get away”–Nicki Minaj

You know what has water? Beaches! As we explore the aquatic life this week, let’s explore beaches. Here–according to Hannah– are seven of the most beautiful beaches around the world to go and visit.

Giants Causeway Beach – Ireland

You may not want to take a dip in this beach of cliffs, but it definitely is a sight to see! The waters crash up against basalt columns of all sizes.

Hidden Beach – The Marieta Islands by Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

This “beach” isn’t just any beach. It’s a giant hole. It was formed by a bomb while the Mexican military was testing bombs down by the coast–just 20th-century things. To make this  “holey” beach an even cooler spot, you get here by walking through a water tunnel!

Pink Sands Beach – Harbour Island, Bahamas

The title of this beach pretty much gives it away….the sand is pink! This is a pretty hot tourist attraction, so watch out for those flashing cameras!

Anse Source d’Argent – La Digue, Republic of Seychelles

Imagine a water-smoothed rock.  See these rocks washing up on the shore basking in the sun. Now, blow the imagined size up 100 times. Here, at Anse Source d’Argent, you will be surrounded by  tall stones draped with bright green trees beside crystal clear waters.

Benagil Sea Cave Beach – Algarve, Portugal

Yes, this beach is THAT beach. On Instagram, I know I see this beach pop up on my feed alllllll summer long. To get to the water, you will enter hollow caves with holes on the top that are just big enough to see the clear skies and to let the warm sun in.

Whitehaven Beach  – Whitsunday Island, Australia

This beach looks like clouds sitting just under water. This is because the sand is white and made of 90% pure silica. You will need to travel here by boat, but ditch the sandals because this sand doesn’t retain heat.

Bioluminescent Beach  –  Vaadhoo, Maldives

Washing up onto this shore at night might feel like swimming with little fireflies. But, no. The shimmering light is actually caused by bioluminescent phytoplankton. The best time to see these blue little lights is during the months of July to February.

Editor: Luke Langlois

Sources:

https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/best-beaches-in-the-world
https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2016-04-19/the-most-beautiful-pink-sand-beaches-in-the-world
15 Of The Most Exotic Beaches In The World

Filed Under: Aquatic, The World, Travel Tagged With: Beaches

fishes: a-z

March 20, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

By Makena Behnke, who may learn to swim with the fishes

The eagle ray

since this week’s theme is fish, or rather aquatic, i’m giving you a very nice list of fish. if you’re like me, you don’t know much about fish, but you think they’re pretty cool. there are so many different types of fish with different colors, sizes, and breeds. here is an a-z list of fish:

The Indian glassfish
  • alligator gar. this swimmer is particularly scary-looking, very dinosaur-esque. usually found in the southern US in rivers, reservoirs, and bays.
  • blue tilapia. this one is probably my favorite fish on this list. it’s just so pretty. found in mainly Florida.
  • cobia. this fish weighs an average of a whopping eighty-two pounds and is about the length of a grown man’s wingspan. found in the Virginia area and throughout the Gulf of Mexico.
  • discus. this fish is properly named seeing as it is shaped like a disc. also known as the king of the aquarium fish. found in the Amazon River basin.
  • eagle ray. a more interesting-looking ray than the usual grey/silver-ish ray. found in New Zealand bays and rocky reefs.
  • flounder. no, not the blue and yellow fish from The Little Mermaid. the arrowtooth flounder is found in northeast Pacific Ocean.
  • gag grouper. found from North Carolina to Brazil. they like to feed on round scad, sardines, porgies, crabs, shrimp, and squid.
  • hogfish. found from Canada to northern South America in coral reefs. they are also protogynous hermaphrodites.
  • indian glassfish. staying true to its name of “glassfish,” this fish is transparent. found in mainly South Asian waters.
  • jarbydy. found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, they’re omnivorous and are big fans of small fish.
  • knobbed porgy. found from North Carolina to southern Florida. they grace the waters with their silver body and a red tint.
  • lemon tetra. found in South America, they feed on worms and crustaceans.
  • mudskipper. found in the Indo-West Pacific Ocean. these guys are easy to catch and fun to play around with (according to Makena and her “personal experience”).
  • northern hog sucker. found in the Great Lake area. it sucks up snails and insects, hence the name sucker.
  • opaline gourami. found in Southeast Asia. lives in lowland wetlands, marshy and swampy areas.
  • pomfret. found all across the Pacific Ocean. they stay close to the surface of the water, and they’re rarely caught inshore.
  • quillfish. found in the North Pacific. they’re found at the surface at night and burrow in the sand during the day.
  • redbreast acara. found in Central American waters. they prefer more stagnant waters.
  • swordsnout grenadier. found in the Western-Center of the Atlantic and the Eastern Atlantic. they feed on crustaceans and small fish.
  • tapar. found in European and Asian waters. they inhabit large rivers and freshwater lakes.
  • uaru. found in South America. they feed on crustaceans and small fish, but eat plants to get their nutrients.
  • vermilion snapper. found from the western Atlantic to southeastern Brazil. the adults prefer deep water and rocky bottoms.
  • wahoo. found from New Jersey to Columbia. they travel in loose groups of fish rather than compact schools.
  • x-ray tetra. found in South America. they feed on worms and small fish.
  • yellow cichlid. found in lower river valleys in Central America.
  • zander. found in Europe and Asia. they inhabit brackish lakes and rivers.
The wahoo

Sources

www.wideopenspaces.com

http://portal.ncdenr.org/web/mf/fish-finder
https://www.fishbase.de/search.php
https://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/fish/
https://www.thesprucepets.com/

Editor: Luke Langlois

Filed Under: Aquatic, The Outdoors Tagged With: fishes: a-z

1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Oarfish

March 20, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Blurb by Aquatic Mastermind Luke Langlois

Our recent aquatic theme has inspired mystery both amongst the blog staff and amongst our readers. Just a few days ago, Ms. Tasha Romo’s memory was prompted to jump back a whole six years to a time where a few enigmatic deep-sea creatures known as the oarfish washed up on the shores of California. Two oarfish washed up in Oceanside, and another washed up on Catalina Island. Take a look at the picture that Ms. Romo shared of the Catalina oarfish below. If you happen to be someone who went on Palm Valley’s 6th-grade field trip to Catalina, you may recognize this camp as the one you explored. Anyways, enjoy the oarfish!

Photo taken after Catalina residents pulled the washed-up oarfish out of the water.

Editor: Holden Hartle

If you too have a contribution to a theme, send it to szachik@pvs.org. Our editors will take a look at it. If it adds to the week’s thematic coverage, we’ll post!

Filed Under: Aquatic, Readers Respond Tagged With: 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Luke Langlois, Oarfish, Red Fish

Conceive

March 18, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment


By Harlow Berny

I saw a bright light in the distance. A shining light in a sea of darkness. It had to be her. There was nothing else, no one else, it could possibly be. I could hear others around me, others just like me. They wanted her. I rushed as fast as I could, my small body pushing itself out of the dark abyss and into her light. I saw her floating. She was far bigger than anything I’d ever seen before. I stayed for a second to admire her size, her dangling light, before I saw others like me rushing onto her. I hurried closer to her. I sank my teeth into her. I felt my flesh fusing with hers. We were bonding. I saw the others that were like me rushing away, accepting defeat. I had won. I was a part of her. I could feel her blood running through me, keeping me alive. We would stay like this. Forever. My small body got smaller. And smaller. And smaller. Soon, all that was left of me were the organs that could grant her children. This was my existence. This was my purpose. This is what I am.

_ . ~ * ~ . _

Thank you for reading this short horror story! If you couldn’t tell, it’s a story about anglerfish reproduction told by a male anglerfish. This was made to fit the aquatic theme set by this week’s editor and was quite fun to write. I hope you enjoyed!

Editor: Luke Langlois

Filed Under: Aquatic Tagged With: Conceive, Harlow Berny

March 14, 2019 by szachik@pvs.org Leave a Comment

Installment #2 in our Aquatic Theme: What can be found in the deep blue sea? I don’t know. But, James does. –Aquatic Theme Editor Luke

By James Zheng

The ocean is probably one of the most mysterious places on the Earth since it’s a place humans still have not entirely explored. There are hundreds of examples of the mysteries of the ocean. And, some of them have a reasonable explanation, but some ocean mysteries remain elusive. In this post, I am going to introduce three of the strangest mysteries within the ocean.

No.1 Devil’s Sea:

This is also known as the Dragon’s Triangle. Like the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean, this is a similar triangular area in the Western Pacific Ocean off of the east coast of southern Tokyo in Japan. To get here, go south along the southeast of the Pacific Ocean at about 145 degrees east, then turn west-southwest; pass through the Ogasawara Islands, and then return to the Tokyo Bay of Japan along the northeast, which forms this triangle. There are many mysterious disappearances of ships and planes here. They left without a trace. What happens is that all radio contacts are abruptly interrupted when vessels approach this triangular area, and the ships that are lost have no wreckage that can be found afterwards. There is even more news that spreads that horrifies people: one marine radio center received the message from a ship saying, “The sky is open!” right before they lost radio contact. Over-exaggerated? Who knows?

No.2 Atlantis:

There are still so many myths related to Atlantis, one of the most mysterious ancient civilizations. It was said that the ancient Greek God Poseidon created this civilization. Some scientists say that Atlantis does exist, and that it was a real civilization thousands of years ago. Modern science has found that before the great floods (an unprecedented and destructive global flood happened a long time ago) there may have been a continent that was the most highly developed civilization on the Earth. In this global disaster, the continent sank into the Atlantic Ocean. Following this catastrophe, a large-scale earthquake and tsunami caused further damage. As a result, vestigial volcanic ashes covered the entire Mediterranean region in darkness for weeks. The earthquake is rumored to have been more powerful than 4,000 atomic bombs. For nearly a century, archaeologists have also claimed that they have found relics of this prehistoric civilization on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, which seems to confirm the hypothesis of Atlantis. So, where did the name come from? The name was initially given by Plato, and it is the name still used nowadays for this unknown civilization. In 2011, an archaeological team claimed that they had located Atlantis beneath the mudbank of southern Spain. In December 2013, a submerged pyramid of Atlantis was discovered in the western sea area of Portugal. It was possibly recognized as a relic of Atlantis. But, nevertheless, the existence of Atlantis is still a question mark.


No.3 The depth of the ocean

There is never an accurate answer given to say how deep the ocean is. It is way more complicated than you probably think. Humans may think that they have explored the ocean enough to know the Earth deeply, but among the vast Pacific Ocean, we might have just explored five percent of the deepest part. There is an estimation taken by scientists that the ocean might be ninety thousand meters deep; however, nobody has ever reached that deep and it is just an assumption after all. The maximum depth that humans have reached is 10,916 meters. Unfortunately, we have trouble going deeper. The water pressure will get more and more intense as you reach the bottom. Unless we have diving suits or a submarine that has an extremely strong endurance to the water pressure, the diver would certainly be killed by the overwhelming water pressure. One last thing: sunlight cannot reach the deep ocean. Human eyes cannot see anything and the creatures around there may be dreadfully unforgiving…

Sites Referenced

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%AD%94%E6%B5%B7%E9%BE%99%E4%B8%89%E8%A7%92/15795153?fr=aladdin
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BA%9A%E7%89%B9%E5%85%B0%E8%92%82%E6%96%AF/6238?fr=aladdin
https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1576299103450316638&wfr=spider&for=pc

Editor: Luke Langlois

https://www.thebirdonfire.org/2019/03/14/3383/

Filed Under: Aquatic, Mystery, The Outdoors, The World Tagged With: Aquatic, James Zheng, The unsolved mysteries within the ocean

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About

We are the Palm Valley Firebirds of Rancho Mirage, California. Join us in our endeavors. Venture through the school year with us, perusing the artwork of our students, community, and staff. Our goal is to share the poems, stories, drawings and photographs, essays and parodies that come out of our school. Welcome aboard!