Core77
e
California Oil Spill Turns Out to Be a Freakishly Massive Amount of Fish
By Rain Noe - Jul 11, 2014
Earlier this week in La Jolla, California, what appeared to be a massive oil spill in the water began creeping towards the beach. However, closer inspection revealed that the inky cloud was not a batch of Exxon-Mobil's finest at all, but an enormous school of fish. Specifically, anchovies.
Anchovies can typically be found in the world's major oceans and on pizzas, where they are prized for their ability to completely ruin the flavor. But prior to fulfilling their pizza-sabotaging destinies, schools of anchovies typically keep their distance from the shore. Upon investigating, scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography "said it is unclear why the unusually large school moved into shallow waters off the coast," which maybe defeats the purpose of having institutions of oceanography.
"It is rare to see so many anchovy abutting the surf zone," one SIO professor told CNN. He also estimated the size of this batch to be anywhere from one million to 100 million, pointing to a possible prior career as a contractor.
An anchovy taking a break. Or maybe it's dead. I don't know, I'm not an oceanographerAn anchovy taking a break. Or maybe it's dead. I don't know, I'm not an oceanographer
In the following video, a couple of SIO grad students swim towards the fish because they have never seen the movies Piranha, Piranha II: The Spawning and Piranha 3D. And despite the fact that neither Elisabeth Shue nor Jerry O'Connell appear in the underwater GoPro footage that starts halfway in, it's pretty damn neat to see.
Rain Noe
Rain Noe is a writer and industrial designer based in New York City.
9 Comments
-
Love the wittiness! Thank you for brightening my day.!Report as spam
-
I can think of two reasons:
- changes in the ocean itself: global warming causing acidification and/or temperature changes and/or ecosystems to collapse
- seismic blasts from oil-exploration driving animals (the ones that are not close enough to be killed) away from their natural habitat
!Report as spam -
I had the same thoughts as everyone who has commented before me. When I clicked on comments and saw there were already (6), I knew they were going to be praising the wit and humor.!Report as spam
-
Ahaha, I had a good laugh reading this, thank you!!Report as spam
-
I believe you outdid yourself this time, hipstomp. A piece (or two) of wit in every paragraph. It was a good read.!Report as spam
-
Amazing story, even better copywriting.!Report as spam
-
Such a pleasant surprise to find witty humor in a seemingly ordinary blog post. Awesome!!Report as spam
-
^^^ I agree!!Report as spam
-
I'm just here to say that:
"He also estimated the size of this batch to be anywhere from one million to 100 million, pointing to a possible prior career as a contractor."
and
"In the following video, a couple of SIO grad students swim towards the fish because they have never seen the movies Piranha, Piranha II: The Spawning and Piranha 3D."
are comedy gold to me.!Report as spam
Continued Reading
-
By erika - Jun 30, 2014
Data Cuisine Lets You Have Your Data and Eat It, Too
"Take it with a Pinch of Salt!" (a dish exploring the street noise levels in Barcelona throughout the day)Last week, BoingBoing picked up on a TL;DR study that validated the value of artistic presentation... when it comes to salad. A team of psychologists from Oxford recently published the finding that...
-
By Rain Noe - Jun 23, 2014
Food Huggers: Brilliant Product Design and Business Success by Michelle Ivankovic and Adrienne McNicholas
True industrial design seeks out problems that can be solved with objects. The more common the problem, and the easier it is to produce the item you've designed to solve it, the more successful you'll be. And the Holy Grail, of course, is to find that common problem that no...
-
By Rain Noe - Jun 18, 2014
Tablet Uptake at Chain Restaurants, and Why We Won't See iPads There
"If you turn the tablet away from me one more time, Susan, I'm going to throw this margarita in your face!""If you turn the tablet away from me one more time, Susan, I'm going to throw this margarita in your face!"Here's what would be perfect: If you would take just...
-
By Rain Noe - Jun 05, 2014
From Japan, a Glass Jar Design That's Easier to Open
Fifty years ago, most things you'd find in a refrigerator, like milk, ketchup or mayonnaise, were all in glass containers. Nowadays those items are mostly contained in plastic. Plastic is cheap, it doesn't shatter when dropped, and if you think about any jar you ever had trouble opening, it's almost...
K
{Welcome
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
K
Reset Password
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.
