Humpback whales migrate to Hawaiian waters each winter to nurse and mate, but they sometimes interact with other species and the accompanying video features the first recorded examples of the gregarious cetaceans lifting bottlenose dolphins out of the water with their heads in what seems a game for both animals (the first images showing this phenomenon appear 30 seconds into the production).


Photographs of these peculiar events -- one occurred near Kauai, the other near Maui -- are featured in the video, which was posted recently to the American Museum of Natural History website as part of its Science Bulletins program.

"The two species seemed to cooperate in the activity, and neither displayed signs of aggression or distress," the website describes. "Whales and dolphins in Hawaiian waters often interact, but playful social activity such as this is extremely rare between species."

During the Kauai episode, a bottlenose dolphin was lifted gently out of the water by a humpback whale, and slid tail-first down the whale's head and back into the water.

During the Maui encounter, scientists watched and photographed a humpback whale and bottlenose dolphin performing the same routine six times, with the dolphin sliding gently off the whale head after each "ride."

It may not be everyone's idea of fun, but it sure is cute.

Former Rugy player and famed triathlete Stephen Redman will now attempt to etch his name in the record books by crossing the Ocean's Seven. If the Irishman succeeds, he will be the first athlete to complete marathon swimming's ultimate challenge.

Modeled after the Seven Summits-- a climbing challenge up the highest mountain on each continent-- the Ocean's Seven requires swimmers to cross seven daunting channels around the world: the English Channel (between England and France), the North Channel (between Scotland and Ireland), the Catalina Channel (between Catalina Island and mainland Southern Californian), the Molokai Channel (between Oahu and Molokai islands in Hawaii), the Tsugaru Channel (between Honshu and Hokkaido islands in Japan), the Cook Strait (between North and South islands in New Zealand) and the Strait of Gibraltar (between Spain and Morocco).

So far, Redmond has crossed the English Channel in 20-hours and 1-minute, the Catalina Channel in 12-hours and 39-minutes, the Strait of Gibraltar in 5-hours, and is one of the few swimmers to successfully cross the North Channel between Scotland and Ireland in 17-hours and 17-minutes. Bear in mind that Thompson crossed the North Channel in a speedo, where the water temperature never reaches higher than 55F (13C).

With four of the seven straits completed, Redmond will now take on the Cook Strait. On his Facebook page, Redmond recently posted "The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

If his level of intensity is any indication of his swimming prowess, Redmond is likely to accomplish his goal of completing the Ocean's Seven. "Marathon swimming is about as close as you can get to death while you are alive here on Earth" said Redmond. "You lose all sense of perception while you are swimming in such difficult conditions."

Here's video of Redmond after he finished the frigid crossing of the North Channel:



Redmond discusses his latest crossing of the Catalina Channel:

The last time we heard from gnarly adventurer Dean Potter he was slacklining high above the Yosemite Valley Floor. This man thrives in situations most of us would fear for our lives. Potter's latest project is no exception, his new film "The Man Who Can Fly" is premiering February 12, at 8 PM ET/PT on National Geographic Channel.

Potter traveled to Canada's western coastline to climb Mount Bute, a 9,000-foot granite wall so he could then jump-off wearing his signature wingsuit attempting to break his own world-record.

Before Potter attempted the record-setting flight from Bute which is about seven times as tall as the Empire State Building, he had three months to perfect his technique, design his wingsuit and prepare himself mentally. This is where the film "The Who Who Can Fly" picks up documenting the trials and tribulations along the way for Potter and his crew.

It's easy to take a film such as this for granted because guys like Potter make it look so easy and effortless, but don't be fooled, anytime Potter attempts a mission like this the margin for error is non existent as a mistake leads to almost certain death.

My DVR is set for Sunday night, don't forget to set yours.

Check out the trailer for the "The Man Who Can Fly"



Here's an exclusive clip of the final jump.



Photo by Mikey Schaefer. Dean Potter walks across ahigh-line at Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park.
Get the story behind this incredible shot here.

Red Bull is taking fan interaction to new heights with their latest user generated contest titled "Launchpad." The mission is simple, they're encouraging fans to dream up an idea they've never thought possible, but want to see become a reality. It's pretty basic, after you've got your concept edit together a quick 30 second video explaining the idea you want to see play out and submit it to the Red Bull Launchpad site. Obviously, the bigger and bolder the idea the better, but make sure it's something that's obtainable.

In need of some inspiration, check out how SUP Magazine weighed in on what they want to see when magazine editor Joe Carberry put together his entry.



Got a better idea for standup? Pitch it here and then shoot your idea to SUPthemag.com via letters@SUPthemag.com and they'll give you air time.

The idea with the most votes gets to be set free.

Click here to enter.

It was ugly. It was public. And it involved controversy over whose park it is anyway, Coca-Cola's or ours, but in a plan just approved by John Wessels, National Park Service Intermountain Regional director, Grand Canyon National Park will end the sale of water sold in disposable bottles within 30 days. The park has free water stations available where visitors can fill reusable water containers.

The ban on less-than-one-gallon bottles and different kinds of boxes is aimed at eliminating the single biggest source of litter in the park; discarded plastic bottles account for about 30 percent of the Grand Canyon's total waste.

The action came after Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis decided last November to halt the plan at the eleventh hour. But that raised a huge ruckus because internal sources let leak that this intervention was a little too closely timed with a complaint by Coca-Cola directly to Jarvis. Coke is a big corporate donor to the National Parks Foundation. And in a statement late last year a Coke spokeswoman voiced opposition to the outright ban. Whether Coke's complaint to the NPF or to Jarvis had anything to do with the delay in implementation or not, it sure looked bad, and both current and former NPS officials and workers worried loudly about corporate influence.

Park Service officials said they weren't bowing to corporate pressure but simply conducting due diligence on the impacts of a bottled water ban. They wanted to consider how a ban might affect the safety of visitors, not just to Grand Canyon but also to Arches and Canyonlands.

As for the wider impact now that the ban will go through, there are two parks with bottled-water bans already, Zion and Hawaii Volcanoes.

At Hawaii Volcanoes, where the cooperating association decided to stop selling disposable bottles, the association estimated it will gross $80,000 a year in reusable bottle sales and will net a profit. At Zion, concessionaire Xanterra Parks & Resorts, which came up with the idea of banning disposable water bottle sales, lost $25,000 in 2009-10. However, the move at Zion reduced the waste stream by roughly 5,000 pounds annually and cut energy consumption in the visitor center by about 10 percent during 2009-2010. - Michael Frank, Adventure Journal. Additional reporting by National Parks Traveler.