Friday, March 25, 2011 8:51am PDT

Florida kayaker has close encounter with enormous shark

By: Pete Thomas, GrindTV.com

Presumably, the kayaker in the video was aware that the massive creature swimming toward him was a harmless basking shark, but the situation must have been unsettling nonetheless. The extremely rare encounter with the planet's second-largest shark -- only the whale shark is larger -- occurred off Panama City, Fla. Sightseers and fishermen also witnessed the spectacle. For the sake of perspective, the kayak is 14 feet long. Basking sharks, which can measure 40 feet, feed on plankton and are found in temperate and Arctic waters. Sightings off Florida are very unusual.



Channels: Outdoor

Tags: Basking sharkSharksFlorida

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Georgia Aquarium mourns death of prized beluga whale calf

Georgia Aquarium mourns death of prized beluga whale calf

They initially became concerned when the calf was born and needed assistance from the divers to bring it to the surface to breathe

A beglua whale calf born Friday night at the Georgia Aquarium has died, despite receiving 24-hour nurturing from animal care experts at the Atlanta facility.

"This is an extremely sad day for the Georgia Aquarium family. Over the past few days, our veterinary and animal care teams have been giving around-the-clock care to Maris and her calf," Gregory Bossart, chief veterinary officer, said in a news release issued Wednesday. "We initially became concerned when the calf was born..