1. Poon Lim on his raft.

Chinese sailor Poon Lim holds the world record for longest survival on a life raft: 133 days. Lim was aboard a British merchant vessel traveling from Cape Town to New York in November 1942. The ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat a few hundred miles off the coast of Brazil, and Lim was the only survivor.

Saved by his lifejacket, Lim managed to get aboard a wooden life raft that already had some water, food and flares.

After a month of being lost at sea, he ran out of food and water after and had to survive by collecting rainwater and catching fish and birds. He even caught a shark and drank blood from its liver to avoid dying of thirst.

Lim eventually drifted so close to shore that he crossed paths with a small sailboat, and its three-man crew took him aboard. Amazingly, Lim lost only 20 pounds throughout the entire ordeal, and was able to walk on his own when he was rescued.

2. José Salvador Alvarenga

Jose Salvador Alvarenga holds the record for the longest solo survival at sea: 438 days. Alvarenga departed from the west coast of Mexico on a fishing trip with one crew mate in November 2012. The pair’s small boat was thrown off course by a storm shortly after.

Their GPS, motor and radio all failed. They found themselves lost at sea with no idea how to get home.

The men survived on fish and turtle blood. At one point they even hauled in a floating trash bag and drank the sour milk they found inside it. After about two months, Alvarenga’s crewmate gave up hope, stopped eating and died. Alvarenga was on his own.

Alvarenga continued to drift on his own for nearly a year, until he finally spotted a tiny island within swimming distance. It was one of the Marshall Islands, which are basically in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. Alvarenga jumped ship and swam to the island, where he finally found help. He had travelled over 6,700 miles.

3.  Oguri Jukichi

Finally, there is Oguri Jukichi, who holds the world record for the longest time adrift at sea: 484 days. Captain Jukichi and his crew got lost at sea way back in the year 1813.

They were transporting soy beans to present-day Tokyo when the ship encountered a violent storm, which set them adrift.

The crew had to survive on rainwater and the soybeans they had in the cargo hold. Although they had plenty of soybeans, the crew members began suffering from scurvy after several months. One by one, crew members died, until there were only three left: Jukichi, and two men named Otokichi and Hanbe.

The three men were finally rescued by a British ship off the coast of California. They had travelled 5,400 miles. It is believed that these three were the first Japanese people to set foot in America. 

Source: https://www.azula.com/10-people-who-were-lost-at-sea-for-months-and-survived-2478745793.html

To first start off, the theory claims that Spongebob and Bikini Bottom exist and behave the way that they do because of a nuclear explosion.

The town name “Bikini Bottom” provides the first real evidence of this nuclear theory. The town and its name is based of a real location called “Bikini Atoll.”

The island of Bikini Atoll is the island that we see in the opening of every episode that supposedly floats above Bikini Bottom; it’s also the island in the Spongebob movie where we see David Hasselhoff meet Spongebob and Patrick to bring them back to Bikini Bottom.

Between 1946-1958, Bikini Atoll was a major testing site for nuclear bombs. The test began in 1946 with a project called “Operation Crossroads” and later became the site of the first Hydrogren bomb in 1954 with the project “Castle Bravo.” The island is now part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands after the island gained independence from the United States in 1986.

The theory suggests that Spongebob and his friends are mutations from the nuclear-bombs testing and exist because of it. Although this theory is not approved by Nickelodeon or the creators of Spongebob, it is still holds enough evidence to be true, after all, the the official Spongebob plot summary does name Bikini Atoll as the location for the show. In addition many of the fishes homes are made of car parts eluding to the pollution resulting from the apolocptic enviomerment above water. This also explains why sandy cheeks the squirrel is living under water.

Source: https://politicsandphysics.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/the-odd-story-behind-bikini-bottom/

The blobfish is a deep sea fish that inhabits the waters of Austraila, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Blobfish are typically shorter than a ruler and live at depths between 600 and 1,200 m (2,000 and 3,900 ft) where the pressure is 60 to 120 times as great as at  sea level. The flesh of the blobfish is primarily a gelatinous mass with a density slightly less than water; this allows the fish to float above the sea floor without expending energy on swimming. Its relative lack of muscle is not a disadvantage as it primarily swallows edible particles that float in front of it such as deep-ocean crustaceans. In September 2013 the blobfish was voted the “World’s Ugliest Animal”, based on photographs of decompressed specimens, and adopted as the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Soceity in an initiative “dedicated to raising the profile of some of Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children.”

Across the world one can go bioluminescent kayaking. And good news, this unforgettable experience  can be done in the bay area! Bioluminescence night kayaking tours are an experience unlike anything else you will do in Point Reyes. Observing the glowing water in Tomales Bay is a magical experience.

Tomales Bay is one of the rare locations where bioluminescent dinoflagellates are visible. These amazing plankton produce bursts of light when disturbed, putting on an incredible light show of glowing water. It is best to go on moonless nights and in the darkest areas of the bay for the brightest viewing. In addition, the limited light pollution in Point Reyes leads to incredible view of the stars; this and the bioluminescence will amaze you for the remainder of your night kayaking experience. This is definitly a bucketlist activity that everyone should do, it almost like seeing stars under water.

From vegetarian sharks to forgetful fish the Pixar film Finding Nemo explores interesting topics in the ocean, but how realistic are they?

Nemo fans will remember the crew of vegetarian sharks who swear off their usual diet in an effort to promote peace throughout the ocean. But can sharks really be vegetarian?According to some scientists “There are some sharks that, while not vegetarian, can process plant matter.” 

Another question that comes up is could a person survive in a whales stomach if swallowed? The answer is no, as stomach acids would kill you, however it is nearly impossible for humans to fit in a whales esophagus so this would likely never happen for a human.

As for currents a wave movements, every summer, thousands of tropical fish are swept up by the powerful East Australian Current and transported from the Great Barrier Reef to Sydney Harbor and even further south. The current transports a staggering 30 million cubic meters of water southward each second at speeds of up to seven kilometers per hour. The current can be up to 100 kilometers wide and 1.5 kilometers deep.The East Australian Current may also be getting stronger due to the effects of climate change. According to the most recent report from the IPCC’s Working Group II, the current now carries its warm tropical water 350 kilometers further south than it did 60 years ago.In Sydney Harbor, tropical fish begin to appear around Christmas and can be found over the following few months. 

Lastly the fish that Dory is based on, does in fact have memory loss. So while dory is a more accurate character Marlin is not. Given clown fish biology Marlin should have transitioned into a female after his wife’s death.

Source: https://www.seeker.com/culture/inspiration-and-ichthyology-the-science-of-finding-nemo

Growing up I was oblivious to the violence that occurs in the ocean. Not just amongst the animals themselves but the harm humans cause. In the documentary The Cove, dolphins are seen being harpooned to death in a hidden cove near the Japanese coastal village of Taiji. Sonar is used to confuse dolphins and lead them into a cul-de-sac where they’re trapped and killed. The Japanese have found dolphins easier to find and kill them to be used for meat in school lunches. This of course is illegal but is passed off as whale meat. Seeing this sort of violence sparked many efforts among animal rights groups to stop this wrong doing and violent slaughter. However, success has been minimal as it has taken up in other places beyond Taiji. 

I would not change growing up by the ocean for anything. I grew up basically living in or on the water. From a young age to high school my days were filled hanging out with friends on the sand,  participating in junior guards, rowing, boating, running in between towers, the list goes on and on. The calmness of the waves and the sand between my toes is home. And while the water is adventure filled it is relaxing at the same time. However my view is only from a small shore in southern California beyond is a much greater story than my own.