I Can Finally Tell the Truth...

The truth is, I knew two days ago I wasn't gonna be in the top 50. But I felt like I should wait til it was "official"...and, now it is. Check out www.islandreefjob.com for the top 50, and if you want, follow them to the bitter end!!!

And to all you who have been reading this blog, or at least visiting from time to time, thank you so much for stopping by!!! I intend to keep blogging, now that I've started, and the topics for this blog will be based around my travel and visual arts pursuits. I will, however, be finishing my blogs up about the TEN MOST POISONOUS CREATURES on the reef before leaving the the reef behind as a major topic.

It has been a fascinating and fun journey since I started this thing a month ago (it's only been a month??) In regard to my video, as soon as I turned it in and slept for a few hours, I saw things I really wish I had changed, but alas there was no time left! As it turns out, those things would have been very helpful, but most of what we do in life is a matter of learning by trial and error.

Life is like an iceberg. Most of the successes that people see above the surface are undergirded by a far greater number of "failures" beneath the surface. They aren't failures, really, just opportunities for reassessment, adjustment, and refinement of the way we live and the things we do. There will be another time.

In the meanwhile, I'll still be writing, and shooting, and traveling, and learning, and sharing! There's too much to do just to sit around and wish I'd been the one snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef for $100 grand...(isn't there??) =)

And to all the applicants who applied, and those who are still kicking, congratulations on making the effort. I can see the icebergs rising!

Finding Nemo Finds a Home

Hey, folks. Just thought I'd let ya know that the DVD Finding Nemo is making it's way to Colorado24, the winner of stage 1's drawing!! Hope Nemo likes it over there!

Tomorrow, I will officially announce the results of Stage 2 thus far...

Wishing a wonderful evening to all.

And The Winner Is...

As promised yesterday, I have (with the assistance of a trusted accomplice) drawn a winner for this stage.

And the winner is...(CUE TRUMPET BLAST). COLORADO 24! Yes, you know who you are. All you need do to claim your prize is email me your address, along with the film of your choice having anything to do with AUSTRALIA (either actors from or the film itself located Down Under). It will be delivered to your doorstep along with my sincere thanks for your continued support!!

For those of you who missed out this time around, there's always stage TWO (which we are now in). All that is required for you to enter is at least one comment on my blog, and a public following.

Congratulations, Colorado 24!

Finally, as a reminder, here are the crucial dates for this whole shindig.

March 2 - Announcement of 50 shortlisted candidates
April 6 - Announcement of 11 shortlisted candidates
May 3 - week of interviews with 11 in Queensland
May 6 - announcement of the winning candidate
July 1 - start date for the new "Caretaker of Hamilton Island"

If we make it past the first cut over 34,000 other candidates, that will be cause for incredible celebrating. If not, well, we can walk away knowing more than we ever thought we would about one of the greatest places on earth! See you tomorrow!

LAUNCHING STAGE TWO!

Great News!!! I just got my official acceptance today from Queensland Tourism. My application video is now online!

SO, what this means is that all of you who are following my blog will have one and possibly two opportunities to give me a big push towards the Reef.

HOW? you ask? By voting for my video as most popular. Yes, even when we're all grown up we play silly popularity games. But, I didn't make the rules, I'm just trying to take advantage of them!

So follow this link, and five star that sucker!! my video application!

Unfortunately, it runs more slowly (especially so on the island reef job site) on YouTube. Very frustrating of course after all the effort to see the video skip and lag so far behind the audio, but you work with what you've got right? =)

For a truer run, watch it in my blog here below. But don't forget to rate it 5 stars at the official site as that's how they'll know you guys are actually out there!!

FINALLY, some business to take care of. For you guys who have been with me from the start, thank you, thank you! As promised, I will be drawing a name and delivering up the winner a DVD of their choice having to do with Australia!!! You tell me what it is and it's YOURS!

I will make the announcement in tomorrow's blog! What will it be? Crocodile Dundee? Steve Irwin's Crocodile Hunter the Movie? The original Mad Max? Ah, the Man from Snowy River! OR, you may choose a movie that has an Aussie IN it! You pick, I send. Badabing, badabang!

See you all tomorrow, and don't forget to rate that video!

So, How Long IS That Reef??

If you've been following my blog and recent application video post, you might be wondering (like Mandy from the video) just how long that reef really is!! Or even WHAT it is (like Constance).

So I thought I'd be kind enough to answer these two questions for all you curious types.

But first check out this awesome footage from Tourism Queensland. You can find out a lot more info by checking out the media section at their site Island Reef Job.com

So the answer to the first question - "Where in the world IS the Great Barrier Reef?", as you've seen in previous posts, is the great country of Australia. Now to be more specific, it borders the northeast coast of the state of Queensland, Australia.

The answer to the second question is a bit more tricky. How long IS the Great Barrier Reef? I guess it depends on where you begin counting coral. Now if you wanted to you could really start counting at the southernmost tip of New Guinea and work your way down from there.

But even if you started in the far north at Somerset, Queensland, Australia and ended at Bundaberg, Queensland in the south, that would be 1480 miles (or 2387 KM for all you people in the rest of the world).


However, most estimates range in the mid-1200 mile range. But when you're talking about a living organism, things are in constant flux. I mean, if you got a big hurricane in it might pull up huge chunks of the reef, and well, then you've lost a few miles...

Then there are the Crown of Thorn Starfish, which eat up coral with gusto. They say as much as 30% of the coral has been digested by these critters. So then, do we count living reef, or dead reef? Dunno.


To all that coral I want to say hurry up and grow already, because the more the better, right? But you can't rush pure wonder...

Stay tuned for some outtakes, some more pics, and some more deadly VPC bios...

Which One of these VPC's will Kill You?

Which one of these combinations is the one that will kill you? OR Hey guys! It's been a crazy few days around here. Between working on my video, blogging, twittering, facebooking, and working on my currently paying gigs, I feel like a three ring circus except that I'm in all three rings at once. How does THAT work out?

Well, I'm excited to say I've received another top 10 bio from one o' those personable VPC's (Very Poisonous Critters). I've constructed a little puzzle above to introduce our current VPC. If you can figure it out without looking below, you get an extra Gold Star for the day!

So, prerequisite drum roll please!!! If you guessed the BJF, you are dead right. And if you didn't get it, you're dead wrong. If you touch one of them, you're at risk of death either way, so be very nice, take a step back, and welcome the Box Jelly Fish to blogger fame!

You may remember that these graceful, floaty little blobs of jelly are cousins of the coral polyps that have built the largest living structure in the world. And I'm sure they're thankful for their cousins' hard work because some of them live not too far from the protective walls of the reef (but not actually ON the reef - a very important distinction).

So why is it that these little guys are so bad? Well, first of all, there are roughly 19 known species of the BJF. And, they're not exactly like true jelly fish in that they actually "hunt" their prey (don't worry - they like shrimp, not people). The smallest of these identified critters from the class Cubozoa is the Carukia Barnesi (named after Dr. Barnes, a general practitioner. He discovered a live specimen in 1966 after spending a few hours on the sea bed staring up into space until one came floating by his mask).

At any rate, Carukia Barnesi is also known as the Irukandji jellyfish. These little guys, roughly an inch across or less, aren't content to just laze around in the sea. No, they're on a mission. They've got places to go, people to see, fish to catch. They actively swim up to 1.8 meters/second. I saw one swimming the other day with a gold medal around it's bell...



They only have four tentacles, which can trail from each corner of their bell up to around 16 inches behind them. Unlike most other jellyfish, they have nematocysts (stinging cells) on their bell as well as their tentacles. It's usually the bell that people come into contact with and are stung by. (That is one bell you do NOT want to ring...)

Usually, the sting is very minor or unnoticed, until 30 (or 5) minutes later, when it begins to feel like you're giving birth to octuplets, only 10 times worse. Now, being a man, I can't even imagine giving birth, period. But I'm thinking that there might be some women out there who wouldn't mind if a few more men had an encounter with a Irukandji jellyfish, just to encourage a little empathy...

This unbearable cramping, spasmodic pain in the lower back and just about every other muscle in the body, along with sweating, vomiting, nausea, respiratory failure and heart attack is known as Irukandji syndrome (ok, maybe child birth isn't quite as bad as that...). There is no anti-venin for the sting, so life-support and lots of vinegar is the recommended fare. Vinegar, when poured over the stung area, neutralizes any unfired stinging cells and can save you from a whole lot more pain.

The name of this little box jelly comes from the "Irukandji" tribe of Aboriginals who lived in Australia's Palm Cove area where the stings were frequently reported. I just keep thinking it's a strange honor to be named after such a VPC, but then it's other people who usually do the naming for you.

The really cool thing about these critters is that they have four sets of six eyes, one cluster on each side of their bell. Wouldn't that be convenient. Then you wouldn't have to have a neck. Which they don't. Nor do they have a central nervous system. Which leaves scientists (and tourists) wondering how they actually utilize those images they're receiving. Amazingly, 4 eyes in each set are simple photo-receptor cells (like the ones on your digital camera sensor) and see light and dark, while 2 eyes actually have a retina, lens, and cornea. In fact, the lower eye also has an iris which adjusts to the brightness of light. And they're far-sighted, too.

The bad thing is that they're transparent, so while they might be able to see us, we can't really see them. The good thing is the waters of Australia are fairly free of them during the dry season (May - November), so the risk of getting attached to one is very slim. There have only been two recorded deaths in the history of Irukandji stings. Like you're more likely to get struck by lightning than to get smacked by an Irukandji jelly. So rest easy. And if you're really nervous about it, buy a pair of nylons because they can't sting through them. Unless they're fishnet, but that might be a little weird anyway...

All in all, these little VPC's are the most venomous creatures in the animal kingdom known to man. I think they must have gotten that way by being called "Block Head" and "24 Eyes" in school. But that's just my opinion. I'm going to mind my own business, and pack a bottle of vinegar for lunch. By the way, the best news of all is that there are very few at the reef. Most of them are close to shore. So enjoy your stay, swim with a partner, and be glad for nylons.

If you're interested in a lot more detail, check out the following sites: http://www.marine-medic.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_jellyfish

See you next time!

Rules for Man On the Street

Ok, so while cruisin' around taping, I've discovered a few things that make the experience much more user-friendly. Like making sure people actually WANT to be video taped...

My question is why wouldn't EVERYone want to have their face all over the internet? Um, dunno. Maybe they're practicing to be lawyers, or celebrities in hiding, or criminals, or, uh, maybe vampires. I hear you can't see vampires on tape... (which brings up a strange question: why is it that you CAN'T see vampires on tape, but you CAN see ghosts on tape...hmmm.)

This is the first rule on tape!

Announcing our first Man on the Street...

Ok, so it's on the porch, and it's two women, not one man, but all the same...

So the last couple of days, I've been carting a video camera around asking people two questions:

1) Where is the Great Barrier Reef?
2) How long is the Great Barrier Reef?

The biggest thing I want to do in my videos is convey a sense of what people know (or don't) about the Great Barrier Reef, and to provide answers to the above questions. They are simple questions, but (as you will see) not always common knowledge. And, uh, I don't write this stuff folks. I just shake hands and turn on the camera...

At any rate, I'll be posting various clips giving you guys a glimpse into what's going on upstairs with our fellow citizens. BTW, don't be too hard on them. After all, when did you really know the answers to these things... OH-kay!?

Hope you enjoy! =)

Sea Snake Swim.

See Johnny stare. See snake check Johnny out. See Johnny wet his suit. See snake swim after minnows instead. See Johnny leave snake alone.

Olive sea snake

flickr: by Wibble_Roisin

So goes a theoretical kindergarten book on sea snakes in the ocean and the great respect we should have for them. Critter #2 on the most poisonous list are sea snakes. Keep in mind this list is in no particular order - all these critters deserve a place in it without discrimination.

Around the Great Barrier Reef, there are 14 species of sea snake, more or less. One of the most common is the Olive sea snake, which can grow up to 2 meters in length. It bears live young (as do all but 5 species), and can stay underwater for 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on how active it is. Hey, you could hold your breath that long, too if you had a lung that grew all the way to your shins.

Even cooler, it seems that sea snakes can breathe through their skin, too, which gives them the distinct advantage of being able to get to the surface if they forget to look at their dive watches to see how long they've been down. (Just kidding, they don't really have dive watches...) They can actually meet up to 20% of their oxygen needs through their skin.

Contrary to popular belief, not all sea snakes are venomous. The Turtlehead sea snake, for instance, just eats caviar (a very high society snake). Being against violence, wearing furs, and all that stuff, it doesn't really need any venom.

But, the Olive sea snake does have venom. And it is very curious (just ask Johnny). Fortunately, as a general rule, sea snakes aren't mean-spirited, and won't try to bite you just because you're lookin' at 'em. And they typically have little fangs, and like to conserve their venom. Which is good because like the venom in a lot of sea creatures, the venom of sea snakes is very deadly. It takes up to 100 times as much venom to cause death in humans from a land snake bite as it does from a sea snake bite. Bummer for eels, which are oh, so much smaller than humans... =(

The usual follows upon being bitten. Voluntary muscle paralysis (and disintegration), brown or black pee (those were DEFINITELY the wrong vitamins), and eventually respiratory failure, cardiac arrest and death. The good news is that can take several hours, giving you enough time to get to a hospital and get some HELP!

Check out these VIDEOS on youtube for some more sea snake action, and as always, keep your fingers to yourself... ;-)

Electric Blue Golf Balls of Death

Sounds dramatic because it is. Yeah, while researching the Great Barrier Reef, I stumbled on some nasty little critters. Well, they're only nasty if you're nasty to 'em first, but I've decided to do a TOP TEN list of deadliest critters at the GBR.

Critter #1 - Normally, it trys to blend in to its surroundings and is brownish or greenish, with dull blue rings. Yes it's also the size of a golf ball, kind of like those cute little gremlins back in the '80's. Until you water them. Then, BAM! Three minutes from death. The first top ten selection is the Blue Ringed Octopus. There are actually three confirmed variations of the species.

While it's tiny, it has a beak that can cut through a wet suit, and venom that it mixes with its saliva, so when it bites you, in goes the venom. 3 minutes later, you're in cardiac arrest and respiratory failure. AND, there's no anti-venin for it.

The nice thing is it's very non-aggressive and only bites when it's threatened (i.e. someone tries to pick it up). Fortunately, it's rings glow electric blue like a neon sign when it's feeling insecure. Unfortunately, that's usually a split second before it strikes.

The great news, of course, is that if you get CPR and life-support, you'll be ok when the venom works its way out of your body several hours later. Rule of thumb: Don't pick up little electric blue golf balls of death...

If you want more info, like the ingredients of the toxin (fascinating for all you medical types) check out (you guessed it) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus.























At any rate, tune in tomorrow (later today?) for the next critter in the list, and possibly some footage that I shot today. Have to say it's been fun being the "man on the street" interviewer! AND, I'll be sharing some guidelines I'm picking up in the process of filming...

How Do you Increase Blog Traffic?

Hey, guys. Hope you all are doing well!! I'm not doing so great, as I've caught a cold of some sort, BUT it gave me time to get some more things scratched off the "to-do" list. One of them being to find out how in the heck to increase traffic to my blog.

SO, if you've got a blog and have been wondering the same thing, I found this great site which has loads of tips on how to do it. I found it compliments of my friend Joy Argow (check out her link in my links), a real-life Aussie living here in Music City - and yes, she works with a band (go figure).

Here's the link: http://web2mom.com/10-great-blog-traffic-tips.

Does anyone have any other tips they can share from their experience on how to accomplish that?

At any rate, tomorrow I think I'll be trying to do some VIDEO, and writing a bit about electric blue golf balls that bite...

Lolli-polyps Make for Sweet Reefs

So I've been running around like crazy the last few days, aarrrrrgh! I'm sure you can relate. The list of things to do is like dryer lint. No matter how much you get rid of, it just keeps growing. So it's about time to do some video taping. I think maybe this weekend...

Anyway, there really is no such thing as a lolli-polyp, but there are coral polyps (which you sure as heck don't wanna lick). They belong to the phylum Cnidaria, as do jellyfish. And they have stingers like jellyfish - hence the no licking rule.

So, thousands of polyps grow hard shells all attached using calcium carbonate from the sea water. Millions and millions of these shells together make up reefs, essentially huge structures made out of limestone, housing a cornucopia of polyps of every shape, hue, and color. At the Big Reef there are over 400 species of coral - brain coral, fan coral, branch coral, coral soup, coral gumbo, breaded coral, coral and beans...

Oh, yah, and they're carnivorous. Fortunately they're usually only a few centimeters big, so not to worry, they don't eat too much, mostly plankton, algae poop and stuff like that. And they can reproduce (asexually) by splitting in two or (sexually) by spewing millions of eggs and sperm into the ocean. These connect and hatch tiny new polyps, which then swim down onto the coral reefs to start their own shell domiciles. If they don't get eaten first. By whales. Or fish. Or other corals. Can you imagine if they all survived? I mean, for crying out loud, the Big Reef is already 1200 miles long (well technically, it's over 3000 smaller reefs. Either way you can still see it from space).

So there you have it. The world of the "lolli-polyp". Sweet.

flickr.com - Brian Daniel Eisenberg

















Toadstool Leather Coral - this is a whole colony of polyps, and is so named because it feels like leather to the touch.



wikipedia.com
















Sea Nettles, a type of jellyfish, free-swimming relatives of coral. Did you know they have no respiratory or excretory organs?

I used to want to date a mermaid...

Hey, folks! 20 days left til the app. is in. Still contemplating what to put on the video...

Been a crazy weekend here, what with the Super Bowl, ACDC in town (as witnessed by thousands of peeps with little flashing red devil horns wandering around Nashville last night), and some serious Salsa dancing!! Gotta get in shape for the big reef adventure, you know!

So I promised I'd show you a picture of a mermaid, and uh, drum roll please - HERE SHE IS!














image: october_lee photobucket.com








Well, uh, ok, so the REALLY real ones look like this...








photo: Paulyd - flickr.com


Yeah, and, they're also known as sea cows, not exactly a flattering term to a mermaid...

But more realistic for sure. Actually these mammals, which breathe air and eat grass on the sea bed in warm waters (hence the name "cow"), are credited for the inception of the mermaid legends.

Sailors apparently, seeing them from above slipping through the waters, mistook them for half women and half fish (maybe a little too much rum??), and reports of them from the far seas began to trickle back to the civilized world. These mammals are also known as Dugongs (the Tagalog word for the sea cow).

There are a few thousand Dugong along the Great Barrier Reef, but they are found all over the world in temperate/tropical waters - where it is warm enough for sea grasses to grow. They belong to the order Sirenia and are related to Manatees. They live as long as humans, and can grow up to 9 feet long and weigh up to 880 pounds - so much for the vegetarian diet...

Aaannd, yep, some folks still believe in real mermaids. Check out the link below for the REALLY REALLY real photos of a mermaid (where are all the mermen, I wonder??)

http://www.jacksdivinglocker.com/new/mermaid.htm

SO, if you make it to the Great Barrier Reef, be on the look out for the legendary creatures - you might just find Ariel down there eating some leafy greens...

And if I make it down there, I promise to track one down for you and get a real-live photo of my own for ya!

NEXT TIME: What in the world is a wonky hole?