The Coelacanth: A Fish For Time … Any Time

Graphic fact file on the coelacanth, a rare fish once thought to be extinct for millions of years until one was caught in 1938 off the coast of East Africa. A living specimen was caught in Indonesia this year, only the second ever in the region. Image Credit: AFP Graphic

The Coelacanth: A Fish For Time … Any Time

The Coelacanth is just this type of ocean creature.

It has become a fish of our time in that the sightings are so rare that these these occurrences create international attention in the scientific community.

Most scientists believed that this fish was extinct until one was caught and catalogued about 70 years ago, in the Commoros archipelago, off of the coast of Eastern Africa.

Until this latest catch, there was only one other sighting in Indonesia (in the same area, Manado, as this sighting) back in 1998.

Coelacanths, closely related to lungfish, usually live at depths of 656-3,200 feet. They can grow up to 6.5 feet in length and weigh as much as 200 pounds.

This catch was equally unusual, in that, it came on the end of a 360 foot line … about half of the depth that scientists understood this fish could live.

Further, this Coelacanth is a fish for time … any time because it only took a little over two months for information on this capture to make it to general news distribution.

An unidentified researcher measures a coelacanth after it was caught by fishermen at a depth of about 100m off Nungwi, northern Zanzibar July 14, 2007. The fish weighed 27kgs with a total length of 134.8cm. The coelacanth, known from fossil records dating back more than 360 million years, was believed to have become extinct some 80 million years ago until one was caught off the eastern coast of South Africa in 1938 -- a major zoological find. Image Credit: Picture taken July 14, 2007. REUTERS/Dr Narriman Jiddawi/Institute of Marine Sciences in Zanzibar/Handout (TANZANIA)

This from Agence France-Presse (AFP) via Yahoo! News -

Scientists excited by Indonesian-caught coelacanth
By Ronan Bourhis - AFP - Sat Jul 28, 11:06 PM ET

MANADO, Indonesia - Two months ago Indonesian fisherman Justinus Lahama caught a fish so exceptional that an international team of scientists rushed here to investigate.

French experts equipped with sonar and GPS asked Lahama to reconstruct, in his dugout canoe, exactly what it was he did that enabled him to catch a rare coelacanth fish, an awkward-swimming species among the world's oldest.

Indonesian fisherman Justinus Lahama displaying to international researchers how he managed to capture a giant and very rare coelacanth fish in Manado, North Sulawesi, in June. Their fossil records date back more than 360 million years and suggest the animal has changed little in that time. Image Credit: AFP/File/Ronan Bourhis

Last May 19, Lahama and his son Delvy manoevred their frail canoe into the Malalayang river, on the outskirts of Manado, on northern Sulawesi island. Like any other morning, they rowed out to sea and fished within 200 metres (yards) of the beach.
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"I very quickly unrolled the usual trawl line with three hooks, about 110 metres (yards) long, and at the end of three minutes, I felt a large catch," Lahama recounts.

The pull was strong: "I had painful arms -- I felt such a resistance, I thought that I was pulling up a piece of coral."

After 30 minutes of effort under the searing tropical sun, he finally saw a fish swishing at a depth of about 20 metres (65 feet).

"The sea was very calm this day. There was no wind, no clouds, no current. The water was very clear. The fish let itself be drawn in from there," he says.

"It was an enormous fish. It had phosphorescent green eyes and legs. If I had pulled it up during the night, I would have been afraid and I would have thrown it back in," he exclaims.
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Lahama, 48, has fished since he was 10 years old, like his father and his grandfather before him. But he was unlikely to have ever run into this "living fossil" species, as scientists have dubbed the enigmatic fish.

Fin of a very rare coelacanth fish in Manado as Indonesian, Japanese and French specialists (unseen) carry out an autopsy, North Sulawesi, in June. Coelacanths are among the world's oldest fish species. Their fossil records date back more than 360 million years and suggest the animal has changed little in that time. Image Credit: AFP/File/Ronan Bourhis

Lahama's catch, 1.3 metres long and weighing 50 kilograms (110 pounds) was only the second ever captured alive in Asia.
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Their fossil records date back more than 360 million years and suggest that the fish has changed little over that period.
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Returning to port, he [Lahama] showed it off to the most senior fisherman, who became alarmed.

"It is a fish which has legs -- it should be given back to the water. It will bring us misfortune," he told him. But the unsuperstitious Lahama decided to keep it.

After spending 30 minutes out of water, the fish, still alive, was placed in a netted pool in front of a restaurant at the edge of the sea. It survived for 17 hours.

The local fisheries authorities filmed the fish swimming in the metre-deep pool, capturing invaluable images as the species had only previously been recorded in caves at great depths.

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The site of capture, so close to the beach and from a depth of 105 metres, had intrigued the scientists. Does the Indonesian coelacanth live in shallower waters than its cousin in the Commoros?

Lahama's fish is to be preserved and will be displayed in a museum in Manado.
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In Fawnskin ... It’s Short Size That Matters

Downtown Fawnskin looking to the Southeast. The Doo-Dah Parade approaches toward this direction and ends at this corner on Highway 38. Image Credit: Mike Manning

In Fawnskin ... It’s Short Size That Matters

Fawnskin, California: Image Credit: ©2006 Mike Manning

Here on the Oblate Spheroid, up in the San Bernardino mountains, about 100 miles East of Los Angeles, around Big Bear Lake this weekend, the world’s shortest parade - The Fawnskin Doo-Dah Parade, proclaimed as being listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, takes place in a town on the North shore of the lake.

The Fawnskin Doo-Dah Parade even features a “Fly-Over” by two civilian prop-driven planes. Image Credit: Millener Productions

The areas where the parade participants get together and then end are larger than the parade.

This approximately 40 minute parade is one of two parades staged over the summer celebration event here in the Big Bear Lake valley area known as “Old Miners' Days.

Here is what the official website says about Old Miner’s Days and the event:

Old Miners' Days

The Old Miners' program has been an institution in the Big Bear Valley since 1949, with many of the events dating back as far. This year the 4 weekends of festivities will begin with the Picnic at the Lake, a fundraiser to help support other activities, mainly the OMD Parade, and ends with that annual parade - traditionally the first Sunday in August.
Reference Here>>

Old Miners' Days Doo Dah Parade
Saturday, July 28

This parade is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the shortest parade at 3 blocks long, but what a punch it packs!

Off-the-wall, cheeky, and outright funny is how this event is often described by those that attend. You'll have a good belly laugh at this one-of-a-kind parade that spoofs the Old Miners' Day Parade in August.

"Nuns" - Big Bear Valley C.A.T.S. (Community Arts Theater Society) - Image Credit: ©2005 Edmund Jenks

Don't be surprised to see men dressed as nuns, toilet paper floats, and everything else imaginable. The DooDah Parade is only 3 blocks long, so get there early for a good seat because anything goes at this sometimes odd but tremendously fun event!!
Reference And Additioal Information Here>>

Additional information about the history and background of Fawnskin -

Fawnskin, California

Fawnskin, California is an unincorporated community of San Bernardino County located on the north shore, more specifically at Grout Bay, of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino National Forest. It sits at an elevation of 6750 feet at the north end of Grout Bay and is bordered by Big Bear City to its east. Directly across the lake is the incorporated City of Big Bear Lake, California.

The small township was once an artist’s colony. Mountain travelers in the 1800s came to the Big Bear Valley through Fawnskin on the rough road by stagecoach and later motorcars. Several other names were temporarily chosen for the North Shore village including Cline-Miller, Bald Eagle Valley, Big Bear Village, Oso Grande and Grout.

The village has always been an attraction to vacationers seeking a retreat from city life in its mountain terrain. Several hundred homes are in the forested mountainside adjacent to the forest.

Gold miners, loggers and hunters were drawn to the adjacent Holcomb Valley during the 1800s. One urban legend is that some hunters discovered deer (fawn) skins stretched out to dry in the sun. Hence, the area became known as Fawn Skin and later Fawnskin.
Fawnskin was once the hub of lakeside acivity, serving as a stagecoach stop and tourist attraction with hotels and dining.

The town includes the Fawn Lodge, built in 1917, but now closed. The Pedersen Saw Mill, which lies just west of the lodge, and the historic post office which lies to the east of it, which is now a private home rental. Downtown Fawnskin has some of the oldest buildings in the valley.

Once popular for camping, the Lighthouse Camp and Landing is the only surviving north shore camp from the 1920s. Hanna Flats and a YMCA camp located within the forest above Fawnskin remain favorites of vacationers.

Image Credit: ©2005 Edmund Jenks

Fawnskin events include the comic Doo Dah Parade, the Loggers’ Jubilee and the Fawnskin Festival. The town also claims the only "honest" election in the nation: anyone can vote for the Fawnskin Mayor, votes are donations of a quarter. The candidate who wins is the one who raises the most money. Hence, the town "buys" their politicians.

Today Fawnskin is designated as a protective habitat for Golden and American Bald Eagles. They return annually to the valley from November to April.

In 1998, the multi-million dollar Big Bear Discovery Center was built and plans to expand. The facility is operated by a partnership between the US Forest Service and the San Bernardino National Forest Association. The grounds around the center are the projected new home for the Big Bear Zoo, presently located at Moonridge on the south shore.

A variety of celebrities live in the area. Two publishers operate out of Fawnskin and several writers live there full time including Bradley L. Winch, Diana L. Guerrero, Rita Robinson, and William Sarabande. Actress/singer Shirley Jones and her husband actor/comedian Marty Ingles also own a home in Fawnskin. Marty Ingles and Shirley Jones created Fawn Park in downtown Fawnskin to prevent development. This park has been closed since July 2006 due to a dispute between Marty and the residents.

The small area contains other parks such as the Old Miller School House Park, Dana Point Park, and the Don Conroy Memorial Park.
Reference Here>>

ADDITIONAL PARADE PHOTOS CATALOGED HERE>>

“Emotionally Double-Parked”: Big Reaction To A Small Town Honor

Great American Race 2007 competitors arrive on the tarmac at the Big Bear Lake Airport for the final pitstop of the race. Image Credit: KBHR

“Emotionally Double-Parked”: Big Reaction To A Small Town Honor

For many decades now, there has been a hamlet in the rugged, Ponderosa and Fir covered mountains of San Bernardino located about 100 miles East of LAX, that has provided an island of serenity and small town charm with little fanfare and recognition.

Last week, all of that lack of recognition changed just a little when The Great American Race bestowed the honor of the title - Great American City!

Map of the Great American Race 2007 route. Image Credit: The Great Race

At last weekend's awards ceremony in Anaheim, the drivers of the Great American Race named Big Bear Lake the Great American City out of their 43 cross-country pitstops (roughly 4,000 miles), from Concord, North Carolina to Anaheim, California.

The Great American Race began in 1982 when an auto enthusiast, Curtis Graf, and
a close friend, Tom McRae, both of Dallas, Texas, learned about a cross-country
rally for classic cars. They approached Norman Miller, a fellow Texan and
president of Interstate Batteries, about sponsoring the pair if they entered the
race. Miller agreed. Within weeks, the original promoter had lost interest and
the entrepreneurial McRae soon found himself in partnership with Miller in
promoting the inaugural Interstate Batteries Great American Race.

Knott’s Berry Farm, an amusement park in Buena Park, Calif., hosted the
official start when 69 classic cars took the green flag, waved by Tony Curtis,
star of the 1960s movie “The Great Race.” Seven days later, 62 vehicles finished
in Indianapolis, Indiana, and the Great Race was on its way. (ht: The Great Race)

The race for 2007 (the 25th anniversary edition) decided to include Big Bear Lake on the list of cities in which to stage a pitstop due largely to the lobbying efforts of the president of Bear Valley's own antique car club - Cliff Fowler.

To people who are familiar with Big Bear, Cliff Fowler is a recognizable fixture and personality in that he can be heard on the local radio station, 93.3 FM - KBHR (K-Bear), delivering the weekly fishing report titled "Fowlers Fish Tales". Most people tune in to hear some of Cliff's most famous phrases, delivered in a studied and punctuated style, that may include "that beautiful blue jewel located 7,000 feet up in the San Bernardino mountains", "for the bait boys ... a sliding egg sinker and Goo [Eagle Claw Nitro, Power Bait] or Wigglers off the bottom for some good action along the shore”, and ".... so pull up a rock and teach a worm how to swim, this is Cliff Fowler … for this week’s edition of … Fowler’s Fish Tales".

Great American Race participants made their way up Cushenbury Grade to Big Bear Valley on July 13. They left from Laughlin, Nev., on that morning for what turned out to be a long day. Fowler called the penultimate day of the Great American Race brutal for the drivers.

Cresting the mountain at Cushenbury Grade road that leads from Lucerne in the Mojave desert before a relaxing stopover at the Big Bear Lake Airport. Image Credit: Great American Race

This from The Great Race website –

Big Bear Lake, California wins 2007 Great American City Award
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - July 15, 2007

After the 2007 Great Race participants visited 44 different communities; enjoying celebratory welcomes all the way across America, they voted Big Bear Valley, California the best of the best, giving them the prestigious Great American City Award and $5,000 for their local library. The Big Bear Lake Antique Car Club spearheaded the event and started working on it five months before the arrival of the Great Race. The event was held at the Big Bear Airport as a Pit Stop for the racers on Friday, July 13th, which was also the last day of competition.

“I’m emotionally double parked,” stated Cliff Fowler, Big Bear Lake Antique Car Club President. “Earning the award was something I had a personal vision to do everything in the world to accomplish. I was so honored that thousands of people in town came out for this once in a lifetime event, that’s what Big Bear is all about. We only have 17,000 people who live here, but when it comes to a common cause like this they show their true colors.”

In a scene reminiscent of the 1960’s movie “The Great Race,” thousands lined the winding mountain roads leading into and out of town to cheer on the racers. The reception was a welcome relief after their drive out of the California desert and 120 degree temperatures in Laughlin, NV. Locals waved home made banners, posters and American flags while cheering the racers up the mountain to the community’s 7,000-foot elevation.

“It was a tough choice for the racers with so many great stops to choose from,” said Bill Ewing, CEO of Rally Partners, Inc. “There were so many memorable stops that it was a difficult choice, but Big Bear’s enthusiasm and warmth won out.” With the help from many local sponsors they were able to shower the racers with gifts such as a commemorative hat, a coffee mug and a wooden carved bear driving a red sports car which was raffled off at the competitors final awards ceremony.

“Big Bear was one of my favorite towns,” said Bob LaBine, winner of the 2007 Great American Race. “It was great traveling up the roads and seeing so many people greeting you with signs.”

Portions of Blake Edwards’ 1965 film “The Great Race” were filmed in Big Bear Valley, among other locales in the Big Bear mountain region. The movie was loosely based on the original Great Race that took place in 1908. In 2008, the Great Race will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1908 race from New York to Paris with The Great Race 2008: New York to Paris.

This was the first time the Great Race had ever been through Big Bear, but it will not be the last.
Reference Here>>

And these excerpts from the Big Bear Grizzly -

Drivers overwhelmed by Valley hospitality
By JUDI BOWERS - Saturday July 18, 2007 - Big Bear Grizzly

They came, they saw and they definitely liked Big Bear. So much so, the Great American Race drivers voted Big Bear as the Great American City.

When the Great American Race 2007 rolled into Big Bear July 13, they were welcomed by thousands of open arms. The Big Bear community turned out to greet the drivers and navigators as they made their way from Yucca Valley up Highway 18 to Big Bear Airport. The welcome didn’t stop there.

Competitors get a grand sendoff as they crest the Onyx Summit when they left Big Bear Lake and the Big Bear Valley, down highway 38 on to the finale in Anaheim. Image Credit: The Great Race

Big Bear also waved goodbye as the teams left Big Bear Airport and headed out of town on Highway 38 over Onyx Summit. Groups of people waited at turnouts along the highway and at Onyx Summit waving, sporting signs and cheering the drivers on.
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Cliff Fowler of the Big Bear Antique Car Club organized the pit stop in Big Bear. He said the community support put Big Bear over the top as the drivers voted for their top pit stop. There were 45 to choose from. The racers left Concord, N.C., June 30 and made 45 stops along the way.

“It was miraculous,” Fowler said, adding the town came together for a common goal.

Pam Heiman, branch librarian, is thrilled. “We’re pretty ecstatic around here,” Heiman said. She gushed about how fun the event was, how the community under Fowler’s leadership and organization put forth a combined effort. She said it was fun and whether Big Bear won or not, it was a positive experience.
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Big Bear Lake Airport Landing (tarmac location)

In Big Bear, the flavor of the town began as the cars made their way up the highway from Yucca Valley. Greeters lined the road with signs and flags and more. When the cars arrived at Big Bear airport, they were greeted by hundreds on the tarmac. The drivers and navigators were given gifts and food, and a ticket. The ticket was for a drawing to be held at the rally’s end July 14. George Crezee of Unreal Furnishings, created a bear carving commemorating the Great Race. The carving was sent to the finale site and presented to the holder of the winning ticket there, Fowler said.

Fowler said that Wayne Stanfield, chief operating officer for race organizers Rally Partners, told him the Great Race hadn’t seen this type of enthusiasm from a community in 20 years.

“I could not be prouder of this town,” Fowler said. He said the experience and winning the award leave him very emotional.

Fowler thanked the sponsors, the city of Big Bear Lake, San Bernardino County, the Resort Association, Chamber of Commerce, KBHR and Stater Bros. for the financial support. He said the town couldn’t have pulled off a pit stop of this magnitude without them.

The participants in the Great American Race 2007 left Big Bear with a warm and fuzzy feeling, which is just what Fowler had planned.
Reference Here>>

The Era Of General Fiber Ethanol Begins

How It Works (steps and link below) - Image Credit: Range Fuels

The Era Of General Fiber Ethanol Begins

Range Fuels, a company that is in the lead on building conversion plants that can take ANY fiber material (switch grasses, chaff, wood chips, mown grass, fallen tree limbs, waste stalks from corn production as opposed to the food – corn, and etc.) and convert it to Ethanol fuel has just been selected to construct the first commercially viable “Cellulosic” based power plant by the state of Georgia.

The reason this is truly “Peachy” isn’t that Georgia is the leading producer of a nuisance waste plant - KUDZU – but that this type of Ethanol production is the path to the change over from finite fossil fuels to renewable, human produce-able fuel resource.

This type of fuel production is very efficient. Cellulosic Ethanol can contain up to 16 times more energy than is required to create it! This is quite impressive when one considers that fossil fuel gasoline contains only 5 times more energy than was required to create it … and corn or sugar based ethanol contains only 1.3 times the energy required to create it.

So, let the era of sustainable general fiber Ethanol fuel production begin!

Image Credit: Range Fuels

Excerpts from the Range Fuels website –

Range Fuels awarded permit to construct the nation’s first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant
Independence Day marks the start of our country’s independence from fossil fuels
Range Fuels News Release - Palo Alto, CA. and Broomfield, CO – July 2, 2007

Range Fuels announced today that the company was awarded a construction permit from the state of Georgia to build the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States. Ground breaking will take place this summer in Treutlen County, Georgia for a 100-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant that will use wood waste from Georgia’s forests as its feedstock. Phase 1 of the plant is scheduled to complete construction in 2008 with a production capacity of 20 million gallons a year.

“We are thrilled to receive this permit and anticipate the construction of many plants throughout Georgia and the Southeast using wood waste to make ethanol,” said Mitch Mandich, CEO of Range Fuels. “With Independence Day on July 4, we are excited to begin the march toward independence from our country’s reliance on fossil fuel.”
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"The Department is pleased that the country is one step closer to making the widespread use of cellulosic ethanol a reality," U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. "This furthers the President's goal of deploying clean, renewable energy into the marketplace, and we are eager for the results of Range Fuels’ work, and the work of the other biorefinery grant recipients, to help increase energy security and enhance economic growth."

Range Fuels is at the forefront of new proprietary technology for producing cellulosic ethanol. While most domestic ethanol production requires corn as a feedstock, Range Fuels' proprietary process does not. The country’s ability to make corn ethanol is limited by the agricultural land available to grow it. The latest estimates predict that corn ethanol can only produce up to 15 billion gallons per year. On the other hand, the U.S. Department of Energy, in their joint report with the USDA, has identified over one billion tons of biomass annually that could be converted to biofuels, like ethanol. Range Fuels’ technology can transform all of this biomass, including wood chips, agricultural wastes, grasses, and cornstalks as well as hog manure, municipal garbage, sawdust and paper pulp into ethanol. The company has already successfully tested close to 30 types of biomass for producing ethanol.

Image Credit: Range Fuels

The company’s technology completely eliminates enzymes which have been an expensive component of cellulosic ethanol production. Range Fuels’ thermo-chemical conversion process, the K2 system, uses a two step process to convert the biomass to synthesis gas, and then converts the gas to ethanol. In addition to the ability to process a broad range of potential biomass feedstock, the K2 system benefits from a modular design.
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The company selected Georgia for its first plant based upon the abundance of forest refuse and the renewable and sustainable forest industry. The state has demonstrated great stewardship of its forest lands and environmental sensitivity. The forests of Georgia can support up to 2 billion gallons a year of cellulosic ethanol production.

Range Fuels, with Governor Perdue, announced plans to build the plant on February 7 of this year.
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Technology

Range Fuels has invented a two-step thermo-chemical process to produce cellulosic ethanol. Even if these words are foreign to you, the positives are sure to resonate: the process is self-sustaining, produces virtually no waste products, emits very low levels of greenhouse gases, and produces high yields of clean ethanol.

A Design Driven by Efficiency
Our focus on efficiency goes beyond how we produce ethanol – it also extends to where we produce it. Our distributive design lets us bring systems to sources where biomass is most plentiful, instead of having to transport biomass to a central processing site. This reduces transportation costs and related transportation fuel consumption. Our modularity also allows the system to grow as more biomass becomes available. Simply adding another module – which is easy to ship and install – immediately doubles the output. We put our systems where they are needed, in just the size that is needed.

Nature’s Way
Our entire approach is based upon the invention of eco-friendly technology. The best evidence of this is that we produce more ethanol per energy input than competing technologies. Nature likes this. Especially since everything going in is plant and waste material that serves no useful purpose. We call this conversion "waste to value," and this thrust is what motivates us to keep working our hardest.

Our Two-Step Thermo-Chemical Process

Step 1: Solids to Gas
Biomass (plant matter) that cannot be used for food and currently serves no useful purpose, such as agricultural waste, is fed into a converter. Using heat, pressure, and steam the feedstock is converted into synthesis gas (syngas), which is conditioned before entering the second step.

Step 2: Gas to Liquids
The conditioned syngas is passed over a catalyst and transformed into alcohols. These alcohols are then separated and processed to yield a variety of liquid products, specifically ethanol of a quality suitable for use in fueling vehicles.

Image Credit: Range Fuels

A Simple Process
Because Range Fuels’ process utilizes a thermo-chemical process, it relies on the chemical reactions and conversions between forms that naturally occur when certain materials are mixed under specific combinations of temperature and pressure. Other conversion processes use enzymes, yeasts, and other biological means to convert between forms.

Feedstock Flexibility
The Range Fuels process accommodates a wide range of organic feedstocks of various types, sizes, and moisture contents. This flexibility eliminates commercial problems related to fluctuations in feed material quality and ensures success in the real world, far from laboratory-controlled conditions.

Tested and True
Range Fuels’ technology has been tested and proven in bench and pilot-scale units for over 7 years. Over 8,000 hours of testing has been completed on over 20 different non-food feedstocks with varying moisture contents and sizes, including wood waste, olive pits, and more. This technology will be used in our first facility planned for a site near Soperton, Georgia.

Range Fuels K2 Process Graphically Explained Here>>

Curious Cephalopod Capture Creates Controversy

An unidentified sea creature, termed an "octosquid," was found last week off Keahole Point on the Big Island. Image Credit: Honolulu Star Bulletin

Curious Cephalopod Capture Creates Controversy

On a day when “Live Earth – The Concerts For A Climate In Crisis” is trying to bring awareness to the perils of the Earth going through its process of climate transition from cooler to warmer to cooler again … we see this item here while riding on this blue orb shaped as an Oblate Spheroid and discover that humankind never has ALL of the answers.

This new discovery is a cephalopod combination never before seen. This animal found off of the coast of the big island, Hawaii, appears to be a cross between an octopus and a squid (as if that might even be possible) may very well represent a new species of mollusk.



Excerpts from the Honolulu Star Bulletin -

Curious creature caught off Keahole Point
The animal, dubbed an "octosquid," is found off the Big Isle
By Brittany P. Yap / byap@starbulletin.com - Thursday, July 5, 2007

It's a squid, it's an octopus, it's ... a mystery from the deep.

What appears to be a half-squid, half-octopus specimen found off Keahole Point on the Big Island remains unidentified today and could possibly be a new species, said local biologists.

The specimen was found caught in a filter in one of Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority's deep-sea water pipelines last week. The pipeline, which runs 3,000 feet deep, sucks up cold, deep-sea water for the tenants of the natural energy lab.
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According to Richard Young, an oceanography professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the specimen tentatively belongs to the genus Mastigoteuthis, but the species is undetermined.
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Jan War, operations manager at NELHA, who termed the specimen "octosquid" for the way it looked, said it was about a foot long, with white suction cups, eight tentacles and an octopus head with a squidlike mantle.

The octosquid was pulled to the surface, along with three rattail fish and half a dozen satellite jellyfish, and stayed alive for three days. According to War, the lab usually checks its filters once a month, but this time, it put a plankton net in one of the filters and checked it two weeks later.

The pitch-black conditions at 3,000 feet below sea level are unfamiliar to most but riveting to scientists who have had the opportunity to submerge. The sea floor is full of loose sediment, big boulders and rocks, and a lot of mucuslike things floating in the water, which are usually specimens that died at the surface and drifted to the bottom.

"It's quite fascinating," War said. "When you get below 700 feet, it's a totally different world. Lots of fish have heads like a fish and a body like an eel. There are fish floating in a vertical position, with the head up, and don't move unless they're disturbed."
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"It's a beautiful squid. It's a gorgeous ruby red color," Christopher Kelley, program biologist for the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory, said. "We really enjoy these little mysteries that come up."
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In October, NELHA will be checking its deep-sea pipelines, something that usually happens every eight to 10 years, because it is worried that something might have happened to them during the earthquakes in October.

"If it's a new species, (NELHA) would like to name it," War said. "But that is sort of the honor of whoever classifies it."
Reference Here>>

For while most zebra-horse crossbreeds sport stripes across their entire body, Eclyse only has two such patches, on its face and rear. Image Credit: Daily Mail

So what do you think? Is it a half & half creation as in a half Horse and half Zebra mating ... or is this creature a new species altogether?