Amazing Nature
Re: Amazing Nature
It is good that they were able to release it before it ended up on somebodies BBQ!
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: Amazing Nature
Gourmet Market in Bluport sells the Aussie version. I really like them, but only purchase when on a special offer or end of life sale.
Talk is cheap
Re: Amazing Nature
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-27/ ... /101185000Rare Queen of Sheba orchid, 10 years in the making, sighted on WA's south coast
In the Western Australian bush, just outside Bremer Bay in the state's south, grows a rare orchid that botanists, spotters and photographers travel from all around the world to see.
Adorned with stunning shades of purple, blue and yellow, Theylmitra variegata, commonly called the Queen of Sheba orchid, is one of the rarest plants on Earth.
The Queen of Sheba, which only grows wild in the southern parts of WA, is one of the state's most protected species and can take between seven and 10 years to flower.
This month, staff at Tozer's Bush Camp north-west of Bremer Bay spotted their first Queen of Sheba of the year.
Posting to their social media page, they welcomed the sighting.
"Hello girls, good to see you again … One day earlier than last year."
Kevin Thiele is a botanist and taxonomist, and a passionate orchid enthusiast.
While Mr Thiele has a strong appreciation for orchids in general, the Queen of Sheba stands out to him as being particularly special.
"The Queen of Sheba is a very interesting orchid, even amongst orchids it's pretty remarkable," he said.
"There are four or five different variants of it in different parts of Western Australia, but the actual Queen of Sheba is actually extremely limited in range, and now extremely rare.
"Taxonomically, it's complicated because of its lifestyle."
Sun orchid pollinating tricks
The Queen of Sheba belongs to a family of orchids commonly called sun orchids — a family that Mr Thiele says survives by deception.
"All of the sun orchids are deceivers," he said.
"Most plants are pollinated by insects, and they give a reward to the insect that pollinates it … it's a good thing for the insect to visit the flower."
"The sun orchids don't give the insects anything. They trick it. They look like other flowers so the insect's thinking it's going to get a reward, picks up the orchid's pollen on its back and goes away disappointed."
He said this was partly the reason why the patterns and colouring of Queen of Sheba flowers can vary so greatly from each other.
"It's important for them not to look all exactly the same because insects learn," he said.
"If the insects get too disappointed, they're not going to visit and pollinate that flower again, so the orchids are very variable and that makes it hard to figure out what the species are, exactly what they look like, and how to tell them apart."
Mr Thiele says he understands why so many orchid hunters flocked to the state to see the Queen of Sheba and other sub-species native to the state.
"Western Australia is a hotspot for terrestrial orchids," he said.
"They only come up for one part of the year so they're there for only a short period, which means you have to rush around the state looking for orchids.
"There's a real thrill of the chase."
- Even among orchid enthusiasts, the Queen of Sherba orchid is considered particularly special.(Supplied: Terry Dunham)
- bdd0271d072f6fc9809eb7df43efed76.jpg (149.12 KiB) Viewed 738 times
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: Amazing Nature
That is indeed an incredible looking flower. 
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Amazing Nature
Passion Fruit flower.
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Amazing Nature
I don't trust children. They're here to replace us.
Re: Amazing Nature
Petrified tree in Tak certified as Guinness World Record largest
https://thethaiger.com/news/northern-th ... rd-largest
Ah, Thailand: famous for its tropical beaches, delicious food, wild nightlife, and… giant wood? Thailand recently gained a Guinness World Record after unearthing the longest petrified tree trunk log ever found anywhere in the world.
The world record was verified on Friday in Tak, a Northern province of Thailand lying on the Burmese border. The gigantic fossilised log was measured to be about 70 metres meaning it would have stood as large as a 20-storey building. And ancient – the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment estimates the petrified wood to be about 120,000 years old.
The tree was originally discovered in 2003 in Doi Soi Malai National Park in the Ban Tak district of the lower Northern province. At the time it was measured to be 72.22 metres long, but even a 120,000-year-old tree can’t last forever, and a flood through the excavation site managed to break the tip of the log and wash it away, reducing the official length to 69.7 metres.
The wood appears to be of a species still common in local rainforests, the Thong Bueng tree.
By comparison, the tallest living try in the world is believed to be the Hyperion, a giant sequoia in California’s Redwood National Park. It stands at nearly 116 meters tall, about 65% taller than the now world-record-holding petrified tree certified in Tak on Friday.
Still, the petrified log is still taller than the largest known tree in Thailand, which is officially recorded at 64.2 meters and located near Ao Kian beach in Ko Yao Noi, Phang Nga province. The official second tallest tree is by Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi at 49.3 metres, though Giant Tree, a famous landmark on the island of Koh Pha Ngan is said to be 53.5 metres tall.
While 120 millennia is very old, the oldest known petrified wood can be found in the Catskill Mountains of New York in the US, where the Gilboa fossil forest has been estimated to be 385 million years old.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
https://thethaiger.com/news/northern-th ... rd-largest
- phpqyeoPKPM.jpg (167.52 KiB) Viewed 633 times
Ah, Thailand: famous for its tropical beaches, delicious food, wild nightlife, and… giant wood? Thailand recently gained a Guinness World Record after unearthing the longest petrified tree trunk log ever found anywhere in the world.
The world record was verified on Friday in Tak, a Northern province of Thailand lying on the Burmese border. The gigantic fossilised log was measured to be about 70 metres meaning it would have stood as large as a 20-storey building. And ancient – the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment estimates the petrified wood to be about 120,000 years old.
The tree was originally discovered in 2003 in Doi Soi Malai National Park in the Ban Tak district of the lower Northern province. At the time it was measured to be 72.22 metres long, but even a 120,000-year-old tree can’t last forever, and a flood through the excavation site managed to break the tip of the log and wash it away, reducing the official length to 69.7 metres.
The wood appears to be of a species still common in local rainforests, the Thong Bueng tree.
By comparison, the tallest living try in the world is believed to be the Hyperion, a giant sequoia in California’s Redwood National Park. It stands at nearly 116 meters tall, about 65% taller than the now world-record-holding petrified tree certified in Tak on Friday.
Still, the petrified log is still taller than the largest known tree in Thailand, which is officially recorded at 64.2 meters and located near Ao Kian beach in Ko Yao Noi, Phang Nga province. The official second tallest tree is by Tiger Cave Temple in Krabi at 49.3 metres, though Giant Tree, a famous landmark on the island of Koh Pha Ngan is said to be 53.5 metres tall.
While 120 millennia is very old, the oldest known petrified wood can be found in the Catskill Mountains of New York in the US, where the Gilboa fossil forest has been estimated to be 385 million years old.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
Re: Amazing Nature
"Oh God. Oh dear God."
I think I'd have probably used a few different words in a much more panicked state if I was this chap! And I'd have been behind that rock a hell of a lot faster!
I think I'd have probably used a few different words in a much more panicked state if I was this chap! And I'd have been behind that rock a hell of a lot faster!
I don't trust children. They're here to replace us.
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lindosfan1
- Deceased
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- Location: uk
Re: Amazing Nature
Lovely news story. A turtle is given the kiss of life and is saved. About 2 miles from where I used to live.
Woke up this morning breathing that's a good start to the day.
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handdrummer
- Addict
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Re: Amazing Nature
Tourism killed Thailand's most famous bay. Here's how it was brought back to life
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html (Photos & Video)
Maya Bay, Thailand (CNN) — It's just past 7 a.m. on a February morning in Maya Bay, several weeks after authorities reopened what is one of Thailand's most popular tourist attractions to the world for the first time since June 2018 following a massive rehabilitation program.
A lone tourist walks along the shore, the towering limestone monoliths appearing to float over the surface of the water, their bases eroded by millions of years of lapping salt water. In the distance, blacktip sharks swim through the bay, their fins breaking the surface.
It's a surreal scene, having this spectacular cove largely to oneself.
In the hours to follow, a slow but steady trickle of arrivals becomes a deluge as dozens of tourists trudge down a newly erected boardwalk, making their way to the celebrated white-sand beach, phones at the ready as they take selfies and pose for photos.
Those who venture more than a few steps into the water are met with loud whistles from a park official overlooking the beach from a sheltered lifeguard tower nestled in the trees edging the sand; swimming is not allowed, though visitors can wade a few steps in.
But some tourists are seemingly unable to resist the aquamarine waters of the bay and attempt to push the boundaries. One French tourist is issued a 5,000 baht fine (about $137) for repeatedly ignoring the rule.
On the boardwalk, an elderly woman furtively smokes a cigarette near the entrance to the beach -- a strictly no smoking area.
It's disheartening, but a huge improvement over what visitors once experienced here...... (Continued at link)
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/ ... index.html (Photos & Video)
Maya Bay, Thailand (CNN) — It's just past 7 a.m. on a February morning in Maya Bay, several weeks after authorities reopened what is one of Thailand's most popular tourist attractions to the world for the first time since June 2018 following a massive rehabilitation program.
A lone tourist walks along the shore, the towering limestone monoliths appearing to float over the surface of the water, their bases eroded by millions of years of lapping salt water. In the distance, blacktip sharks swim through the bay, their fins breaking the surface.
It's a surreal scene, having this spectacular cove largely to oneself.
In the hours to follow, a slow but steady trickle of arrivals becomes a deluge as dozens of tourists trudge down a newly erected boardwalk, making their way to the celebrated white-sand beach, phones at the ready as they take selfies and pose for photos.
Those who venture more than a few steps into the water are met with loud whistles from a park official overlooking the beach from a sheltered lifeguard tower nestled in the trees edging the sand; swimming is not allowed, though visitors can wade a few steps in.
But some tourists are seemingly unable to resist the aquamarine waters of the bay and attempt to push the boundaries. One French tourist is issued a 5,000 baht fine (about $137) for repeatedly ignoring the rule.
On the boardwalk, an elderly woman furtively smokes a cigarette near the entrance to the beach -- a strictly no smoking area.
It's disheartening, but a huge improvement over what visitors once experienced here...... (Continued at link)
Re: Amazing Nature
Cool photo taken of a killer whale. 
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I don't trust children. They're here to replace us.
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Dannie Boy
- Hero
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