Aquarium springs a leak in Dubai Mall

by Kraig Becker on

The giant fish tank inside the Dubai Mall sprang a leak Wednesday, pouring water out into the halls, and stranding some shoppers inside an elevator for 45 minutes, while others scrambled to reach dry ground. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene to repair the crack, as 100 retail shops near by closed for business and custodial personnel worked to contain the flooding.

Everything about the famous tank, which has been a big draw with visitors, is massive. It contains more than 2.6 million gallons of water and over 33,000 fish, including 400 sharks. It offers the largest acrylic viewing panel of any aquarium in the world, at roughly 892 square feet , and with a thickness of nearly 30 inches, it remains unclear how the crack developed.

Fortunately, the leak was patched relatively quickly, and no fish were harmed while the crews worked to contain the spill. Some of the nearby shops did sustain water damage however, and the area around the leak remained closed yesterday while maintenance crews evaluated the damage.

The initial leak was caught on video by a nearby witness, and while the resolution is poor, it still gives you an idea of what it was like when the water started flowing.

Wild animal travel: Where the hunter becomes the hunted

by Katie Hammel on

There’s nothing quite like seeing a wild animal in its natural habitat. It’s why people go on safari in South Africa to see lions and elephants, trek through the jungles of Borneo in search of monkeys, and submerge themselves in steel cages off the coast of Baja California to swim with Great White sharks. But it’s important to remember that despite the precautions taken by tour guides and rangers, these are still wild animals and getting close to them in nature carries some risks. In other words: there’s a reason that safari guide carries a gun.

Forbes Traveler has put together a list of “10 Places Where Animals Eat You”, a collection of destinations where the danger of visiting wild animals in nature is greater. Among the spots that made the list are Khao Sok National Park in Thailand, where cobras kill several hundred people per year; South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, where aggressive hippos have been known to flip boats and even eat people; and Ranthambhore Bagh, India, where around 100 people are attacked by tigers each year.

The article goes on to detail other encounters with wild animals, like when the girlfriend of a Tanzanian guide had her sleeping bag dragged 30 yards by a lion, while she was sound asleep in it. It seems animal attacks can happen almost anywhere though, and the danger certainly won’t stop most people from visiting these areas to see wild animals up close. You may just want to think twice about wandering too far away from your guide.

Shark shutdown looms in Hawaii

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Some native Hawaiians are looking to bring an end to shark tours, despite their popularity among tourists. They cite cultural concerns, according to a report by MSNBC, while surfers and environmentalists are worried that the animals could begin to associate people with lunchtime. Meanwhile, federal regulators are doing what they do best … investigating.

Of course, tourists don’t respond all that well to arguments made from cultural sensitivity. But, the notion that they could wind up fish food is gaining some momentum. George Burgess, who researches sharks at the University of Florida, believes that sharks will go where they are fed daily, which could deplete other forms of marine life in these areas … and leave populations elsewhere unchecked. There is conflicting research from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

Federal law generally doesn’t allow shark-feeding off Pacific island territories and Hawaii, but this doesn’t stop the tour operators, which claim to be operating within the law.

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Freighter busted with a ton of cocaine hidden in dead sharks

by Annie Scott on

Cocaine shark? Has a new meaning.

There’s a new way to smuggle cocaine into the U.S. from Mexico: put it in a dead shark.

I have to give them credit. It’s a brilliant scheme. You could be all like “oh gosh, officer, I don’t know why the shark did so much coke — looks like that’s what killed him, though. Oh well. Mystery solved. He was kinda talkin’ my ear off. I need to take him to Miami to be cremated, cool?”

According to The BBC News:

“We are talking about more than a tonne of cocaine that was inside the ship,” said Mexican Navy Commander Eduardo Villa. “Those in charge of the shipment said it was a conserving agent but after checks we confirmed it was cocaine.”

Apparently, x-rays and sniffer dogs uncovered the great white deception on the freighter in the Gulf coast port of Progreso in Yucatan state.

We feel it would have been more appropriate to smuggle the coke in blowfish.

Swim with sharks at Dubai mall

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Dubai just changed how we’ll all look at malls forever. The Dubai Mall could have changed the rules simply by installing an aquarium and zoo … or gone even crazier by putting sharks in the water. Hell, watching sharks swim is a great way to eat your Auntie Ann’s pretzel. In Dubai, you can have your friend hold your pretzel while you put on a wetsuit and hop right in!

At the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo within the mall, visitors can slide into a 10 million-liter tank with sand tiger sharks, reef sharks and leopard sharks – not to mention giant groupers and stingrays.

Certified divers can arrive at the mall an hour before the dive (which lasts 20 – 30 minutes), while non-certified divers need to take a SCUBA course (noon on Thursday or Saturday). Certified divers will need to spend $225, with $300 for those who aren’t certified.