Philip Spencer, a midshipman in
the U.S. Navy, was hanged at sea while his father, John C. Spencer of New York, was Secretary of War in the cabinet of President John Tyler. The midshipman was convicted of attempting to organize a mutiny on the USS Somers with the intention of converting her into a pirate ship. On December 1, 1842, Spencer and two others were hanged on the yardarm of the brig-of-war at sea.
Native to South America, the electric
eel isn't a true eel, but a specially adapted fish related to carp and catfish.
The electric eel is the most lethal of all
electric fish, capable of producing a charge of 600 volts. Its head is positively charged and its tail is negatively charged.
Torpedo rays and electric catfish,
as well as other fish, produce electric charges.
Electric eels have been used for
medical experiments, in particular in the treatment of rheumatism.
It takes five months to seven years for
an oyster to produce a cultured pearl. The great white shark can detect a
single drop of blood in more than a million gallons of water.
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MARITIME TRIVIA
BY BRYAN HENRY
Virtually blind, the electric eel uses its electricity-generating organs to navigate in its murky water surroundings, and can detect prey with its electric sensors.
In some tropical waters, stingrays
gather by the hundreds in seabed depressions known as ray pits.
Stingrays can crack the hard shell of an oyster with their strong, blunt teeth.
Hammerhead and tiger sharks have a liking for eating stingrays. Stingray spines have been used to
make spear tips, daggers, needles and awls.
Lowtide
Dragging a great white backward
will drown it in minutes. The great white must swim at
a minimum of two miles an hour, 24 hours a day, to maintain enough oxygen in its bloodstream.
Sea cucumbers can detach and throw
out their intestines when attacked by a predator, eventually regenerating a new set of intestines.
Some fish, such as angelfish, have
markings near their fins that resemble eyes, called eyespots, that confuse predators and keep them away from the fish’s head.
During the 18th and 19th centuries,
oysters were so plentiful and inexpensive that they were considered poor man’s feed.
Tsunamis may be only two or three
feet high on the open ocean, but as much as 50 feet high when approaching land.
48° NORTH, JUNE 2010 PAGE 27
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