Two men were scuba diving in Peace River, located in Arcadia, Florida, when they made one massive discovery. They found a gigantic bone belonging to a now-extinct Columbian mammoth.
Derek Demeter and Henry Sadler were searching for fossils in the river when they came upon the huge 4-foot-long, 50-pound leg bone. In fact, the discovery was completely unexpected as they had initially planned on diving for shark teeth in the Floridian city of Venice, but the wind was so strong that they instead went to Arcadia’s Peace River.
And it certainly worked out for them as the mammoth bone was their greatest ever discovery as Sadler described, “You know the wind kicked us out of Venice, so we went there and had one of the most epic days I have ever had.”
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Between June and December 2017 alone, eight fishermen operating out of Isla San Esteban, Mexico, illegally caught and killed as many as 14 great white sharks. Plying the waters of the Gulf of California in small boats known as
pangas, they hunted down the enormous fish, hauled them to remote beaches, and dismembered them. To conceal their activity, they mixed the flesh in with their legal catch. From each shark the fishermen kept a tooth. From one, they extracted a full set of jaws.
Marine biologist Daniel J. Madigan, now with the University of Windsor in Ontario, was setting up a research project in the area at the time. While interviewing fishermen about their practices and the species they encountered, he heard rumors of shark poaching.
Florida on a Tankful: Itâs the Survival of the ⦠Slowest
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What You Need To Know
The exhibit looks at some of the slowest animals
From lizards to turtles and even a sloth
All through the exhibit, you ll get a live look at some of the slowest animals from lizards and snakes, to turtles and even a sloth.
You will find colorful graphics and touchscreens throughout the exhibit, teaching you fun facts about warm versus cold-blooded body temperatures and how the animals vary in size speed and energy use.
âWe actually think some of the scalier animals and scary animals actually provide even more educational opportunities because there are more misconceptions surrounding them that we can help people overcome,â said biologist Delivis Niedzialek.
North Florida Museums Interact With Public Despite COVID-19 Challenges
By Franki Rosenthal
January 8, 2021
Walking through the empty gallery halls at the Matheson History Museum in Gainesville every day hurts Dixie Neilson to her core. The museum has been closed to visitors since March, and as quiet as museums typically are, these bare walls and silence felt different.
“It’s a challenge for us both physically and emotionally,” said Neilson, the executive director. “We love the public, and we really want them to share things with us.”
But they all are facing significant financial hits as the pandemic continues to ravage the nation.