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Rays of bright sunshine broke through the clouds creating some really dramatic light in Glen Affric. The only problem was keeping the flare on the lens contained.
Wakihonjin (脇本陣)
Tsumago (妻籠) is a "Post Town" on Nakasendo (中山道) the old route from Kyoto to Edo (Tokyo). During the Edo period (17th century) that Shoguns ruled Japan, the feudal lords were required to come to Edo once every two years to pay respects to the Shogun. The Nakasendo trail was one of the two routes that they could take from Kyoto. And the post towns along the way were places for trading and for spending the night and had 69 post towns along the way, one of which was Tsumago.
The Honjin (本陣) was the principal inn and served government officials who were traveling through. When more lodging was required, the Wakihonjin (脇本陣) served to accommodate the travelers of lower status. Tsumago also maintains the office where laborers and horses were rented to aid in travel.
The town has been beautifully restored with a broad stone walkway lined with carefully tended foliage. Cars are prohibited on the main street in the day and phone lines and power cables are kept concealed, allowing visitors to imagine they have slipped back to an earlier time.
Tsumago-juku (妻籠宿) Nagiso town, Nagano Pref. Japan
Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo is home to thousands of aquatic animals, comprising over 140 species. Over 400 Sharks and Rays live in our 10 million litre tank, including Sand Tiger Sharks, Giant Groupers, and a host of other marine species. The 10-million-liter Dubai Aquarium tank, located on the Ground Level of The Dubai Mall, is one of the largest suspended aquariums in the world.
Out shooting with Foolframe & Alphatbird today. Foolframe is not a fan of photoshoping shots soo seeing as he drove all day, I have not touched this shot apart from using ps to convert to jpeg and frame.However I might post another in he future which has;0p
Batoidea is a superorder of cartilaginous fishes, commonly known as rays. They and their close relatives, the sharks, comprise the subclass Elasmobranchii. Rays are the largest group of cartilaginous fishes, with well over 600 species in 26 families. Rays are distinguished by their flattened bodies, enlarged pectoral fins that are fused to the head, and gill slits that are placed on their ventral surfaces.
Batoids are flat-bodied, and, like sharks, are cartilaginous fish, meaning they have a boneless skeleton made of a tough, elastic cartilage. Most batoids have five ventral slot-like body openings called gill slits that lead from the gills, but the Hexatrygonidae have six. Batoid gill slits lie under the pectoral fins on the underside, whereas a shark's are on the sides of the head. Most batoids have a flat, disk-like body, with the exception of the guitarfishes and sawfishes, while most sharks have a spindle-shaped body. Many species of batoid have developed their pectoral fins into broad flat wing-like appendages. The anal fin is absent. The eyes and spiracles are located on top of the head. Batoids have a ventrally located mouth and can considerably protrude their upper jaw (palatoquadrate cartilage) away from the cranium to capture prey. The jaws have euhyostylic type suspension, which relies completely on the hyomandibular cartilages for support. Bottom-dwelling batoids breathe by taking water in through the spiracles, rather than through the mouth as most fish do, and passing it outward through the gills.
Batoids reproduce in a number of ways. As is characteristic of elasmobranchs, batoids undergo internal fertilization. Internal fertilization is advantageous to batoids as it conserves sperm, does not expose eggs to consumption by predators, and ensures that all the energy involved in reproduction is retained and not lost to the environment. All skates and some rays are oviparous (egg laying) while other rays are ovoviviparous, meaning that they give birth to young which develop in a womb but without involvement of a placenta.
The eggs of oviparous skates are laid in leathery egg cases that are commonly known as mermaid's purses and which often wash up empty on beaches in areas where skates are common.
Capture-induced premature birth and abortion (collectively called capture-induced parturition) occurs frequently in sharks and rays when fished. Capture-induced parturition is rarely considered in fisheries management despite being shown to occur in at least 12% of live bearing sharks and rays (88 species to date).
Most species live on the sea floor, in a variety of geographical regions – mainly in coastal waters, although some live in deep waters to at least 3,000 metres (9,800 ft). Most batoids have a cosmopolitan distribution, preferring tropical and subtropical marine environments, although there are temperate and cold-water species. Only a few species, like manta rays, live in the open sea, and only a few live in freshwater, while some batoids can live in brackish bays and estuaries.
Most batoids have developed heavy, rounded teeth for crushing the shells of bottom-dwelling species such as snails, clams, oysters, crustaceans, and some fish, depending on the species. Manta rays feed on plankton.
Batoids belong to the ancient lineage of cartilaginous fishes. Fossil denticles (tooth-like scales in the skin) resembling those of today's chondrichthyans date at least as far back as the Ordovician, with the oldest unambiguous fossils of cartilaginous fish dating from the middle Devonian. A clade within this diverse family, the Neoselachii, emerged by the Triassic, with the best-understood neoselachian fossils dating from the Jurassic. The oldest confirmed ray is Antiquaobatis, from the Pliensbachian of Germany. The clade is represented today by sharks, sawfish, rays and skates.
The classification of batoids is currently undergoing revision; however, molecular evidence refutes the hypothesis that skates and rays are derived sharks. Nelson's 2006 Fishes of the World recognizes four orders. The Mesozoic Sclerorhynchoidea are basal or incertae sedis; they show features of the Rajiformes but have snouts resembling those of sawfishes. However, evidence indicates they are probably the sister group to sawfishes. Phylogenetic tree of Batoidea:
Order Torpediniformes
Family Hypnidae (coffin rays)
Family Narcinidae (numbfishes)
Family Narkidae (sleeper rays)
Family Torpedinidae (torpedo rays)
Order Rhinopristiformes
Family Glaucostegidae (giant guitarfishes)
Family Platyrhinidae* (fanrays)
Family Pristidae (sawfishes)
Family Rhinidae (wedgefishes)
Family Rhinobatidae (guitarfishes)
Family Trygonorrhinidae (banjo rays)
Family Zanobatidae* (panrays)
* the placement of these families is uncertain
Order Rajiformes
Family Anacanthobatidae (legskates)
Family Arhynchobatidae (softnose skates)
Family Gurgesiellidae (pygmy skates)
Family Rajidae (skates)
Order Myliobatiformes
Family Aetobatidae (pelagic eagle rays)
Family Dasyatidae (whiptail stingrays)
Family Gymnuridae (butterfly rays)
Family Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingrays)
Family Myliobatidae (devilrays)
Family Plesiobatidae (giant stingarees)
Family Potamotrygonidae (Neotropical stingrays)
Family Rhinopteridae (cownose rays)
Family Urolophidae (stingarees)
Family Urotrygonidae (round stingrays)
According to a 2021 study in Nature, the number of oceanic sharks and rays has declined globally by 71% over the preceding 50 years, jeopardising "the health of entire ocean ecosystems as well as food security for some of the world's poorest countries". Overfishing has increased the global extinction risk of these species to the point where three-quarters are now threatened with extinction. This is notably the case in the Mediterranean Sea - most impacted by unregulated fishing - where a recent international survey of the Mediterranean Science Commission concluded that only 38 species of rays and skates still subsisted.
All sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish, contrasting with bony fishes. Many rays are adapted for feeding on the bottom. Guitarfishes are somewhat between sharks and rays, displaying characteristics of both (though they are classified as rays).
Dear Mother Nature,
The storm clouds with the sun rays are rather striking but it's been a long winter and don't you think it is time for a change? Blue skies and new blossoms are pretty too!
Thanks in advance, Calgary.
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Another snowy day but the clouds did break up slightly to let the rays shine through.
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one hundred-nine/365
Only the second time in my life I've seen the rayed form of Groundsel, although the usual form is one of the commonest weeds round here and everywhere I've lived. Just one plant in flower beds with hundreds - perhaps thousands - of the usual form. Middle Hill, Nottingham City, SK5739
On Tuesday I had three missed calls on my mobile. Obviously someone was trying to get hold of me! It was a young woman who had seen our poster advertising 'Ray' in a local pet food store. They had been looking for him for a couple of months. He had been booked in to be neutured and 'disappeared' three days before the event. His real name is John - Ginger John - lol. I think it is really funny that both of us named him a solid man's name which lets you know what kind of guy Ray/John is. His history is that he was abandoned when his owner couldn't keep him and 'dumped' in our local college's car park. This woman and her partner took him in. They have one other cat who is female and already neutured. Phill was home early, so we arranged that they come round and collect him (they live a couple of small roads away). Our cats were absolutely delighted when he went. Kaiser became totally relaxed again and I realised just how tense he had been with Ray around. So result all round as we thought.
But just as I was going to post this, Phill shouted "Ray's back"!! And at the exact same moment my neighbour text me to say Ray is sitting on my shed - lol I have just texted the owners and the reply came back that he had not settled back with them - he was very edgy the whole time (they have a small child as well). They are more than willing to try again but said that like us they just want him to have a good home and that if we want to keep him they will understand. Oh what a dilemma! Kaiser gets so so upset when Ray is around, but I think Ray could be a loving boy once he is neutured - it's just getting him done! I am going to contact the vet to ask their advice.
We are off to my sister's this evening to attend my youngest niece's wedding tomorrow (we are actually taking the photos!). So all this will have to wait until our return
Ray Anderson, Paul van Kemenade, Han Bennink and Ernst Glerum performing @Paradox Tilburg, january 15th 2016
Ray Anderson - trombone
Paul van Kemenade - alto saxophone
Han Bennink - drums
Ernst Glerum - bass
Manta Ray plays with Bubbles from the Divers
More Pic's:You can buy picture's like this as a Poster or Print: www.pictrs.com/travel-pics?l=de
Allen Besuchern meines Fotostreams ein herzliches Dankeschön für eure freundlichen Kommentare und Kritiken, Einladungen und Favoriten.
all visitors and friends of my photostream, a big thank you for your comments and reviews, invitations and favorites.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Kurt W. Gross, Papua New Guinea
All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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A huge Kudo's goes-out to Gilles Tran for giving us creators the incentive to continue our exploration into the world of 3D rendering. I made good use of Gilles Tran's "maketree" macro (from 1999) to add natures dimension and depth to this POV-Ray animation. Twenty-plus years ago, Gilles Tran blazed a trail with POV-Ray that left many of us padawan-learners struck-motionless and jaw-dropped in amazement of his artwork.
The old garage needed some decoration and this addition gave it a much needed taste of home. A gradual adjustment of the angle command allowed me to widen the view angle as this animation rotated around the garage. I'm not sure how those numbers are associated with actual camera lens angles, but I suspect they have some correlation though it may require some math to determine the ratio.
I increased the size to 1280x720 and reduced the frame rate to 21 fps. Some fine-tuning is still needed and the garage still needs some finishing details. I must have misplaced the tree behind the garage. The last 100 frames reveals a look through the side-window and some leaves growing inside the garage. 👀 Oops!
Total rendering time: 14.5 hours
Hope your week is off to a bright and sunny start! This sunflower is growing under my birdfeeder from one of the many seeds the birds dropped. It might be the only sunshine we'll see here today :-)
A seal feasts on a ray fish as a gull looks enviously on, waiting to catch a scrap (in the middle of Howth Harbour)
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
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Another of the splendid rays that were on display this particular evening. Taken at Strumble Hd north Pembrokeshire.
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I just entered a portfolio of my hand self-portraits over at Artists Wanted SELF contest
If you like what you see, please consider voting for me, no need to register and you can vote once a day!
Many thanks and Happy New Year!
model: jennifer an
wardrobe: model's own
photography/prop styling/hair: laura kicey