Dragon Hole - the world's deepest blue hole

Dragon Blue Hole, South China Sea

Dragon Hole is the deepest underwater sinkhole (blue hole) in the world. It is located in the Paracel Islands at 16°31′N 111°46′E / 16.517°N 111.767°ECoordinates: 16°31′N 111°46′E / 16.517°N 111.767°E, near Discovery Reef. It is 300.89 metres (987.2 ft) deep. ^[1] The local fishermen call it the "eye" of the South China Sea, and believe it is where the Monkey King, in the novel "Journey to the West," found his golden cudgel. The Dragon Hole is 300.89 m (987.2 ft) deep, which is more than 100 m (300 ft) deeper than Dean's Blue Hole in the Bahamas. Blue holes are characteristically hundreds of feet deep and generate a distinctive blue color when seen from above.

The mythical tale was published in the 16th century and is among the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. Last week, the Dragon Hole earned a new claim to fame. After nearly a year of exploration, Chinese researchers have determined that the underwater sinkhole is likely the world's deepest, reaching about 987 feet below the surface and surpassing the previous record holder, Dean's Blue Hole near the Bahamas, by more than 300 feet, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Researchers with the Sansha Ship Course Research Institute for Coral Protection began exploring Dragon Hole, known as Longdong, in August 2015 and completed the project last month, Xinhua reported. It measures about 426 feet wide and is almost deep enough to hold the entire Eiffel Tower.

Dean's Blue Hole, located near Long Island in the Bahamas, was previously considered the world's deepest underwater sinkhole. Also a top location for divers, Dean's Blue Hole has a diameter of about 82 to 115 feet on the surface, reports Atlas Obscura, but widens to about 330 feet as it deepens. According to the publication, water there is very clear with visibility as far as 115 feet down.

Dragon Blue Hole

Dean's Blue Hole , Bahamas

Dean's Blue Hole , Bahamas

Photo Source: Collected from Internet

Village of Ko Panyi (Koh Panyee), Phuket, Thailand

Ko Panyi (also known as Koh Panyee) (Thai: เกาะปันหยี) is a fishing village in Phang Nga Province, Thailand, notable for being built on stilts by Indonesian fishermen. The population consists of 360 families or 1,685 people descended from 2 seafaring Muslim families from Java. The settlement at Ko Panyi was established at the end of the 18th century by nomadic Malay fisherman. The village includes a floating football pitch. Inspired by the 1986 FIFA World Cup, children built the pitch from old scraps of wood and fishing rafts.

In the late 20th century, the community found it difficult to subsist solely on the fishing industry and the postman proposed to invite tourists to the village to benefit the residents. Nowadays this is one of the main attractions on tours of Phang Nga Bay from Phuket, often serving as a lunch stop. Despite the recent rise in tourism, life in Ko Panyi is still primarily based around the fishing industry as tourists only visit in significant numbers during the dry season.

Photo Source: Collected from Internet

Castelluccio (Norcia)

Castelluccio is a village in Umbria, in the Apennine Mountains of central Italy. Administratively, it is a frazione of the ca. 28 km distant town Norcia. The village lies at 1452 m, making it the highest settlement in the Apennines. It lies above the "Great Plain" (Piano Grande - 1270 m), next to the Monti Sibillini National Park. The village dates from the 13th century or slightly earlier, but was also settled by the Romans.

Photo Source: Collected from Internet

Clown Fish and Sea Anemone

Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species are recognized: one in the genus Premnas, while the remaining are in the genus Amphiprion. In the wild, they all form symbiotic mutualisms with sea anemones. Depending on species, anemonefish are overall yellow, orange, or a reddish or blackish color, and many show white bars or patches. The largest can reach a length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in), while the smallest barely achieve 10 centimetres (3.9 in). Anemonefish are native to warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef and the Red Sea. While most species have restricted distributions, others are widespread. Anemonefish live at the bottom of shallow seas in sheltered reefs or in shallow lagoons. There are no anemonefish in the Atlantic.

Anemonefish and sea anemones have a symbiotic, mutualistic relationship, each providing a number of benefits to the other. The individual species are generally highly host specific, and especially the genera Heteractis and Stichodactyla, and the species Entacmaea quadricolor are frequent anemonefish partners. The sea anemone protects the anemonefish from predators, as well as providing food through the scraps left from the anemone's meals and occasional dead anemone tentacles. In return, the anemonefish defends the anemone from its predators, and parasites. The anemone also picks up nutrients from the anemonefish's excrement, and functions as a safe nest site. The nitrogen excreted from anemonefish increases the amount of algae incorporated into the tissue of their hosts, which aids the anemone in tissue growth and regeneration.

Picture Source: Collected from Internet

Lion Fish

The lionfish is one of the most worrying tales of an invasive fish taking over a new habitat. There are nine species of lionfish, all native to the waters of the Indo-Pacific. However, after being released from aquariums either accidentally or on purpose, two of those species have established themselves in the Atlantic off the East Coast of the United States and throughout the Caribbean. They have moved from Florida up as far north as Delaware, as far south as Brazil, and as far east as Barbados. They are considered one of the most aggressively invasive species in the world.

Lionfish are known for two things: long fins equipped with venomous spikes, and an insatiable appetite. The combination makes it a top level predator, with few predators and the ability to eat pretty much anything that will fit in its mouth. They could cause significant declines in the biodiversity of the already fragile reef systems they inhabit. They also threaten commercially important species of fish including snapper, grouper and sea bass. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Unfortunately, NOAA researchers have concluded that invasive lionfish populations will continue to grow and cannot be eliminated using conventional methods. Marine invaders are nearly impossible to eradicate once established." 

Picture Source: Collected from Internet

Arapaima Fish

The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche are any large species of bonytongue in the genus Arapaima native to the Amazon and Essequibo basins of South America. Genus Arapaima is the type genus of the family Arapaimidae. They are among the world's largest freshwater fish, reaching as much as 3 m (9.8 ft). 

They are an important food fish. They have declined in the native range due to overfishing and habitat loss. In contrast, arapaima have been introduced to several tropical regions outside the native range (within South America and elsewhere) where they are sometimes considered invasive species. Its local name, pirarucu, derives from the indigenous words for "pira" meaning "fish" and "urucum" meaning "red".

Picture Source: Collected from Internet

Yellow River

The Yellow River is the 3rd longest river in Asia and world’s 6th longest river at the estimated length of 3,395 miles. The river originates in the Bayan Har Mountain in Western China. The river flows through 9 provinces nine provinces, and empties into Bohai Sea near the city of Dongying in Shandong province. The river basin has an east-west extent of about 1,180 miles and north-south extent of about 680 miles. Its total basin area is approximately 742,442 square kilometers. According to the China Exploration and Research Society, the source of the Yellow River is at 34° 29' 31.1" N, 96° 20' 24.6" E in the Bayan Har Mountains near the eastern edge of the Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The Bayan Har mountains (Mongolian: Bayan Har Uul, Chinese: 巴颜喀拉山脉; pinyin: Bāyánkālā shānmài) are a mountain range in Tibet, China.

Bayan Har Mountains

Picture Source: Collected from Internet