archimeda - born of dreams-inspired by freedom: július 2011

2011. július 30., szombat

This diver almost got sucked into the mouth of a massive whale shark while it fed on thousands of plankton.

The shark, the sea's largest fish, is actually incredibly docile. The relieved diver escaped from the encounter unscathed and continued to enjoy the presence of the extraordinary animals.

Jaws: This diver almost got sucked into the mouth of a massive whale shark as it fed on plankton

The photograph was taken during a feeding frenzy where more than 600 of the 40ft animals gathered to feed on tuna spawn.

Other amazing pictures from the session taken by photographer Mauricio Handler show 'shark suckers' - other fish attached to the animals as they swam through the sea.

Mr Handler travelled to Isla Mujeres, in Mexico, and used high-tech equipment to capture the incredible moments underwater.

Whale sharks have mouths up to 1.5 metres wide that contain up to 350 rows of teeth. Despite their size, they do not pose a risk to divers.

Each year they converge in water off Mexico where they filter feed by sieving plankton from the water. They swim with their huge mouth open sucking masses of water filled with spawn into its jaws.

BFGs: Whalesharks, the sea's largest fish, are actually very docile

Open wide: Whale sharks have mouths up to 1.5 metres wide that contain up to 350 rows of teeth

Majestic: These photographs were taken during a feeding frenzy where more than 600 of the 40ft animals gathered to feed on tuna spawn

Supertrees in Singapore

Towering in front of tall skyscrapers, these enormous tree appear to be thriving in the middle of the city.

But the vast woodland in Singapore is actually entirely manmade, stretching up to 50 metres into the sky.

The imposing trees have colossal concrete trunks weighing hundreds of tonnes. While thousands of thick wire rods have been used to create artificial branches and canopies.

Domineering: The island's vast skyscrapers can be seen behind the trees while to the left, a smaller real real tree struggles to reach the same immense heights

Reaching for the sky: The supertrees are made from a thick concrete trunk while metal rods have been sculptured together to form the bark and the canopies

The incredible installation, which is still being built, was created as a national landmark as the island looks to create a vast green space in its Marina South district that will become the 'botanical capital of the world'.

But the towering supertrees will be hard to miss for the thousands of people expected to descend on the recreation area.

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Each Supertree will have added to it a canopy weighing around 20 to 85 tonnes. This will be hoisted into place over three to four hours by a hydraulic-jack system.

Steel frames are then added onto the sides to represent the dark bark of natural woodland.

Environmental experts have even been drafted in to add solar panels to seven of the trees. The energy will then be used to light the areas below.

How much water do these need? Workers in hardhats look at the plans for the enormous suprtrees in Singapore's Marina South area that is hoped to become the botanical capital of the world