Standing proudly upright and straight, this chicken that thinks she's a penguin cuts an unusual figure around the farmyard. Bizarrely mimicking the stance of her water-going cousins, the hen - named Mumble - even has smaller than normal wings, just like a penguin. And she never attempts to fly like other chickens in the coop, choosing to waddle from side to side, although she is yet to take a dip in the water. The discovery of Mumble's unusual manner has also saved her life, with the family which owns her sparing her from the cooking pot. The bird's identity crisis has made her a celebrity in Jiangsu, a province in eastern China where she is owned by farmer Lu Xi. Local media outlets dubbed the chicken Mumble after the main character in the animated film Happy Feet, about a penguin that can't sing so dances instead. Mr Xi said: 'He only has little wings as well just like a penguin which he sticks out when he walks. I guess that's why he never flies. 'I had not seen the film but I like the name, although my bird can't dance - and I don't think he can swim either. 'But he should be happy - my family all like him and so we decided to keep him instead of putting him in the pot.' Source: icePice.blogspot.com
  
AP | Boston: They’re gonna need a bigger Twitter. An organisation studying great white sharks is enjoying some welcome attention after one of the creatures they’ve been monitoring started gaining a loyal social media following. (at) MaryLeeShark is the fake Twitter handle for a very real, nearly 3,500-pound great white whose movements can be tracked online and in real time. She’s drawn over 44,000 followers with her playful updates and witty replies as the real life shark cruises up and down the East Coast. “Oh heyyyyy.... you’re right by my house, come by for a nightcap?” invited one recent Twitter commenter as she popped up off the coast of Long Island, New York. “I would settle for an ice bag to put on my aching Twitter fin. -:()” Mary Lee replied. “What do you do during Shark Week?” another recent commenter asked. “Swim. Eat. Tweet. Etc. Exhausting. -;(),” Mary Lee responded. The shark, which was tagged off the coast of Cape Cod, is among hundreds of sharks that OCEARCH, a Utah-based organisation, has tagged and tracked since 2007. The fake Twitter handle isn't affiliated with OCEARCH (pronounced Oh-Search). But OCEARCH expedition leader Chris Fischer, who named Mary Lee after his mother, says the organisation appreciates the attention the maritime missives have generated. “They’re really clever, they really like sharks and they’re on mission, so we’re just kind of rolling with it,” he said from the organisation’s latest expedition in Australia. OCEARCH has even jumped on the bandwagon, launching “official” Twitter handles for two other sharks it’s monitoring off the East Coast. (at)Shark-Katharine and (at)RockStarLydia both have sizable followings of their own. The person behind the (at) MaryLeeShark account did surface when the Associated Press sent a Twitter message. The account's operator identified themselves only as a daily newspaper reporter living on the East Coast and expressed pleasant surprise at the attention — and OCEARCH's support. The recent explosion of followers has been a lot of fun, but also like a second job. “I do everything manually — no robo tweets,” the account owner wrote. “The best part is that ((at)MaryLeeShark) plays a role in helping to replace fear with facts by retweeting and commenting on (at)OCEARCH tweets. I (try) to be respectful of the important work OCEARCH does and have fun at the same time.” OCEARCH's multi-year project uses GPS trackers affixed to the shark’s dorsal fin to post real time data on dozens of great whites across the globe — Mary Lee was hanging out near Ocean City, Maryland on Sunday, for example — with the goal of better understanding the shark's life cycle and encouraging conservation of the endangered ocean predators. Shark researchers say the work is important because there's still a lot unknown about the behavior of mature white sharks. The massive beasts are extremely difficult to tag with modern GPS trackers that would help closely track their movements. OCEARCH is one of the few outfits with the technology, skill and resources for the job. The organisation operates largely on corporate funding and its crew consists of professional fisherman-turned-ocean explorers. “This gives us a much better understanding of the movement patterns of these animals through days, months and years,” says Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota, Florida. Gregory Skomal, a marine biologist who heads the Massachusetts Shark Research Programme, says the research is of particular interest along the densely populated East Coast, where great whites are being spotted with greater frequency. The sharks are increasingly drawn to places like Cape Cod and its surrounding islands, whose seaside communities are forever linked with Jaws, because seal populations have soared. Source: The Asian Age, Image: flickr.com
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