'tis the season...

...to burn things down!!! 

Well, at least it is in Alicante! Yup, it's time for the HOGUERAS DE SAN JUAN! When the city goes nuts (more than usual), streets get cut off, and people set up huge sculptures made of paper, wood, cardboard... anything that burns really. And then BURN it all down! :p

Monday afternoon I wandered down to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento to see if they had started with the "Plantà", a.k.a. setting up the "official" hoguera (the one representing the city, which doesn't compete with the others)... and boy had they! 

Oceanic Blog-A-Thon 2012

Welcome, welcome, welcome! 

It's time for our World Oceans Day annual get-together of bloggers who care about our seas and oceans and want to help protect them and increase awareness about how important they are, whether on a personal level or an environmental or scientific one. It's time for the 4th annual

OCEANIC BLOG-A-THON!

 

4th edition already?! How time flies! Seems like just yesterday I learnt about World Oceans Day and was wondering what I could do to honour it... and so many wonderful people joined in the fun for the past three editions with some fabulous posts, I can't wait to see what you guys have prepared this year! My post probably won't be up until tomorrow because I'm presently sleep-deprived and exhausted from all day travelling home from Greece... and in desperate need of a REAL shower! A week on a sailboat with just minimum water showers... fun but... ;o)

from World Atlas.com

Speaking of Greece, how about a few Oceanic Facts about the Aegean Sea to kick off this year's edition? 

Mystery Fish for WOD

Happy World Oceans Day!!! 

Shall we have a lovely little fishy celebration? ;o)

Over the past several days I've been leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help you figure out whom I've chosen to celebrate WOD:

• 1. I'm a marine fish (although some people might think I don't look like one)
• 2. I can been found in deep and shallow and warm and temperate waters all over the world

• 3. I've got a mouthful of teeth and my bite can have very nasty consequences
• 4. But I'm shy so if I bite you it was probably your fault! (see story here)

• 5. I'm usually nocturnal. That means I prefer coming out of my hiding place (in crevices or holes) at night to look for food.
• 6. I rely on my sense of smell to find my prey, so if you're a stinky dead critter all the better for me! I help clean up the sea bottom of rotting corpses. But I also hunt for small tasty critters to munch on! ;o) 

• 7. I'm part of a big family: around 200 species ranging in size from 10 cm to over 2 m in length and many different possible colours.
• 8. We might vary in size and colour, but we pretty much all have an elongated body which flattens a bit towards the end and we have a single dorsal fin and a ventral fin.

Happy World Oceans Day! oops!

Sorry folks, but if you're seeing this post instead of the solution to the Fishy Guessing Game then it means I didn't have time to complete my post in the rare moments I had internet access while sailing between the Saronic islands in Greece... my bad! If it makes you feel any better I'm probably terribly sunburnt right now! :p

Fortunately I programmed this (and the other guessing posts) ahead of time so I could wish you a

HAPPY WORLD OCEANS DAY!!!

I'll finish up my fishy post asap and launch the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon as soon as I get home tomorrow! Might even buy internet credit in the Barcelona airport (I do have a 5h layover) to get a heads start...

I can't wait to see what you guys have prepared to celebrate World Oceans Day! :o)

Final Fishy Clues!

Last two clues in our fishy guessing game! Have you figured it out yet? These two should confirm any guesses you might have made! Might also help if I reminded you that many of those clues are things I've told you about this fish in a Fishy Fridays episode... did anyone remember that? ;o)

Final clues:

9. I look like a snake

10. I've played a villain in a Disney movie

So, tomorrow is WORLD OCEANS DAY!!!  :o)

And Saturday the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon begins! You've got until Sunday evening to finish up with your posts! ;o)

Fishy Clues 7 & 8

Two more clues!!!

7. I'm part of a big family: around 200 species ranging in size from 10 cm to over 2 m in length and many different possible colours.

8. We might vary in size and colour, but we pretty much all have an elongated body which flattens a bit towards the end and we have a single dorsal fin and a ventral fin.

Fishy clues 5 & 6

Ready for a couple more clues about the mystery fish? ;o)

5. I'm usually nocturnal. That means I prefer coming out of my hiding place (in crevices or holes) at night to look for food.

6. I rely on my sense of smell to find my prey, so if you're a stinky dead critter all the better for me! I help clean up the sea bottom of rotting corpses. But I also hunt for small tasty critters to munch on! ;o) 

Remember, World Oceans Day and the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon are just a couple of days away!!!

Fishy Clues 3 & 4

Continuing with the Fishy Guessing Game for World Oceans Day this Friday June 8th...

3. I've got a mouthful of teeth and my bite can have very nasty consequences

4. But I'm shy so if I bite you it was probably your fault!

Who am I?

Fishy clues 1 & 2

World Oceans Day is this Friday!!!

And in preparation for my Oceanic Blog-A-Thon post I'm going to feed you little clues like a goldfish gets morsels of fish food... a couple a day! I'm currently off on a sailing trip so I won't be able to tell you if you've guessed right (but please do try in the comments, will be fun to see who got it!), you'll have to wait and see when the main post goes up! That will either be Friday if I am able to finish it in time while I have an internet connection, or Saturday when I get home. I hope you're working on your WOD's post! ;o)

Here go the first two clues:

1. I'm a marine fish (although some people might think I don't look like one)

2. I can been found in deep and shallow and warm and temperate waters all over the world

Any ideas?