Explorers hope for less boring critters on upcoming trench dives

branson's submarine

James Cameron found nothing more than shrimp on his dive to the Mariana Trench. Richard Branson hopes to see more when he visits the deepest spot in the Atlantic this year.

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Thylacne Pelt Stirs Excitement, But Doesn’t Get Us Closer to Live Thylacine

Since the pelt is at least 30 years old, it doesn’t help us find a live thylacine, which is what everyone wants.

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Rare White Deer Spotted on Staten Island

A white deer is beguiling Staten Island. He says hi to people waiting for a bus near the South Shore Golf Course.

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Big Foot Tours $499

Nobody was impressed with the evidence presented at the Bigfoot press conference last week. Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer say they have a bigfoot carcass in a freezer in northern Georgia somewhere. But that’s not all! They also have video of a few live big foot or sasquatch hanging around the area.

Whitton and Dyer have alternately been described as hunters, hikers and big foot hunters. I tracked down an older story from a big foot blogger, who linked to their expedition site, bigfoottracker.com. Back then Whitton was were referred to as a cop and Dyer a former corrections officer. Dyer says he’s a married dad and former Army ranger. Matt calls himself Gary and says he’s a great tracker who “has associates who train bloodhounds for tracking.”

Most of their current stuff is on the site of Tom Biscardi, who is a more experienced and perhaps more oily bigfoot hawker. The sites share not only a quest for Sasquatch, but also a fondness for blaring completely unrelated music. Biscardi’s site includes field reports from around the country–but none in Georgia.

Whitton and Dyer on bigfootblogger describe getting started on the big foot hunt when being awakened by one “on the side of a mountain north of Helen, Georgia.” They claim to have sold out a trip to the Blue Ridge-Smokies in June where “there have been actual big foot sightings this year” and plan a September trip to “an even more specific area” in September. They brag that

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New Photos of Montauk Monster Make it Look a Lot Less Monstrous, more like a feral pig

Newsday’s Joyce Brown obtained new photos of the Montauk Monster from beach goer Christina Pampalone, who was on the fateful Montauk beach where the Monster washed up a couple weeks ago. Brown explains that the corpse was washing back and forth in the waves, so Pampalone got a shot from a different angle.

Pampalone must have gone through exquisite torture the last few days knowing she had much more revealing photos. Then again, if her photo came out first we all wouldn’t have been so enthralled and would’ve had to get some work done this week.Also, I have to wonder if the original shot was provocatively chosen to make it look like a beak. (And if so, say thanks for the mindless summer diversion.)

Yesterday we discussed how the first shot showed a beak, but with teeth, ruling out the theory that it was a turtle without a shell. Pampalone’s photo shows that it’s not really a beak at all, but the exposed nasal cavity. Also, it shows HUGE lower canine teeth. And fur. And ears.

With the new photo, I’m changing my guess to pig, maybe feral pig. The big theory now is dog. Since the front of the face shows so much decay and since the water can do such crazy things to a body, it’s hard to say what was going on in the top of the mouth. But man, those bottom canines look awfully big for a dog. A pig, however, has really big lower

Keep reading New Photos of Montauk Monster Make it Look a Lot Less Monstrous, more like a feral pig

Unicorn Deer in Italy

A unicorn-like deer is drawing animal tourists to the the Italian Center for Natural Sciences (Centro di Scienze Natural) outside Prato, which is in turn outside Florence.The unicorn is really a male one-year-old Roe deer, so don’t expect to see rainbows and sparkles behind him. His twin has the regular two antler.

The deer has some kind of genetic flaw, but it’s even special in that. The AP’s Marta Falconi reports that even deer with one antler tend to have it on one side. Plus, this guy’s antler looks like a little horn.

The center seems to be handling the occassion with smile. They named him Unicorn. And the director Gilberto Tozzi says: “This is fantasy becoming reality.”

Where Else to See Wildlife in EuropeWhere You Can See Deer and Elk

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