Little Irvy the Frozen Whale

"Little Irvy" was a 20-ton whale harpooned on July 1, 1967, destined to be sold as dog food. But instead his body was bought by showman Jerry "Tyrone" Malone, who froze it with liquid nitrogen and then spent the next 25 years hauling it around the United States in a refrigerated truck, displaying it as a sideshow attraction. Malone advertised Little Irvy with a sign that read, "This exhibit is dedicated to the preservation of whales."

Read more about Little Irvy in Dewey Webb's article at SideshowWorld.com. Webb notes that, because of freezer burn, Little Irvy looked "less like a whale than... a gigantic semideflated tire that's lost its tread."

Malone also wrote a children's book about his adventures on the road with Little Irvy. You can buy a used copy of this book at Amazon for $46.11. But if you want a new copy it'll apparently cost you $6,946.01, which, since the book is 42 pages long, is $165.38 a page.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 12, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Fish, 1960s

Fish Eyes

Veterinary staff at Vancouver Aquarium have provided posthetic eyes for a fish. This was done so other fish would not pick it to death because it did not have eyes. So, it seems that humans are not the only species that picks on those who are different.

Posted By: patty - Thu Jan 08, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Fish, Eyes and Vision

Expensive Fish Meal

[Click to enlarge]

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 09, 2014 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, Stupid Criminals, Fish, 1980s

A Pet Well Loved

Would you pay 'a few hundred dollars' for high risk brain surgery on a gold fish? Well, this pet's owner felt it was worth the expense. George came though just fine. If you'd like to see more pictures they are available on yahoo images.

Posted By: patty - Thu Sep 18, 2014 - Comments (11)
Category: Pets, Fish

Pet Me

Wow! Who'd have thought it?! Sharky the pettable shark.

Posted By: patty - Fri May 30, 2014 - Comments (5)
Category: Fish

Human Fishing Contest

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 12, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Surrealism, Fish, 1940s

Dinner Invitation

A family kayaking along the British coast made an unusual friend. A dolphin started swimming along with the family and entertaining them with his antics. The animal seemed primarily interested in 14 year old Lucy Watkins, especially so when he brought a 10 pound cod to withing 5 feet of her boat. Then , as if to say, 'join me for dinner' he dove and came back up with a sea bass for himself and started eating. A very nice gesture for a new friend.

Posted By: patty - Mon Aug 19, 2013 - Comments (14)
Category: Fish

Fish Urine Research

Jake Allgeier studies fish urine. I guess someone has to. He says that there's a lot more of it than you would think, and it's a lot more important for marine environments than people realize. From redandblack.com:

Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 07, 2013 - Comments (7)
Category: Science, Fish, Body Fluids

Tombstone for a Trout

Mrs. Keyte of Blockley, Gloucestershire had a pet trout that would eat worms from her hand. When it died in 1855, she erected a tombstone in its honor. That tombstone remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in Blockley. And it's perhaps the only tombstone for a trout in the world. [National Geographic, 1917]

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 07, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Obituaries, Pets, Fish, Monuments, Sightseeing, Nineteenth Century

Catfish Hunting Pigeons On Shore

When these 3 to 5 foot catfish in France senses some motion on the shore, they have adapted their behavior to catch pigeons for dinner. They actually come onto the shore to get the birds. Here's a video of a successful catch.



According to the Public Library of Science, the fish have a 28 percent success rate, which is way better than any hunting or fishing I've ever done.

Here's the link to the story:

http://blogs.plos.org/everyone/2012/12/06/prowling-catfish-catch-pigeons-on-land/

The video calls these catfish "The Freshwater Killer Whales".

Posted By: gdanea - Sun Dec 09, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Fish