#7 Hacienda Napoles If you recognized that name,
you may already know which unusual aquatic animals lived on these infamous grounds.
This sprawling luxury estate in the heart of Columbia was owned and built by the
drug lord Pablo Escobar. Reaching about 7.5 square miles, there was no lack of places to
put things. Alongside the private airport, bullring, and go-kart track, there was an
extensive collection of exotic animals. One group of those animals far outlived their former master.
Escobar himself was killed in a hail of gunfire in 1993 by the Columbian police. Some 15 years before
his death, he imported 4 African hippopotamuses. After his bloody demise, his estate fell into
disrepair, and the 4 hippos escaped and became feral. The so-called “cocaine hippos” became
more of a problem and in 2009 one was found around 70 miles away from the estate. Left to their own
devices, they bred so successfully that they are now officially an invasive species in Columbia
with numbers rising into the 80s! The alpha of the pack fittingly
enough was nicknamed Pablo and in May of 2020, a 45-year-old man was set upon by one of the hippos,
and savagely injured. There are 500 human fatalities per year in Africa attributed to
these 2-ton beasts, and that’s without introducing them to a new continent and illicit substances.
#6 Shanghai December, 2012 We can all agree that the run
up to Christmas is a hectic time of year for almost everyone. So when you’re out trying to
find last minute gifts for your friend, partner, or even the mother-in-law, the last thing you need
is to be hit in the face with an errant shark. 16 people were injured on December 19th, 2012
when the glass on a tank holding 30 tons of water shattered without warning. The mall’s
CCTV footage captured the exact moment. The sheer force sent patrons flying and the wall of water
completely emptied the aquarium in seconds, leaving sharks, turtles, and tropical fish
littered throughout the Orient shopping center. A man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time
was taking pictures of the marine animals and was sent flying out of the frame. Most of the
injuries were bruising from people being knocked over by the force of the wave,
but some required extra medical attention for deep cuts caused by shards of broken glass.
The incident even trapped one woman under a collapsed cosmetic stand, but she was
quickly freed without further incident. The acrylic glass formally holding the
animals in place was nearly 6 inches thick. Sources reported that the sudden drop
in local temperatures may have had an effect on the yield strength of the building materials.
Worryingly enough, the installation was only completed 2 years prior to its catastrophic
failure. 3 lemon sharks, several turtles, and most of the small fish all sadly died.
#5 Costa Rica December, 2013 100 miles from the Coast--a Rica,
is maybe where you expect to find a singular Octopus, but never congregating by the hundreds
at nearly 2 miles below the surface. These usually solitary creatures are not known for
being ‘buddy buddy’ with their kin, making the discovery all the more fascinating.
The bizarre scientific discovery was first made by a team of geochemists who sent a
deep-sea submersible probe to the ocean floor. The footage was handed to a team of biologists,
who excitedly determined that the creatures were a previously undiscovered species of cephalopod.
At around the size of a dinner plate, it was determined that these big-eyed pink octopuses
were most likely a member of the Muusoctopous genus. A truly amazing discovery in itself,
it only led to more questions. Are Octopuses’ really the loner’s science has always thought?
And why did they group here? Dr. Janet Voight, an expert on the creatures,
and author of the report of the discovery, said that when she first saw the photos,
her immediate response was “they shouldn’t be there!’ Not that deep and not that many of them!”
Further investigation found that they were all female and nursing clutches of eggs.
Sounds promising, but according to Dr. Voight, similar species of the same genus usually thrive
in cooler waters, as warm temperatures increase their metabolism and their need for more oxygen.
The discovery became more unfortunate as, of the nearly 200 eggs, not a single one was home
to a living embryo. As female octopuses exert all their energy to nurse one clutch of eggs, these
octopuses were wasting away by staying there. But, not all hope is lost for this newly
discovered animal, as scientists observed octopus arms emerging from cracks in the rock,
providing evidence of a larger population existing, still undisturbed.
#4 Amazon Rainforest February, 2019 Humpback whales usually live in the tens of
thousands in the Atlantic Ocean, but by February as the waters warm, they should have all but
migrated to feed near Antarctica. One place they definitely shouldn’t be found is 50 feet inside
the shoreline of the Brazilian Amazon. Confused locals were alerted to the body
of the deceased humpback by a circling of vultures overhead. Some of the scavenger birds had already
started to pick at the 26 foot long and 10-ton carcass by the time people got there. Experts put
this calf at only about a year old, as full-grown humpbacks can reach up to double that size. It was
believed that it had been lying dead for several days before being found in the mangrove jungle.
The oddity of seeing a humpback this far into the mouth of the Amazon at any point during the year,
Led experts to say that the juvenile may have gotten separated during migrating. It was
theorized that it may have come from the North Atlantic humpback population who breed in the
tropical waters of the Caribbean during the early part of the year. It was also speculated that it
had been thrown onto the shore during recent high tides, but the actual cause remained guesswork.
Commercial whaling has been outlawed in South America and Antarctica since 1994, which led to a
rebirth in the humpback population. This increases the odds of more whales losing their way,
but the unique location of this discovery remains an isolated event.
#3 St James’s Park Even if you’ve never been to London,
you may have seen some of our next unusually placed aquatic animals. St. James’s Park is a
stone’s throw from the official residence of the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace,
and for the past 300 years now, the park has been home to the Great White…pelicans. (7;30)
The first of these birds arrived as a generous gift from the Russian Ambassador in 1664.
5 pelicans now reside in the regal 23-hectare green space, located on the edge of the River
Thames, far from their usual homes in either Eastern Europe, parts of Africa,
or Asia. A 2006 video of one of these giant yellow-billed birds went viral after it was filmed
snapping up an unsuspecting pigeon from the grassy knoll in the London park. It swallowed its unusual
dinner whole and then proceeded to waddle away from confused officer workers and tourists.
Adult males weigh up to 35lbs and have an 18” long bill. With a whopping wingspan of nearly 12 feet,
they’re behind only the Great Albatross as the second largest flying bird in our world today.
#2 Pig Beach These wild pigs spend their days living as
well as any holiday goer in a tropical paradise. Sugar white sandy beaches, crystal clear turquoise
waters, blazing sunshine and an all-inclusive meal plan – the Bahamas has everything they need,
all whilst avoiding becoming bacon. While no one actually knows how the pigs
ended up there, different versions of the story are told. One such story is
that the Original (or O.G) pigs survived a shipwreck and made their way to the island,
living off waste dumped by passing boats. Another popular tale is that some sailors left the pigs on
the island with the intention of eating them upon their return, only for them never to be collected
as the sailors were lost to Davy Jones’ locker. Now something of a tourist attraction, the pigs do
not need to worry about going hungry. Boatloads of visitors come each day to see these hogs, not that
that makes them any less impatient. The little piggies have been known to try and board the boats
that pull up close enough to shore, leading some visitors to cry ‘wee wee wee’ all the way home.
#1 The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living
Defining art has been troubling the brightest scholars as well as armchair critics for
centuries, so to forsake arguments, we will agree that what Damien Hirst created in 1991, was art.
Charles Saatchi, owner of the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, London, commissioned Hirst, already one
of the most famous British artists of the decade, to pay for “whatever artwork he wanted to make”.
What he came up with was taking a 14-foot male tiger shark, once found swimming off
the coast of Australia, and encased in an 84 x 204 x 84 inch, clear glass, formaldehyde tomb.
He had commissioned a Queensland fisherman to catch “something big enough to eat you”
to which he gave a $10,000 reward. Still dividing opinions to this day,
it was received with varying levels of approval in 1991. It was simultaneously nominated for
the prestigious Turner Prize while one British newspaper referred to it as “£50,000 for fish and
no chips”. The original tiger shark was replaced several years later, due to it being poorly
preserved. Unlike the original iteration, the replacement was a 25–30-year-old female shark of
equivalent size. The piece was sold again in 2004, for the jaw-dropping sum of 8 million dollars.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather play with the pigs on a trip to the Bahamas,
or swim with the octopuses off the coast of Costa Rica? Let us know in the comments section below.