Results tagged “Oceans”

Photograph by Bart Muhl/AP


Laura Dekker is a girl with a dream--to be the youngest person to circumnavigate (sail around) the world alone in her yacht, Guppy. Laura isn't new to sailing. She was born on a boat in New Zealand, and was sailing solo on lakes when she was six years old. She sailed across the English Channel to England and back at her father's insistence that she prove herself before tackling the open ocean. Laura is 13 years old.

A Dutch court has ruled that Laura is too young to make the trip alone, and has placed her under state supervision for two months to make sure she stays on dry land.

Do you think 13 is too young to sail solo around the world? How old do you think someone should be before sailing such a huge distance alone?

Read more about Laura Dekker on the BBC.

Read about a man's attempt to circumnavigate the world on his own power on National Geographic Kids.

Photograph from Kyodo via AP


Japan may be invaded by giant jellyfish again this year. Nomura's jellyfish can be bigger than humans (up to 440 pounds, or 200 kilograms), and they're big trouble for people fishing on the coasts. Nomura's jellyfish breed in the waters off of the coast of China. From there they move to the coasts of Japan. The jellies clog nets and ruin potential catches with their toxic stings. This damage can cost the coastal fishers billions of yen.

Researchers at Hiroshima University have been monitoring sites where Nomura's jellyfish breed, and they've found large numbers of the jellies, meaning that a new invasion may not be far away.

Read more about the jellyfish invasion on National Geographic News.

Learn more about Nomura's jellyfish on National Geographic Kids.

Get the scoop on jellyfish in this Creature Feature.