Visit the kelpforest....

Okay.

Received in the mail, one envelope with a Canada postmark.

Containing one letter that appears to be recruiting mystery shoppers, and instructions on what to do with the rest of the evelope's contents; the letterhead's address says Imperial, California, and an email address for a survey company. Also a survey form, and what appears to be a cashier's check for the amount of $2,408.18, drawn on a credit union in Troy, NY. The contact information on the website listed on the letter only has the address of the software company in Romania. Enough red flags yet?

We do occasionally do market research-type stuff, so it was possible this might be legit, however I looked them up at Better Business Bureau and here's their report - they get an F, with links to tips on Work-at-home, Mystery Shopper, and Fake Check scams. Also four complaints, listed as unpursuable.

Right. Feed directly into shredder, I'm thinkin'.

Avoid esurveyspro dot com.

ETA - Discussed this with some friends and lunch, and while I was intending to phone the credit union on the check, they think it ought to be reported to the Post Office as well, as mail fraud.

*Opens email*

Uh, whut?!

You've got to be kidding me...

*gets to the bottom, looks at calendar, rolls eyes*

Ok, Grist, ya got me.

Such a sucker. Good one.

(Relocating polar bears to Antarctica should have been a tip-off...)

There's an email that circulating in biological circles recently concerning deep creatures washed up by the tsunami. I've gotten it about four times so far. The text:

The tsunami that took the lives of so many people was caused by a massive crevice that opened up in the ocean floor, or rather a giant chunk of the ocean floor fell into the earth (I don't think underwater earthquake is entirely accurate). As we know, oceans are deep-so deep that we have little idea what's down there because the enormous pressure and the absence of light. It was at this extreme depth that an unimaginable amount of ocean water fell into the crevice. It was the recoil of this "dropping of water" that sent the waves outward in all directions, like a shock wave.

Only these waves carried with it a sample of what lies at that unknowable depth. These are pictures of just a few of these creatures that were brought ashore by the tsunami. These are all previously unknown.

- and lots of nifty pictures of critters from the very deep ocean are attached.

The first time I received it, I couldn't help wondering what the tsunami victims thought about the crazy guy wandering around picking up dead fish when so much else was going on. Then I noticed that all of them seemed to be very fresh, and some were in pans with ice floating around (which I think would have been in very short supply that soon afterward). Also, would a tsunami, even a very large one, really affect these deep water organisms? There were a couple of stories of divers who experienced a lot of surge, but weren't injured or carried away at all.

Soon after my suspicions were confirmed. A co-worker had veen visiting a message board where this was discussed. The photos are from an Australian research cruise that took place in 2003. Still very nifty critters that we don't get to see very often, just not from the tsunami.


http://www.oceans.gov.au/norfanz/library.htm

http://www.snopes.com/photos/tsunami/creature.asp