A NUMA zoologist was studying and recording fish sounds off the Continental slope near Iceland
The continental margin is the zone of the ocean floor that separates the thin oceanic crust from thick continental crust. Continental margins constitute about 28% of the oceanic area.
The transition from continental to oceanic crust commonly occurs within the outer part of the margin, called continental rise. Oceanwards beyond the edge of the rise lies the abyssal plain. The underwater part of the continental crust is called continental shelf, which usually abruptly terminates with the continental slope, which in turn terminates with the foot of the slope. The under-ocean part constitutes about 20% of the continental crust.
The edge of the continental margin is one criterion for the boundary of the internationally recognized claims to underwater resources by countries in the definition of the "Continental Shelf" by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (although in the UN definition the "legal continental shelf" may extend beyond the geomorphological continental shelf and vice versa).
...to pick up noises heard by rarely seen benthos
Benthos is the community of organisms which live on, in, or near the seabed, also known as the benthic zone. This community lives in or near marine sedimentary environments, from tidal pools along the foreshore, out to the continental shelf, and then down to the abyssal depths.
Many organisms adapted to deep-water pressure cannot survive in the upper parts of the water column. The pressure difference can be very significant (approximately one atmosphere for each 10 meters of water depth).
Because light does not penetrate very deep ocean-water, the energy source for deep benthic ecosystems is often organic matter from higher up in the water column which drifts down to the depths. This dead and decaying matter sustains the benthic food chain; most organisms in the benthic zone are scavengers or detritivores.
The term benthos comes from the Greek noun βένθος "depths of the sea". Benthos is also used in freshwater biology to refer to organisms at the bottom of freshwater bodies of water, such as lakes, rivers, and streams.
He also noticed the continuous crackling notice made by shrimps
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important food source for larger animals from fish to whales. They have a high tolerance to toxins in polluted areas, and may contribute to high toxin levels in their predators. Together with prawns, shrimp are widely caught and farmed for human consumption.
The illustration on the knife: death before dishonor
Death Before Dishonor Tattoo - The slogan of “Death Before Dishonor”, frequently written in a coiling scroll wrapped around a dagger, is a perennially popular military tattoo -- and for good reason. The saying has been used for military units at least as early as ancient Rome (“morte prima di disonore”). By the time of the famed Roman senator and historian Tacitus (AD 56 to ca. 117), the vow of "death before dishonor" had become 'old-fashioned' and something espoused by the barbari or barbarians such as Caratacus (chief of the British, who revolted against Rome). However, some two centuries earlier it was Catiline (108 to 62 BC), the Roman politician who attempted to overthrow the Roman Republic, who had urged it and Cataline may even have been influenced by Thucydides (the Greek historian of 460 to 395 BC who wrote about the Peloponnesian War). However, the famous concept of death as preferable to dishonor, if not the actual phrase, is not restricted to the western world. For example, it was also advocated in the Japanese bushido code of samurai warriors who would rather die than live with the dishonor brought on by surrender. Even as late as the 1970s, Japanese soldiers of World War II such as Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onada were still being discovered on Pacific islands where word of the end of the war had never reached them.
However, there was also a concept in Greco-Roman and later European traditions that a virtuous woman would do anything possible, including killing herself or engineering her own death, to avoid rape. The ermine, because of the myth that it would prefer death rather than soil its pure white coat, became associated with this phrase. This animal appears on coats of arms as the emblem of knights who would perform any unpleasant deed and suffer any hardship, including death, rather than stain their reputation and conscience.
Ironically, the "death before dishonor" tattoo has occasionally been singled out for criticism. In his 1968 paper, "The Relationship of Tattoos to Personality Disorders", published in the The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, Richard Post notes that another study had surveyed prison inmates with the "death before dishonor" tattoo and found that, if these prison inmates had been in military service, they had all been dishonorably discharged. That finding led him to conclude that "It is reasonably safe to assume that there is some correlation between this particular tattoo pattern and the ability to adjust to the armed services, expressed by some form of deviancy which caused their discharge under other than honorable circumstances" (p. 521). However dated the material might be, it seems odd (to say the least) that the total population for the study was taken solely from prison inmates. Wouldn't it be reasonable to expect that convicted criminals would have had a high rate of less than honorable discharges? Where is the study which polls all outgoing military people with the "death before dishonor" tattoo? Or the study which examines the prevalence of this tattoo outside of military service? We might even begin to wonder if military honors might not be positively correlated with tattoos that espouse the types of sentiments implied by the "death before dishonor" tattoo such as camaraderie, courage, esprit de corps, sacrifice and service.
You two look like you just received Dear John letters
A "Dear John letter" is a letter written to a husband or boyfriend by his wife or girlfriend to inform him their relationship is over, usually because the author has found another lover. Dear John Letters are often written out of an inability or unwillingness to inform the person face to face. The reverse situation, in which someone writes to his wife or girlfriend to break off the relationship, is referred to as a "Dear Jane letter."
While the exact origins of the phrase are unknown, it is commonly believed to have been coined by Americans during World War II. Large numbers of American troops were stationed overseas for many months or years, and as time passed many of their wives or girlfriends decided to begin a relationship with a new man rather than wait for their old one to return.
As letters to servicemen from wives or girlfriends back home would typically contain affectionate language (such as "Dear Johnny", "My dearest John", or simply "Darling"), a serviceman receiving a note beginning with a curt "Dear John" would instantly be aware of the letter's purpose.
A writer in the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, NY, summed it up in August 1945:
"Dear John," the letter began. "I have found someone else whom I think the world of. I think the only way out is for us to get a divorce," it said. They usually began like that, those letters that told of infidelity on the part of the wives of servicemen... The men called them "Dear Johns".
An early reference to Dear John letters was made in a United Press article of March 21, 1944.
There are a number of theories on why the name John is used rather than any other. John was a common name in the United States at the time the term was coined. John is also the name used in many other terms that refer to an anonymous man or men, such as "John Doe" or "John Smith". Another possible source for the term is the "Dear John" soap opera which was on the radio from 1933 to 1944.
The phrase "that's all she wrote" is believed to have originated from Dear John letters. These letters would contain either the words "Dear John" and abruptly terminate, or only contain the words "Dear John, goodbye." The phrase "that's all she wrote" is used to indicate the end of story or an abrupt end of story, especially when the reader has a desire to know more, but the writer does not want to fulfill that desire. An example of this connection can be found in the 1951 country hit "Dear John" by Hank Williams. In this song, the chorus proceeds as "...And that's all she wrote, Dear John..."
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