Re: Underwater questions [ot]

G'day Steven,

>>	   Flying fish.
>>	   Some squid launch themselves out of the water.
>
>Those two just leap out and in again, right?

The squid do, but the fish can actually glide a reasonable distance (for
a
fish) before returning to the water.

>>	   Cormorants.
>
>As I said in an earlier post, I'm unfamiliar with their behavior. 
>Sounds promising, though.

They tend to make themslevs dart shaped and use their wings for sharp
pulses (i.e. occasional sharp flap) and some steering (adjustment of
direction etc) rather than the big flapping of the air (though they take
on
their "diving' mode when dropping in altitude at any fast rate, but
apart
from the way the wings sit the rest of the body is in the same postion
whether in air or water. 

>>	   Actually, I wonder if some kind of lifting body would
>>	   work.  No wings to be ripped off by the water.
>
>Maybe.  Also, a helicopter type vehicle might be good - no wings. 
You'd
>need a secondary (water) propulsion mechanism, though. 

What if you just had the blades slip behind you instead to give a
propeller
kind of set up?

Cheers

Beth

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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
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email: beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au