Princess of whales: How a naked female scientist tries to tame belugas in the freezing Arctic

Braving sub-zero temperatures, she has thrown caution — and her clothes — to the wind to tame two beluga whales in a unique and controversial experiment.

Natalia Avseenko, 36, was persuaded to strip naked as marine experts believe belugas do not like to be touched by artificial materials such as diving suits.

The skilled Russian diver took the plunge as the water temperature hit minus 1.5 degrees Centigrade.

Come on in, the water's lovely: The whales wait for Natalia to take the plunge, but the sub-zero waters are enough to kill most people within five minutes

Belugas are famed for the way in which their faces are able to convey human-like expressions. Certainly Matrena and Nilma seemed to enjoy frolicking with Natalia. 

The taming of the whales happened in the Murmansk Oblast region in the far north-west of Russia at the shore of the White Sea near the Arctic Circle branch of the Utrish Dophinarium.

An area of the sea is enclosed  to stop whales and dolphins getting out and instructors tame the mammals before they are transported to dolphinariums around the world — a practice many animal conservationists consider cruel. 

Belugas have a small hump on their heads used for echo-location and it was thought that there would be more chance of striking up a rapport with them without clothes as a barrier.

Rare space: Natalia's encounters with the whales take place in an area of sea which is enclosed to stop whales and dolphins getting out

The beauty of nature: Like a scene from a classic pre-Raphaelite painting, naked Natalia Avseenko swims with beluga whales in the Arctic

The average human could die if left in sub-zero temperature sea water for just five minutes.

However, Natalia is a yoga expert and used meditation techniques to hold her breath and stay under water for an incredible ten minutes and 40 seconds.

There are around 100,000 belugas in the wild. 

The first to be held in captivity was shown at Barnum's Museum in New York in 1861, and there are belugas in aquariums and sea life parks across Europe, North America and Asia.

Their large range of 'facial expressions' comes from them having a more flexible bone structure than other whales.
Certainly these two had a big smile for the naked Natalia. 

Breathtaking: the scientist uses yoga techniques to hold her breath for up to ten minutes at a time ask she frolics with the whales, Nilma and Matrena

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Un-Islamic rape cartoon: Utusan tries to wriggle free

Utusan has outdone itself this time. After the last fiasco with a cartoon of Ultraman running away from the Tsunami, it still has not learnt its lesson. Either the cartoonist or the editor is sleeping on the job. And unlike the Ultraman cartoon, this time Utusan will not get away with it so easily.

PAS Youth Chief Nasrudin Hassan has given Utusan Malaysia seven days to publicly apologise for publishing the cartoon strip that it claims insulted Islam. Commenting that the cartoon was shallow and misleading he added that the movement would hold a mass protest if the daily failed to tender an apology.

"It ridicules Islamic law as the cartoon implies that the procedures for rape and adultery cases are similar. We want Utusan to publicly apologise to all Muslim in the country and also to take the necessary action against the cartoonist within seven days," he said while handing a memorandum to Utusan accompanied by other PAS Youth leaders.

Muslim insulting Islam

ABIM has also demanded that Utusan Malaysia issue a public apology to Muslims nationwide over its comic strip entitled “Kekeliruan kes rogol” [“Confusion in rape cases”], while charging that it insulted Islamic laws and gave the false impression that the religion did not defend rape victims.

ABIM also said that; “This should not happen in our society and should not be carried by a media organisation which fights for Malays and Islam” because we do not want Islamic laws to be seen as victimising rape victims, like this comic strip has.”

Nik Aziz has also commented that the controversial cartoon is akin to the caricatures that appeared in a number of Danish bulletins that caused an international uproar. Some Islamic countries refused to import or trade in any Danish products unless Denmark issues an immediate apology to the Muslims, and withdraw the bulletin from circulation.

And yes, the cartoon strip is an insult to the Muslims in this country as it is seen to be making fun of Islamic laws, and that is really not very funny at all. Not even by Utusan’s standards of Press freedom. Someone has got to take the fall and it should not be just a reprimand letter from the Home Ministry this time.

This also reminds us of the time, when ex-premier Mahathir gave a damning statement to justify his views in regards to the laws on Rape many years ago, he was frowned upon by Islamic puritans nationwide.

Pandora's box

But Utusan’s blunder has opened up a Pandora’s box concerning our Islamic Laws.

In the eyes of non-Muslims our Syariah Laws seem to be inferior to the Civil Law. But non-Muslims fail to see that many of the Laws of Syariah are actually more compassionate and provides adequate protection to both the criminal and the victim. The cartoonist in his eagerness to publish the cartoon also fails to recognize that laws that govern Adultery and Rape are totally different.

To subject our Islamic Laws to ridicule in the eyes of the world is simply uncalled for. It is not only un-Islamic but it is sinful. It is best left to the Syariah Courts to dispense these laws without anyone trying to question its authenticity.

But of late, there have been complaints of Syariah Court judges taking too much time to dispense judgement, leading to unnecessary delays for victims to get justice. We hope the Islamic authorities will investigate this anomaly and redress the situation.

There are also calls by many political leaders that condemn the Bersih Rally as un-Islamic without giving ample reasons as to why it goes against Islam.

We hope ABIM and Persatuan Ulamak Malaysia (PUM) will come up with a statement to diffuse this confusion. Is the Rally really against Islamic teaching? Muslims in this country would like to know as many Muslims in this country would like to participate in this Rally too.

Lastly, this cartoon fiasco is a slap in the face for UMNO, as Utusan which is its mouthpiece, has disgraced the religion unwittingly. For sure the Malays and Musllims in UMNO are not very happy about it.

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Teenage Mother Tries to Suffocate her Baby – Caught on Hospital Surveillance – Video

This is the shocking moment a teenage mother attempts to smother her baby in a hospital.

Hidden video cameras caught 18-year-old Shantaniqua Scott place a blanket over her four-month-old son’s mouth. Moments later she clamps her hand over his face and mouth as the newborn baby kicks and struggles for life as his air supply is cut off.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE – WARNING – GRAPHIC

By the time the teenage single mother removes her hand her son Raymond’s body appears limp. Seconds later, with alarms going off indicating the baby had stopped breathing, doctors and nurses rush in to resuscitate him.

The shocking footage was played to a shocked courtroom in Texas where Scott is on trial for attempting to kill her newborn son. Jurors sat in rapt silence as the video tape recorded at the Cook Children’s Medical Centre in July 2010 was played in a Fort Worth courtroom.

They had heard how Scott’s son had been taken into hospital after he was reported to have suddenly stopped breathing. Doctors who examined him at first thought he suffered from severe acid reflux. He underwent surgery to correct the condition – when acid from the stomach backs up into the oesophagus – and was released from hospital.

But two days later he was back in the emergency unit after he mysteriously stopped breathing. Staff suspected he was the victim of abuse and set up a hidden camera on the ward where the baby was recovering. Scott was caught peering into her son’s cot and placing a blanket over his face for up to 20 seconds.

When a nurse briefly enters the room Scott paces the floor and appears to check her cell phone. Then, when left alone she reaches into the cot and with her bare hand clamps it over her baby son’s mouth and nose. The video records her trying to suffocate her son for one minute and 14 seconds.

Heart and lung specialist Dr Sami Heed said the baby would have died but for the intervention of staff when his monitors sounded an alarm.  He told the court: ‘I still get emotional. I get night sweats when I think about it. I take care of the sickest of the sick. His life was being put in danger by someone who was supposed to take care of him.’

Jurors were told that Scott confessed to police she no longer wanted to care for her son and in a taped confession admitting smothering him. Sgt Pedro Criado of the Fort Worth Police Department said Scott told detectives she didn’t want her child anymore. ‘She just basically stated that she just wanted to go back to that carefree attitude she had before she had the child,’ Criado said. She also said it was hard being a teenage mother, complained that the baby’s father didn’t help and added that she didn’t want to deal with the stress anymore.

Doctors said it’s not known if the child will have any lasting injuries from the lack of oxygen. He is being looked after by social workers. Scott faces life imprisonment if convicted of two counts of causing serious bodily injury to a child.

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