National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen was in Antarctica to capture shots of leopard seals. One approached him, jaws wide and ready for biting… and if you haven’t heard the rest of the story yet, you need to watch this brief clip.

I’m not man enough to dive into freezing waters to document the lives of animals that could rip off my head without a second thought, but I’m sure glad that YouTube exists so I can sit here in my underwear and enjoy the experience vicariously.

[Wired]

And scene.

Anyway, these brightly-coloured tools float and accomplish several boat-related tasks—perfect for Summermodo adventures you might have planned!

Knock them overboard and they’re easily seen and retrieved. Pretty straightforward. The handles help the tools float because they’re made of comforting foam. Bonus: The rust-resistant metal is tungsten-carbide, perfect for fighting off the corrosive effects of that salty sea air. Yar. [Amazon via Boing Boing]

We’ve mentioned Schopfer’s previous (and first) luxury yacht, the Oculus, but the new Infintas is far, far sexier with its “closed loop infinity symbol” design and includes a much needed upgrade in the form of an extra 15 metres of length. [Schopfer via The Cool Gadgets]

John Markoff got a ride recently, and reported the craft as being interesting, even in the plankton fog of Monterey Bay, CA.

Each time the 21-foot long electric-powered submarine plunged, my loosely buckled five-point harness left me sliding out of my seat. Each time we started to ascend, I was pushed back into the seat by the acceleration…Unlike a conventional submarine, which uses ballast to plunge into the ocean depths, the Super Falcon “flies” through water. It is slightly buoyant, and it is the speed of its propeller that pushes it downward in the mirror image of the aerodynamic lift of a conventional winged aircraft.It can operate at depths up to 400 feet, has a top speed of six knots and can fly for five hours on a single battery charge.

Deep Flight is helmed by Graham Hawkes, a pioneer in deep sea exploration vehicles. Among other craft, Hawkes built the Deep Rover sub which was used to film Aliens of the Deep by James Cameron in 3D IMAX, the Mantis, which was filmed in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only and the Deep Flight Challenger, a winged sub built capable of reaching 37,000 feet of depth meant for Steve Fossett to break the deep diving record in.

If you’re interested, John Markoff’s article has a video embedded in it of the dive and a tale of the first ocean dive in the Falcon with Perkins, where they chased Hammerheads. Below, I’ve included a video of the Maltese Falcon coming under the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as a video of him testing his prototype Super Falcon.

[Deep Flight, NYTimes, photo by Leslie Terzian Markoff and Yachtpals]

Here’s how it rides:

I would try to explain the theory behind this one, but the shape itself is best explained by Thomas in this video by surfpulse.

Thomas Meyerhoffer’s projects include the first rounded sky goggles, the Smith V3 and the predecessor to the iMac, the translucent emate. Thomas Meyerhoffer doesn’t live too far from where I am, a few miles south of San Francisco. Maybe I’ll catch him riding this strange surfboard one of these days. Interesting. [Meyerhoffer surfboards, Outside Mag Profile, SurfPulse]

An iPod colour hangs tenuously from a bikini. That model is from 2004, right before the shuffle was released in 2005, and years before the last and current gen’s clip. [SnowKing24]

They don’t have many details, but you can head over to see lots and lots of photos of it in the open and splayed positions. [MobileCrunch]

Also, it looks like Virgin Mobile is using Britney Spears’ tour to help launch the device. Wha?

In conjunction with sponsorship of the “Circus” tour, Virgin Mobile USA plans to launch its new Ocean 2 multimedia device. Select fans at the private show will be given an Ocean 2 to chronicle the event. This “Ocean 2 Camera Crew” can blog, IM, email, post to social networking sites and send photos from this one mobile phone to share with friends and fans.

Thanks Luis!

With room for 12 people to comfortably cruise at 25 knots, the rear of the Oculus remains open like a gigantic jaw that’s eating the passengers alive in luxury. And what appears to be a cleverly-placed window fills in an apt spot for an eye.

Inside, the ceilings reach an impressive 12-feet (hey, those are higher than where I live every day!) while the entire boat is still described as a “low rider,” featuring retractable panels that protect the decks from swells. Wait, why are we even bothering to explain all of this to you? You can’t afford it. [Schopfer Yachts via DVICE]