Best Job in the World winner Ben Southall stung by lethal jellyfish

The man who landed what was dubbed "the best job in the world" as the caretaker on a tropical island off Australia has been stung by a lethal jellyfish.

Briton Ben Southall, who beat 34,000 applicants to secure the position, was stung during his last week in the job by a peanut-sized Irukandji jellyfish.

Writing on his blog, Ben said: "Now I’ve spent nearly six months here in the tropical paradise that is Queensland and so far I thought I’d done particularly well at avoiding any contact with any of the dangerous critters that consider this part of the world their home.

"I’ve avoided being boxed by a kangaroo, nibbled by a shark and bitten by a spider or a snake – but then in my final few days on Hamilton Island I fell foul of a miniscule little creature known as an Irukandji.

"I was enjoying a post Christmas jetski session with some friends at a quiet beach on Hamilton Island and as I climbed off the back of the ski and onto the beach felt a small bee-like sting on my forearm."

Ben said within minutes he was advised to see a doctor, adding: "I was feeling pretty hot and sweaty, had a headache and felt pretty sick too. This was not what I’d wanted at all and had caught me little off guard to say the least – I’m supposed to be relaxing in my last few days on Hamilton Island.

"I’d had a minor brush with what can be a very serious jellyfish. My slight knock was enough to tell me that it’s not something to be messed around with and I really should have been wearing a full stinger suit, as it recommended at all beaches here at this time of year…even if you’re in the water for just a couple of seconds as I was!"

baby seal found in back garden - 18 miles from the sea

A family who found a baby seal in the back garden of their Kent home 18 miles from the sea have named her Rudolph.

The pup, which the RSPCA said was less than a year old, was in the Dwyer family's garden in Benenden on Monday morning when they let out pet dog Jack.

It is thought the seal got into the stream from the River Rother, which meets the English Channel at Rye.

The RSPCA is now caring for the seal, which has been renamed Gulliver, at Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre near Hastings in East Sussex.

Keeper Elaine Crouch said baby seals often became separated from their mothers in bad weather such as storms or floods.

"She has a a tag from Belgium, probably put on by the rehabilitation centre at Ostend, then she got into the River Rother and ended up in the stream."

Fantastic finds in International Union for Conservation of Nature Seamounts expedition

A team of the world's leading marine experts have returned from a six-week research mission above the seamounts in the Indian Ocean with amazing new discoveries.

The scientific survey was organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to examine eco-systems around underwater mountains and volcanoes.

Known to be hotpots of biodiversity, seamounts attract a range of oceanic predators, including seabirds, whales and sharks.

“I am extremely pleased with the data that we have collected and the number of species that we have encountered," said Dr Alex David Rogers, Chief Scientist of the Cruise and Senior Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London.

“The diversity of species that we sampled is higher than what I would have expected. Some species have been recorded for the first time in the region, and we hope to have found some species new to science.

It was also very interesting to discover that the six seamounts we surveyed are very different from each other, and I believe our findings will certainly improve our global knowledge of seamount ecosystems."

The Norwegian research vessel Dr Fridtjof Nansen left on 12 November from Reunion island, and travelled 6,000 miles in 40 days to study five seamounts on the southwest Indian Ocean Ridge, and one seamount further north on Walters Shoal, south of Madagascar (read blog and diary here).

“It is gratifying to know that this work is not an isolated scientific trip, but will directly feed into conservation and management recommendations,” said Sarah Gotheil, Programme Officer with IUCN's Global Marine Programme.

“Through our study we hope to confirm the conservation benefits of protecting seamount features on the ridge. This will inform future management of deep-sea ecosystems in the high seas globally”.

In total, nearly 7,000 specimens have been collected and labeled, from two-metre long fish to tiny crustacean larvae. They include an impressive variety of fish, shrimps, squids and gelatinous marine creatures. Many more microscopic species of phytoplankton and zooplankton, representing the base of the food chain in the ocean, have also been collected.

Sharm El Sheikh scuba diving video

Well here it is, the premiere of me first underwater video.

I didn't think I needed the red carpet or a world first at Leicester Square, just a quiet opening and hope word of mouth catches on.

But with some movie Avi-something-or-other about blue people that looks a bit like Dances With CGI by that bloke that made that rubbish underwater movie Abyssmal*, I'm not expecting big grosses at the Box Office.

On a serious note, as the newspaper industry is pushing more on the multi-media front and I am producing more web-based video content, I thought I would have a little play for myself with the video function of the Canon G9 underwater to see what I could come up with as a little movie of our diving holiday.

On the plus side, the quality of the video footage (technical that is, not necessarily the camera work) isn't bad and I'd like to think the editing is okay, thanks to idiot-proof Windows Movie Maker (although I do prefer Adobe Premiere we use at work).

But I did learn that if underwater videos are something that you want to take a tad more seriously then a lot more footage is needed and some planning needs to be made as to what you want and how to get it.

I hadn't planned for any entry shots so in the end had to make do with some stuff filmed for a bit of fun by my wife while she stayed on board for one of the dives; the hustle and bustle of the port is not particularly well captured from the boat; and there is nothing of anyone getting their kit together or the dive briefing.

Also with the wealth of marine life down there, I didn't capture as much of that as needed, as I seemed more intent on stills than video.

That said, I am really proud to have captured the giant shoal of glass fish and the ray at the cleaning station.

Keeping the camera still and avoiding too much panning/movement makes things neater and it would also pay to have a much bigger memory card. That way I could have started shooting and left it running, rather than creating a wealth of short clips, that would have given more scope for playing when it came to editing.

That said, I did enjoy the experience of shooting and editing and it has given me more ideas for next time. Hope you enjoy. Any hints, tips comments greatly appreciated.

* In all seriousness, The Abyss really has to be the best underwater movie ever.

Or do you prefer Finding Nemo........?

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou..................?

Or Fools Gold with the lovely Kate Hudson?

What about Into the Blue with Jessica Alba and some other people?

Or maybe you are old school and prefer The Deep with Jacqueline Bisset? Discuss.