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Recently, the local tribe sent Rosolie and Duran to a place both legendary and ecologically marvelous: a massive lake with a "raft of vegetation and grass which supports a smaller dwarf forest," Rosolie says. The ecosystem is strong enough to walk on—at least in parts.

"Walking on the floating forest at night is a surreal and very spooky experience. The floating part isn’t very stable, one wrong step and you get plunged into the lake. It was an intimidating place but with careful navigation we found a completely alien environment. As we walked, we passed only the tops of the aguaje palms whose base lay rooted to the lake’s floor forty or fifty feet below," he says....


During their first expedition to the dwarf forest, Duran and Rosolie came upon the biggest anaconda they have ever encountered: "We spotted two tremendous anacondas. The largest was more than double the size of the largest anaconda [Duran] and I have ever measured (15ft 4 inches). She was so large it would have taken eight people to restrain her on land; on the floating forest there was no chance. When she saw us she started moving away. We both wrapped our arms around her and did our best to restrain her for measurements and documentation, but it was like trying to stop a bus, she was way too strong. She bolted for the water with us holding onto her. Hanging on longer would have meant following her into the water below the floating forest. We were left soaked and panting – in complete disbelief of what we had just seen."

Rosolie estimates that she was at least 25 feet long with a 70 inch girth—given the fact that his six foot arm-span could barely reach around her body. "From catching 15ft individuals on a fairly regular basis, we have a good frame of reference to verify that the female was saw that first night was significantly larger than double any we had previously encountered. The only actual measurement we have is that my arms barely touched around her body and I have a 6’ arm span. This means that the snake had a girth of something like 70 inches. We estimate her length to be easily upwards of 25ft. Snakes measuring over twenty feet are extremely rare; this one was a living legend. In future explorations, once again spotting her will be one of my primary goals."

{Secrets of the Amazon | Monga Bay}

What?

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Joey Crawford comes in there and his whistle falls out. I thought it was maybe a small bird sneaking out of Harden's beard.
-Steve Kerr

Wait....what did you just say?

-Reggie Miller

Jet Skiiidaddle

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Garrett McNamara will soon be listed by Guinness World Records as having ridden a larger wave than any other surfer, stealing that distinction from Mike Parsons.

A mere foot separates the 78-foot wave ridden by McNamara last November at Nazaré, Portugal (see top image), and the 77-footer conquered by Parsons in 2008 at Cortes Bank off Southern California.That was the verdict, anyway, issued Friday night by an expert panel that determined winners for the annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, which honor surfers for various accomplishments during a 12-month period.  A spokeswoman for Guinness World Records said McNamara's record would be approved once documentation is received, and XXL contest director Bill Sharp submitted documentation Monday afternoon.

Said McNamara, after being named winner of the Biggest Wave category: "It's amazing we get to do what we do, I am so grateful. The world record doesn't mean as much to me, this is for the town of Nazaré and Portugal and for all my family and friends there. To be able to give them something to be proud of and inspire them... I didn't want to get caught up in it all, but I have to tell you the truth, when they announced my name I got a bigger rush than probably on all the waves I rode this year."

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