Mount Concept Art - The Whale Shark

Now, we have talked about Pygmy Whales, Dwarf Whales.. and I hope you learned something about those animals. But, this one is one sea animal that I have always been attracted to ever since I saw it in a book when I was around 10 years old. Yes, it's the Whale Shark. It's so uniquely different and just is amazing to me. I'd be THRILLED if the Whale Shark ever became a mount in either Pirate101 or Wizard101!

The thing you notice first about the Whale Shark is the spots. Each Whale Shark has its own unique spots. Scientists say that it's like the human fingerprint, everyone has their own unique markings. Amazing right? Scientists also suspect they have the spots to help prevent harmful ultraviolet sun rays. You know, the Whale Shark is actually the largest fish in the ocean. It has NO predators after it at all. YEP, the Whale Shark is the beast. Even the Great White is afraid of it. BOOYA! Sadly of course Humans is its only threat. It is hunted in parts of Asia. 

The Whale Shark has teeth, but doesn't usually use them for eating. I know, what?! They actually eat plankton of all things, just like a whale would. It's actually an gentle giant. They sometimes allow divers to grab ahold of their fin for a ride. You can even swim with it without worrying about it eating you. Although you still got to be careful around its mouth, it can accidentally suck you in. Or around its giant tail which can accidentally slap you. But yes, otherwise it's safe! :P Its face is broad and flat which is also very unique looking. It's like the look of a mix of a whale and shark. The dorsal fins and the gills, very sharky. It isn't a predator, has a filter for feeding and it's huge, like a whale. If you wanted to find one.. In the Atlantic Ocean, it is usually in the Northeastern coast of USA all of the way to Brazil and then across to Senegal in Africa and finally down to the Gulf of Guinea near Cameroon. It's also found anywhere in the Indian Ocean. For the Pacific ocean, you can only find them only from Japan to Australia. You know, the largest Whale Shark they say is about 41 feet and weighs around 21 tons, which is like 47,000 POUNDS! Talk about heavy!

But the most interesting part is that in Vietnamese culture, the Whale Shark is considered as a deity and is called "Ca Ong" which means literally "Sir Fish." This one cracked me up. Sir Fish, seriously? WOW! In Mexico and Latin America, it's called "Pez Dama" or "Domino" because of its spots. In Belize though, they call it "Sapodilla Tom" because they keep seeing it regularly near Sapodilla Cayes on the Belize Barrier Reef. Go figure. But in Africa, it's called "Papa Shillingi" and Kenya has a myth that God threw shillings upon the shark which is why it has spots. In Madagascar, they call it "Marokintana" which means "many stars." And Javanese call it "Geger Lintang" also meaning "stars in the back." Elsewhere, it's called "Butanding" and "Balilan" in the Philippines and in Madurese, "Kikaki." In the Philippines  the Whale Shark is actually found on the back of their One Hundred Peso Bill!

I hope I taught you guys a bit about whales. I know I have listed amazing facts about them lately. If you see any other sea animals or even any animal you'd like to learn about, please post a comment and I'll research them and make a post about them. :)

The Secret of the Rhino: Is A New Mount Coming?

Is the Rhino hiding a secret about a future mount that we might see in the Crown Shop? From a new bundle? What about new packs? What could it be saying?

When you want to ride a Great Hornculous aka Rhino mount in Wizard101, you suddenly see this.. Wait a minute, Pygmy Gray Whale?! Is it possible? In the real world, there's NO Pygmy Gray Whale. But there is a Pygmy Sperm Whale and lesser known, Pygmy Right Whale.

Pygmy Sperm Whale is actually not that much larger than dolphins? I know, I couldn't believe it. There's actually whales the size of dolphins?! They can grow from 3 feet 11 inch at birth to 11 feet when full grown. Actually there's also Dwarf Sperm Whales that are even smaller. Astounding, isn't it? Up to 1965, people thought that both Dwarf and Pygmy Sperm Whales were actually the same whale. Then a smart scientist figured out that they actually weren't the same type of whale and put them in their new classifications. But they both doesn't really look like a whale at least to me. Their face looks like more like a shark or something else with a LOT smaller mouth and teeth in my opinion. Whales I remember didn't have teeth. And the rest of their body looks like a mix of a whale and shark without a huge dorsal fin. But both have blowholes and can expel reddish substance when frightened or threatened to scare off predators. The Dwarfs eat squid and crab. Pygmies eat squid and octopus, rarely fish. Don't worry, the Great White Shark is still King of the Ocean. HEYYYY, we should have a Lord/King/Queen of the Ocean badge for Pirate101! :O!

Anyway, interestingly enough, the Pygmies have three chambers in their stomach. Reminds me of cows.. kinda. The Dwarf Sperm Whale loves the deep water and is more coastal than the Pygmy Sperm Whale. Sadly, the Dwarf is more hunted than the Pygmy since it's found a lot closer to land than the Pygmy. They estimate that there might be around 11,000 just in the Pacific Ocean which I was surprised by. Seems too small to me. Who knows? Oh btw, Pygmy Sperm Whale's teeth lack enamel because of a mutation in their genes. I know? WHAT?! Go figure... One thing is different about the Pygmy is they have creamy, often pinkish color on their bellies while the Dwarf has a lighter white belly. Both have blueish-grey bodies though.

Pygmy Right Whales is an interesting one! They apparently figured out that they are not actually right whales at all. They belong to a family of baleen whales called cetotheres, which were thought to be EXTINCT 2 million years ago until found recently LAST YEAR! Yes that's 2012. They actually do look like whales we know. They grow from 5-7 feet at birth and up to 20-21 feet at adult. They are actually the smallest of baleen whales. They do not have teeth, but they do have ballen which helps them filter water from their food. Hey, this sounds familiar, doesn't it? They are usually found in the southern oceans of the southern hemispheres. BRRRR, it's cold there! It's near Antarctica. ACK! Not much is known about them because they're hard to find. I totally understand. I wouldn't wanna go somewhere cold to try to find one too LOL!

Thinking a lot of this, I decided to draw a Pygmy Right Whale mount since I wanted to imagine what it could look like if we had one. I think it's pretty cool actually! I realized that the other Pygmy Whales wouldn't look good as a mount. But the Right Whale is perfect I believe. 

But then I realized that what if the name of the mount wasn't referring to the color of the whale, but an actually large species of whale.. like the Gray Whale! Right Whales looks a lot like the Gray Whales, except Gray Whales can reach up to 50 feet long! The Gray Whale has been hunted for HUNDREDS of years sadly enough for its blubber. In fact, the North American population is actually thought to be extinct due to whale hunting. The United States finally wised up in 1936, finally protecting Gray Whales from being hunted. Because of that, the California (Eastern Pacific) population has risen back up to about 26,000 Grey Whales. Japan has not protected whales at all, they never stopped hunting them and in fact, they currently have only 130 Gray Whales left in Western Pacific near Japan. It's a shocking comparison isn't it? They are the travelers of the sea, they will travel a LONG way just to reach their breeding grounds as well as birthing grounds. And they have barnacles usually on their skin. They eat crustacean that live near the seabed which it eats by turning usually on its right side which causes loss of eyesight in the right eye for older animals. Interesting, never knew this! They usually reach puberty at EIGHT years old. Wow. And as newborns, they are about 16 feet long. That's the biggest baby we've ever seen! :O So, maybe we will have a "mini" Gray Whale mount which will be called Pygmy Gray Whale.

Here's what I think the whale mount would look like. Now my only question is what do YOU think? Do you think it's possible we are seeing a whale mount coming soon? Could it be a bundle, pack, crown shop? You excited or not? Would you want one? In W101 or P101 or both?

Tier 4 Talents for Pirate101 Companions

We can now train up to Tier 4 Talents for our Companions.

Here is the information for each talent what you get at that level.

This means we can make our Companions more meaner, more rougher, more tougher, more stronger,

HUZZAH!

Sneak Peek of the Sneak Peek of P101 Test Realm

So, we got a sneak peek of the sneak peek of Pirate101 Test Realm. Did that make any sense? Well, anyway, Test Realm was opened NOT INTENTIONALLY and we were able to see a few nice goodies! ... Until they kicked us off that is :P

Bazaar

First Boss?

First thing he says...

First Dungeon

 Loading Screen

Loading Screen

Mount Vendor

Transporty Thingy

New Chest Crate Look

Polished Card Look?

SWASH POWERS

More Test Realm Update Notes Info at: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/update_notes/test_realm

CONFIRMED - New Worlds Coming to Pirate101!

It is now confirmed! Marleybone and Aquila are our next two big world expansions. But they also mention that there's more... I wonder what more will we get other than two big world expansions? *suspense music* What do you think it could be?!

From MMORPG.com: KingsIsle has teamed up with MMORPG.com to bring our readers the first news about Pirate101's coming world expansions. If that's not exciting enough, KingsIsle is expanding the game with not one, but two big new worlds. Check out our exclusive first look at the lore behind the worlds and some exclusive concept art.

Click on the above picture to enlarge it

Close up of the above picture

Adventures await you in the highly anticipated Books 13 and 14 of Pirate101!  With the introduction of both the war-torn skyway of Marleybone and the legendary beauty and danger found throughout Aquila, high-level Pirates can now continue their journey against the evil Armada! 

Click on the above picture to enlarge it

Zoomed in picture - Stale Biscuit (Saloon?) and a Fortune Teller?

I totally love the street lamps with dog biscuit signs hanging from it

This is the largest expansion to date for this family online game by KingsIsle Entertainment where young Pirates rebel against the evil Armada who are bent on destroying the Spiral. These worlds and much more are coming to the Members Only Test Realm, and will available to the Live Game soon.

Click on the above picture to enlarge it

Click on the above picture to enlarge it

Click on the above picture to enlarge it

https://www.facebook.com/MMORPGcom

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/816/feature/7358/Pirate101-Set-Sail-for-Two-New-World-Expansions.html

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/loadNews/27464

Image Sources from MMORPG.com and Pirate101

More Mysteries Unveiled in the New Content Picture

While looking at both world pictures, I realized that the below picture had MORE clues when I zoomed in. Aquila was pretty clear and there was nothing else there. But for the below one, here they are - the mysteries all zoomed up into.

Entire picture of this world

Have you noticed the industrial town in the background? You can see smokestacks as well as heavy smog above it.

Lighthouses everywhere!

So what is inside this? I see a bit white inside, what could it be?

Makes you think, doesn't it? Can't wait to find out!

Official Pirate101 New Content Teaser Pictures Released

Remember all of those pesky puzzle pieces? Well here they are in one piece straight from Pirate101! What are you thoughts on them? What worlds do you think they are suggesting? I think they are Marleybone and Aquila. But do you think I'm right or wrong? Only time will tell!

This world has a pirate ship at moor with NO sails.. What a mystery. Also what's up with those metal rods? Paige Moonshade stated that it did remind her of the London Ferris Wheels. Is that possible? What an interesting thought. I thought that it was just bones of a blimp. :( I really would love a blimp ship, blimp car, blimp anything. Remember the balloons we would see in Wizard101's Marleybone? Those I want. I also hope we can climb that tower and be able to look out on the entire town.

Those Aquila ships.. I love the way they look so elegant. Can you see the minotaur statue in the city? I hope there's a huge labyrinth somewhere that we have to fight a huge Minotaur like we fought Stormzilla in Pirate101's Mooshu. Nicholas Lionrider stated that he hoped for a colosseum with a lion gladiator named Leonitus since Leo is lion in latin. And that it would be cool if we had a dungeon in the colosseum that would releases bosses one a time in waves, so we gotta fight them all one by one or in waves. We also talked that Aquila could be like Zafaria, Grizzleheim and can be connected quite easily just because you can put lions and bears in a stadium. Back in the old Roman times, they would use lions and bears literally to pit against men in the colosseum. I thought of Caesar and the storyline about him being included in Pirate101. It's full of intrigue and a backstabbing twist to the story. Something we wouldn't expect. Interesting ideas! What about you? What are your ideas? Post comments below.