Jockstrip: The world as we know it.

Pittsburgh sets flotilla world record

PITTSBURGH, April 5 (UPI) -- Guinness World Records confirmed a group of 1,619 small-craft boaters set a world record in Pittsburgh for largest raft of canoes and kayaks.

The record-keeping organization said the June 5, 2010, event, which was organized by non-profit Venture Outdoors, surpassed the record of 1,104 set by Inlet Area Business of New York, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Monday.

Guinness officials said they created an official count using a high-resolution photograph taken during the "Paddle to the Point" event at the Point, the place where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers combine to form the Ohio River.

"I hope that this accomplishment will help to raise public appreciation for the water resources we have right here in Pittsburgh, and to encourage residents and visitors to take advantage of our remarkable rivers," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who participated in the event.

Celebs boost mustache interest

CLEVELAND, April 5 (UPI) -- An Ohio store owner says he is stocking up on fake mustaches due to increased interest in facial hair sparked by Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.

Steve Presser, owner of the Big Fun toy store in Cleveland, said he increased his fake mustache selection from about a dozen to about five dozen after Justin Bieber's March 5 Twitter announcement about growing out his mustache and Miley Cyrus' fake mustache during a March 3 appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Monday.

"Mustaches have become a symbol of levity. People, both male and female, put on a mustache and transform themselves into something else. It's a disguise, so they can act differently. They can be an evil villain or dapper gentleman," Presser said.

2 sea lions moved from Europe to Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, April 5 (UPI) -- Two Stellar sea lions were transported from Europe to Alaska and wildlife experts say they hope the move may lead to romance.

A 4-year-old female named Sitka and a 1-year-old male named Pilot arrived at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward after an 8,100-mile trip by jet and moving van, the Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday.

The came to Alaska from Dolfinarim, Europe's largest marine mammal park in the Dutch town of Harderwijk.

"No problems, none in the least. Two of the calmest sea lions I've ever transported," said Brett Long, the SeaLife director of husbandry.

After a 30-day quarantine, the new arrivals will join four other endangered Stellar sea lions at the facility, which is hoping to breed the animals.

"We would hope to have successful breeding this summer," said Lori Polasek, lead scientist for sea lion programs at the center. "Nobody in the United States has bred Steller sea lions in captivity since the mid '80s."

The SeaLife Center is one of three institutions in the United States, along with Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and the Oregon Zoo in Portland, that have captive sea lions.

Experts: Missing snake may be 'sick joke'

MALMO, Sweden, April 5 (UPI) -- Officials in a Swedish city said a note about a venomous snake missing in an apartment building may be a hoax.

Residents of the building in Malmo said they received the note about a 4.3-foot Inland Taipan, a snake native to Australia, missing in the building, Swedish news agency TT reported Monday.

The note describes the snake as "a teenager" that has yet to develop its venomous potential.

"We don't know who owns a snake here in the building. There are neighbors who have suspicions, but it could also be a joke," an official with the city office of environmental affairs told the Swedish-language Sydsvenskan newspaper.

Jonas Wahlstrom of Stockholm's Skansen animal park told the Aftonbladet newspaper the note may be a "sick joke."

"The Inland Taipan is found in only one place in Sweden and that's at the Skansen vivarium," he said. "They are incredibly poisonous so they aren't especially popular as pets."