Ocean magic, sea creature disappears

What is it? It's been called 'ninja seaweed' but methinks it's an animal... You gotta watch this quickee video, it's fun and cures gout.



Hat tip: Meignorant.com via Deep Sea News

Tweet

The great turtle race

It's back, the great turtle race. Watch as 11 leatherback turtles vie for 14 days to see who migrates the furthest. Side prizes for deepest dive, coldest water encountered, etc. etc.

It's the great turtle race and you don't want to miss it!

Oh, did I mention that these turtles are BIG (see photo at left)?

Tweet

Amazing ocean discoveries

Who says there's nothing new under the sun? All you have to do is look underwater to find a lot of amazing new stuff.

The Census of Marine Life has brought together thousands of ocean scientists to compile their results and draw big conclusions about the biggest habitat on earth, our oceans. The results are amazing, surprising, and mind-boggling.

There's the great white shark cafe

Warm spots in the Pacific where phytoplankton and big fish congregate, sort of like a public hot tub.

And the counterpoint, super-salty and super-cold waters where creatures live inside of ice tubes that get colder than you thought possible for liquid water, like -25C.

...and more...

Tweet

Elephant seals study ocean & climate change

Elephant seals are being recruited as expert scientists for doing research work where people can't go--deep in the ocean under sea ice in Antarctica.

"As the creatures dive and hunt in one of the most inaccessible environments on Earth, they are feeding back information that is helping to shed light on the climate, using sensors that have been stuck to their coats.

The transmitters, developed by St Andrews University, are glued to the elephant seals and effortlessly measure the physical properties of the ocean, until the mammals shed their coats and lose the small devices after about a year."

Elephant seals are well suited to the task, diving as deep as 2 km and ranging widely under sea ice in areas inaccessible to people. Sounds like the work deserves a PhD for the elephant seals, if they're willing to talk about their findings at a public seminar.

Tweet

Orcas (killer whale) hunting dolphins

Wow, look at that picture! An orca drives a dolphin out of the water during a chase. Reporters suggest this is the first time people have ever observed orcas hunting their cousin, the dolphin.

Off South Africa, 6 people watched a group of 5 orcas cooperate in hunting and killing a dolphin. Then they got in the water with the orcas, who wouldn't?

The dolphin in the picture was a lucky one that got away, but another dolphin from the same group was later killed.

Tweet

Jumbo squid on the move

Watch out, jumbo squid may be coming to an ocean near you. They're coming at me at least, moving north into Oregon and Washington's ocean waters. And this may be just one more result of climate change.

Some worry that the voracious predators will harm already-depleted salmon populations, but we humans should not deflect the credit for that achievement.

It's much more fun to ponder the coming of the red devils that are reputed to attack divers when alarmed.

Probably a good idea to keep your alarm clocks at home when you go diving.

Image: Deep-Sea News

Tweet

Snail sex-too hot to handle

...but also strangely seductive. Here's an over-18 clip of snail sex, with an awesome soundtrack ("Sexy Boy"). The entry of the main character is not to be missed, also the early courtship scenes. It's not strictly oceans, but I'm sure underwater gastropods would be equally charismatic if captured on film like this.



Hat tip: The Other 95%

Tweet

Sea cucumber inspires new polymer

Nice trick to have skin that goes hard when danger threatens, and turns soft and flexible in safe conditions.

A sea cucumber can do it, and now scientists have borrowed the secret to make a polymer that is hard when dry and soft when wet.

The next hope is to do the same thing with electricity instead of water, for applications like a vest that goes bulletproof when needed. Or perhaps there might be some other applications, like replacing the blue pill.

Tweet

Squid beaks are hard yet soft

It's quite a trick, an organ that's rock hard at the biting tip, yet soft at the base. It allows a soft-bodied animal to turn into a horror-film slasher.

The squid's beak has to attach to the soft tissue around it's mouth, and if it was too hard it would tear loose from the squid when it tried to bite. So the squid needs the beak to have a soft base. But in order to work, the beak needs to be rock-hard at it's biting tip, in order to penetrate and bite through its prey.

The squid conjures up this miraculous beak by using a materials gradient. The beak gradually transitions from soft to hard materials to achieve the change in texture. It's a trick that materials scientists would like to emulate.

And many a man has tried to be manly yet sensitive, a transition that's hard to master. Can we look to a squid for guidance? Apparently so, according to that most romantic of bloggers, PZ Myers.

Tweet

Scary monsters make baby sand dollars split in two

Now here's an idea...if danger threatens, split in two and maybe one of you will survive. That's what baby sand dollars do.

When they are just 4-day-old cute tiny pluteus larvae (left), the baby sand dollars split in two when confronted with the smell of dover sole (a predatory fish).

Reminds me of the joke of two guys threatened by a bear, one bends over to lace up his running shoes and the other says "you can't outrun a bear." The first guy responds "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."

Hat tip: Mike Hirshfield

Tweet

Person eaten by giant squid...

...almost...OK, person roughed up a bit by a giant squid...or maybe a pretty big squid that isn't quite a giant...well, how about person bothered by a big squid. Darn, now the headline has lost it's zing.

Here's how it went down, according to FirstScience.com:

Hemmed in on all sides by two metre-long, tentacled sea demons, Scott Cassell must have thought he’d breathed his last...

30 minutes later he emerged from what would have been his watery grave, just off the coast of Mexico, saved only by his armour-plated diving suit.

A veteran deep sea film maker, Cassell was on a mission to get an image on camera of the Mexican Rojo Diablo, the 'red demon' or Humboldt squid. At up to 50 kilograms, these vicious sea beasts can throw enough weight to do some serious damage to an unprotected diver. Cassell was anything but unscathed after his own terrifying encounter. “I later discovered bruises on me the size of oranges, as well as several scratches in my anti-squid armour suit,” he says.

From his studies, Cassell has hints of much larger creatures, perhaps a giant squid big enough to give rise to the legends of the "Kraken."

The giant squid is a creature that has fascinated people for centuries. Thankfully mysterious, we see just enough of the giant squid to keep our curiosity alive. And there are even rumors and slight bits of information about the even more rare, and bigger, colossal squid. Recently, Japanese scientists filmed the capture of a giant squid, as shown in this YouTube clip.

Tweet

Smooth walrus has got moves

Hat tip: Zooillogix, Oyster's Garter

Tweet

Fish whisperer coaxes bluefin tuna to mate

Getting fish to breed in captivity is hard. When the fish are half-ton cruise missles, it's even harder.

But bluefin tuna are so valuable that it's worth trying. Now a self-proclaimed fish whisperer says he's done it.

"We get into their minds, we find the Y factor," said Hagen Stehr. It involves massive tanks, mood lighting that simulates moon and sun cycles, and the right temperature.

Is it worth all this effort? Probably, since bluefin tuna are endangered, and worth a fortune when they're ready to sell to Japanese fish markets, upwards of $50,000 each for the best fish.

"Some fish are easier than others to breed," he said. "The southern bluefin tuna is the holy grail, the cream of the cream, the ultimate."

And if you think fish sex isn't interesting, here's a marine biologist who says the sex lives of fish may unlock some of the mysteries of human sexuality. See, fish ARE sexy.

Tweet

Mythical sea creature surfaces

"Have you seen the white whale?" Now you have, check out these pictures of Moby Orca, the white killer whale. Once the stuff of legends, now we know the white whale is real.

Answering the plea of Captain Ahab in Melville's Moby Dick, Scientists studying fish spotted the white orca off Alaska's Aleutian Islands.

There's much to this sighting, beyond positive ID and photos of a nearly-white Orcinus orca, or killer whale. Now, combing the ocean, scientists are putting the truth or lie to many myths and mysteries of the sea, for better or worse. Would we prefer the mysteries to remain? Or is it better to know?

The white whale is a large male, apparently healthy, and it's not an albino because it has small amounts of light yellow or light brown color in some patches.

A magnificent sight, a myth revealed, and the ocean is a tiny bit less mysterious today. But not to worry, I'm sure there are many, many more secrets still hiding. Goodbye for now, Moby orca, go back down to the earth's last uncharted realm.

Tweet

Barnacle sex tuned to wave conditions

Barnacle penises are the stuff of legends, and now there's a new chapter.

Barnacles live firmly anchored to ocean rocks, and they can't move around to mate. To solve this problem, barnacles have evolved the longest penis relative to body size of any animal on earth, up to 8 times longer than body size. New research now reveals the hows and whys of penis size and shape variation among barnacles.

Barnacles seem to be able to change the size and shape of their penises to match local wave conditions.

When wave action is light, a longer (thinner) penis can reach more mates, but at times of higher wave action, a shorter (stouter) penis is more manoeuvrable in flow and therefore can reach more mates.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Tweet

Killer whales playing with seals

Here's an unbelievable video of some killer whales smacking some seals around, with a surprise ending. Wow, you know when you've been Tango'd.

Tweet

Electric eel lights christmas tree

Is this the ultimate in green energy? An electric eel's power has been harnessed in Japan to light a Christmas tree.

Some eels generate electric fields to detect prey in murky waters, by detecting disturbances in the electric field. By placing electrodes in the eels tank, the eel-power is made to flow through a circuit and light up a christmas tree.

This is cute, but I doubt we'll see eel-power used for industrial purposes.

Tweet

Giant sea scorpion creates ocean terror

It's big and it's bad, and it's a real-life monster. Up to 8 feet long and 400 pounds, this sea scorpion lies in wait to grab passing fish or other prey in 18 inch claws. Compare the sea scorpion to an average person in the figure (left). Once caught, the sea scorpion's hapless prey are sliced into smaller bits, and then diced using saws on it's legs.

Believe it or not, this thing is real. But thankfully it's been extinct for 390 million years. Otherwise, snorkeling might not be quite so popular. This newly discovered fossil makes ancient sea scorpions seem even more amazing and dangerous.

image: Biology Letters

Tweet

Crittercams: great way to film animal secrets

If you want to know what really happens in dark and private places, there's a new way to find out. Amateurs are now making the hot new ocean films, thanks to crittercams.

Cameras strapped to animals have been used to penetrate ocean depths and reveal the secret lives of underwater animals. The latest deep sea cameras are the size of a flashlight and can be used under 3000 feet of water. They've been used on sharks, turtles, sea lions, and even penguins (see picture).

image: National Geographic

Tweet

Great white shark frenzy resembles fraternity party

Watch this video for an amazing look at a great white shark feeding frenzy that results in the sharks appearing drunk and sexually active. It reminds me of a fraternity party, except fed by whale blubber instead of take-out pizza and beer.

A whale carcass off South Africa attracts 27 large great white sharks, with the sharks lining up to eat 30-40 pound bites of whale blubber. As the sharks eat more and more, jostling each other in the process, they begin to appear intoxicated, moving slowly around the carcass and bumping into each other, the carcass, and the film crews boats and observation cage.

Finally, the sharks appear sexually aroused and active, although actual mating is not observed. Perhaps this takes place upstairs in the more private rooms. The film crew believes this may be the largest congregation of large great white sharks ever observed, and the closest thing to observing white shark mating.

One scientist says this film supports his theory that white shark mating may occur after large aggregations of sharks finish a feeding frenzy.

Stunning video. I don't know if the commentary is accurate, but take a look for yourself.

Hat tip: Sea Notes

Tweet