Wearing Blue for World Oceans Day!

HAPPY WORLD OCEANS DAY!!!

Did you remember to "wear blue and share two" today? Two facts about the oceans that is!

I miss the Oceanic Blog-A-Thon very much! One day when I have time for more serious blogging again I'll relaunch it (and hope there are still enough people left reading me who want to join in). But for today, a quick simple post to remember the day.

Considering this year's topic is "Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet", I thought I'd point you towards a HUGE problem for the ocean: PLASTIC. :o(

Here's a really good video from NOAA on Marine Debris and its impact on marine life (link in case the embed stops working in the future)...

Who am I??? I am a...

It's finally here! The day you've all been waiting for! The answer to my World Oceans Day riddle!!! ;o)

First of all I just wanted to give a big thank you to Kim from Snug Harbour Bay whose holiday photos from Sanibel Island gave me the idea to choose this critter, and her daughter Chablis who kindly sent me a series of photos she took so I could use them in this post! :o)

Let's start by reviewing the clues, which I've enhanced with a few links to useful information. Try and figure it out as we go along, no cheating by jumping to the end! :p
 

1. I am a LIVING FOSSIL! I am very old. I pre-date flying insects, dinosaurs and man.

2. I am a marine animal, with only four species alive today.

3. My closest living relatives are found on land. (I do have one lesser-known distant cousin who still lives in the ocean like me)

Mystery Fish for WOD

Happy World Oceans Day!!! 

Shall we have a lovely little fishy celebration? ;o)

Over the past several days I've been leaving a trail of breadcrumbs to help you figure out whom I've chosen to celebrate WOD:

• 1. I'm a marine fish (although some people might think I don't look like one)
• 2. I can been found in deep and shallow and warm and temperate waters all over the world

• 3. I've got a mouthful of teeth and my bite can have very nasty consequences
• 4. But I'm shy so if I bite you it was probably your fault! (see story here)

• 5. I'm usually nocturnal. That means I prefer coming out of my hiding place (in crevices or holes) at night to look for food.
• 6. I rely on my sense of smell to find my prey, so if you're a stinky dead critter all the better for me! I help clean up the sea bottom of rotting corpses. But I also hunt for small tasty critters to munch on! ;o) 

• 7. I'm part of a big family: around 200 species ranging in size from 10 cm to over 2 m in length and many different possible colours.
• 8. We might vary in size and colour, but we pretty much all have an elongated body which flattens a bit towards the end and we have a single dorsal fin and a ventral fin.

Historic Dive Into The Ocean's Deepest Depths

Have you heard the news? Check this out!!!

There's a more complete video on the National Geographic website, but try as I might I can't seem to be able to embed it!

James Cameron is now the third person (and the only one to have done it solo) to have reached the Ocean's deepest point in the Mariana Trench! I first happened upon the story via the fabulous site io9, and while reading the story I just linked to, what particularly hit me was the fact that humans have only visited the bottom of the Mariana Trench ONCE, in 1960 (there have also been two unmanned trips)! To think, we've sent more ships to the moon than we have to explore the ocean's depths...

You can find out more about the amazing National Geographic DeepSea Challenge at their website:

"We know less about the deepest points on our planet than we do about the surface of Mars. The DEEPSEA CHALLENGE team is dedicated to advancing the world’s understanding of our ocean’s vast range of biological and geological phenomena. The historic expedition to the Mariana Trench’s lowest point, the Challenger Deep, which lies 6.83 miles (10.99 kilometers) below the ocean surface, is the first extensive scientific exploration in a manned submersible of the deepest spot on Earth. Piloting the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, which is outfitted for scientific exploration, James Cameron will conduct tests, collect samples, and document the experience in the high-resolution 3-D for which he’s known globally."

I for one look forward to seeing more footage of the dive and reading about any possible life he might have seen down there! :o)

What's squishy and crawls and swims?

Hi there! Since the theme of this year's World Oceans Day is Youth, I decided to join in the fun because kids and I have always gotten along! Indeed, they always seem to be really excited to meet me whenever they get the chance...

Let's see how long it takes you to guess who I am? ;o)

• I'm an invertebrate - that means I don't have a skeleton!

• Like most oceanic inhabitants (except for those pesky mammals) I breathe by filtering seawater through my gills. 

• I can crawl and I can swim.

• I live on the ocean floor, in dens under piles of rocks (that I either find or clear for myself), and I block the entrance with bits of shells and other rocks so it's hard for you to find me.

• I take up a lot of space, and yet I can squeeze myself through impossibly small holes!

• I have 3 hearts! They pump blue blood throughout my body. 

• Someday I'll die for my offspring (if I'm a male then I'll die shortly after I mate, if I'm a female then for the couple of months it takes my eggs to hatch I won't leave them alone for a moment and will die soon after).

• I have a big head with a pretty decent brain (I excel at memory tests and puzzle solving. Good luck keeping me locked up in a tank, I'm a regular Houdini!).

• My eyesight's pretty good thanks to my two big eyes, and I have a great sense of touch and taste. But I'm deaf!

• I have a beak which allows me to kill my prey (crabs, scallops, snails, fish, turtles...) by biting it.

• You know what they say about the best defence being a good attack? HA! Not for me! In my world the best defence is invisibility! So I'm a pro when it comes to camouflage, thanks to thousands of pigmented cells called cromatophores in my skin I can change my colouring to match my environment.  Good luck spotting me! ;o)

• If you do happen to spot me and come too close for comfort I'll disappear in the blink of an eye (yours not mine) and leave you blinded by a dark cloud...

• My cousins have 10 legs (or arms, your call!) while I've only got 8, and when we grab hold of something we don't easily let go! But that's not all they're good for, my legs/arms help me with eating, moving, hunting, tasting and mating. Check out our fabulous suction cups:

Who am I?

So, how'd you do? Have you figured me out yet? C'mon! That last clue was EASY!!! Let me help: my number of legs is what gives me my name! The ancient Greeks called me ὀκτάπους (oktapous) which means "eight-footed". *hint* *hint*

I'm a mollusc.

         I'm a cephalopod.

                  I'm an..................

OCTOPUS!

Want to see how I'm put together?




Can you spot my siphon sticking out in this picture?

I don't know how I'd survive without it! I lets me squirt water out and propel me along either slowly or quickly (depends on how fast I squeeze), and if I'm in trouble that's where my jet of defensive ink will come out of!

I particularly enjoy this video, showing off just how smart I am! ;o)

You've probably heard of my famous German cousin Paul, right? The media made quite a fuss about him last year... I really don't get what the big deal is about opening a box and eating a mussel... let me at it and I'm sure I could open it twice as fast as him! And any football fan worth his salt knew Spain was destined to win the World Cup!!! ;o) Ahhh... but the poor fellow has moved on and can no longer defend himself so I guess I'd better let him be. He did a lot for octopus rights and he will be sorely missed.

Well, it's time for me to sign off and let you get back to enjoying World Oceans Day! I'll be sea-ing you! ;o)

Do you want to know more about me and my family?

How Stuff Works: Octopuses

Read about octopus legends

Come meet the largest member of my family, the Giant Pacific Octopus!

and of course there's always Wikipedia.

This post is part of the 2011 Oceanic Blog-A-Thon  and the World Oceans Day Beach Party over at Shellbelle's Tiki Hut! Come join us in celebrating World Oceans Day!!! :o)

More facts for World Oceans Day!

Still looking for facts to share with the people around you on World Oceans Day? Well pay attention 'cause here go 10 facts about dolphins in 30 seconds!

Hmmm... that went by pretty fast! What say we slow things down a bit and take a deeper look into just one of those facts? I choose... ECHOLOCATION!!!

Now for the "youngsters", how about a catchy echolocation song?

Although personally, I might try and learn this one for a challenge:

Yikes! Maybe I'll go for something easier! :p

See you on June 8th, World Oceans Day!!!

Need Facts for WOD?

On World Oceans Day we "Wear Blue and Tell Two"! That is to say we dress in blue clothes and share two oceanic facts with our friends, family, neighbours, random crazy people we meet on the street... :p

Here are 5 quick facts on sharks for you:

Want something more detailed? Check out my Fishy Friday post on Lesser Spotted Dogfish, a small shark from the North Sea that is one of the species subject to fisheries in the area.

And here's a plea to increase shark awareness and help save these majestic animals!

Sea you on World Ocean's Day! June 8th is just around the corner... :o)

Fishy Fridays ep. 11: Special News Flash!

We interrupt our regular broadcast (which has been on hold since February, lol!) to bring you a special announcement!

The freshwater stingray population in the Liège Aquarium has recently been increased by two!

Seagrasses, much more than "ugly weeds" stinking up your beach

still from Océans

 I couldn't let World Ocean's Day go by without trying to put out a more "scientific" post about the Oceans... and while I was writing up my review of the movie Océans I remembered joking a bit with my friends about a certain scene where a dugong in the Red Sea is eating seagrass. What tickled us was the idea of the poor fellow nuzzling around the sand for these very small leaves which didn't seem to be all that abundant, when he could just hang out (if such a thing were possible) off-shore from Alicante and enjoy a diet of proper Posidonia oceanica, a much larger species of seagrass which forms meadows in the shallow sandy waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Wishful thinking... I'd love to run into one of these guys while diving off the Cabo de las Huertas, but I'm afraid even the Med isn't warm enough for them. :o(

For World Oceans Day the Ocean Project suggests we pick a favourite animal and protect it. Well those of you who've been reading me for a while know I'm not great at following instructions so I'm breaking out and choosing a PLANT!!! Ha! Anyone familiar with it will have guessed from the previous paragraph that I'm about to talk about a species of seagrass known as Posidonia oceanica. Why a seagrass? Well for one thing hopefully to change the minds of anyone who might harbour negative feelings towards this plant. I know I did as a child. It clutters the beach, makes it "icky" to swim in certain areas... and it stinks! At least that's how I felt as a child, now the smell just reminds me of the Mediterranean...

Fishy Fridays ep. 9

We're baaaaaaack!!! :o)

I had wanted to put out a much more complete post to re-boot Fishy Fridays for 2010, but my body apparently had other plans (nasty cold!), so I'm just going to dip my toes in the shallow end with an addition to my favourite post so far (Fishy Fridays ep. 3), the one on dogfish! You remember, those small benthic sharks (also known as catfish for the smaller variety)? Here, this guy:

Well, shortly before I left Liège my roommate at the dorm followed me on a guided tour of the Aquarium, and it so happened that her camera could do video (the one drawback of my DSLR, no vids!). So I took her 'round back to see "behind the scenes" a bit, and we came across a tank with Dogfish eggs in it:

Do you remember my telling you these little critters spend 9 months in their eggs? (if not, click on that link up there to ep.3) And that at the very end you can actually make out the little shark through the egg sack by transparency?

Maybe I forgot to mention you can also see them "swimming" in there too... ;o)

Fishy Fridays ep. 7

Time to peek into our last "temperate" seawater tank at the Liège Aquarium and see who's there... ready for a swim? ;o)

These guys are all pretty much Mediterranean inhabitants, and I've run into all of them on more than one occasion when I've gone through the effort of squeezing myself into a wetsuit and jumping into the water. How about I introduce you to them one by one?

Fishy Fridays ep. 6 (late!)

It's time to give the fishies a rest and talk about another group of underwater critters: crustaceans!!!

Huh? 

You know, those things with lots of legs, usually a set of claws and a hard shell around their body (which they have to ditch by moulting every time they want to grow...)?

Like this guy:

Fishy Fridays ep. 3

Oops! Fishy Friday is a week late, sorry! The "real world" (and a nasty cold) got in the way of this coming out on time... will try to keep it from happening again, but things are kind of crazy now so no guarantees! :p

So, back to business! Where did we leave off last time? Oh yeah, fish in a tank! :p


Damn! Will you guys stop swimming around so I can get a decent shot?!


Much better, thx!

Whew, taking pictures without flash in a dark space with moving objects: NOT EASY!

Why no flash you might ask? One of the cardinal rules of visiting an aquarium, to be obeyed at all times! Do you remember the scene in Finding Nemo when Nemo gets fishnapped? Right at that moment one of the divers takes a picture of Marlin, his dad. *Flash* and all Marlin can see for the next few seconds are stars... Well, fish don't have eyelids... so flash (which we instinctively close our eyes to avoid) is a big NO-NO!

Hmmm... so much movement, so many critters. Who should we start with?...

World Oceans Day: Life in the Oceans

Oh boy, all this running around getting the rest of the posts up... and mine is the one giving me the most trouble! My marine biologist side got combined with my teaching side and I put together a power point as a kind of intro into Marine Biology and life in the oceans. I even figured out how to save it as a video file with music and everything! (after several tries to get the timing right) And now it turns out that neither Blogger video nor YouTube support the .mov video format (after I left them uploading when I went to teach this afternoon) and I can't upload it here! :o(

Serves me right for trying to be so technical at the last minute... :p

Well, thankfully there's a website called SlideShare that's basically YouTube for Powerpoint Presentations! So, while I can't give you the video, you can still see the slideshow! I hope you find it interesting! You can either hit PLAY or go slide by slide (might be preferable, the thing goes by a bit quickly).

So do me a favour, find a recording somewhere of waves crashing or some nice music (as originally intended) and then dive in:

Life In The Ocean

View more OpenOffice presentations from cbeans.

This is meant as a sort of companion piece (the scientific side) to the Redheaded Shutterbug's Aquatic Critters From Down South. After reading everyone else's I worry mine might feel a bit drab now! Hope not!