That Ocean Is Not Silent

I wanna hang out with drunk Jensen LOL.

Terminate the EPA on dec 31st, 2018.

you can contact the reps who authored this bill.

ask them what happens to the data the agency collects? what about the current employees? what about the EPA’s powers? What’s their plan?

Matt Gaetz FL ®

Pensacola Office

4300 Bayou Blvd., Suite 13

(850) 479-1183

Pensacola, FL 32503

Thomas Massie KY ®

Northern Kentucky Office

541 Buttermilk Pike

Suite 208

Crescent Springs, KY 41017

Phone: (859) 426-0080 Fax: (859) 426-0061 Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00AM-5:00PM

LaGrange Office

108 W. Jefferson Street

LaGrange, KY 40031

Phone: (502) 265-9119 Fax: (502) 265-9126

Steven Palazzo MS ®

Hattiesburg Office 641 Main Street, Suite 142 Hattiesburg, MS 39401 Phone: (601) 582-3246

Pascagoula Office 3118 Pascagoula St., Suite 181 Pascagoula, MS 39567 Phone: 228-202-8104 Fax: 228-202-8105

Biloxi Office 970 Tommy Munro Drive Suite D Biloxi, MS 39532 T: (228)864-7670 F: (228)864-3099

Washington, DC Office 2349 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 T (202) 225-5772

Barry Loudermilk GA ®

Washington, DC Office 329 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-2931 FAX: 202-225-2944 Woodstock District Office 9898 Highway 92, Suite 100 Woodstock, GA 30188 Phone: 770-429-1776 FAX: 770 -517-7427 Cartersville District Office 135 West Cherokee Avenue, Suite 122 Cartersville, GA 30120 Phone: 770-429-1776 Galleria District Office 600 Galleria Pkwy, Suite 120 Atlanta, GA 30339 Phone: 770-429-1776 Fax: 678-556-5184

Although it is the home of approximately 98% of the ocean’s species, the deep sea is a frontier yet to be explored by natural scientists. Of the estimated 500.000 to 10 million species living on or above the seafloor, new species are discovered and described by marine biologists every year. Being one of the biggest and most extreme environments on Earth, the deep sea’s biodiversity is enormous in both species of prey and predators. From demonic red octopi to gigantic squid wrestling with sperm whales, the most interesting group of marine predators would be the deep sea’s cephalopods.

The biggest problem living as a squid at 5000 meters depth is the pitch black environment you have to hunt in. A great variety of cephalopods have adapted to their surroundings in the most extreme ways. One of the easiest feeding strategies is what we call “passive hunting”, and one of the more scary-looking squid known to science – the genus Magnapinna – uses this technique in the most bizarre way. Known commonly as Bigfin squid, or Long-armed squid, this group is known for its irregular big fin-size and extremely long arms. Although previously only known from caught juveniles, in 2007 an eerie video was made by a research facility in the Gulf of Mexico. What they saw was a 8 meters-long adult squid, floating around in the abyss.

Magnapinna sp.

Another more obvious feeding strategy is active hunting: squid are known to chase and ambush their prey using their intelligence and extremely complicated eyes. While we know that the eyes of squid are highly adapted and look similar to those of a mammal, there’s one species that takes it a step further. The so-called strawberry squid (Histioteuthis heteropsis) gets its name from the strawberry-like appearance of its skin. The light-producing speckles, or photophores, are supposed to confuse predators. What’s more interesting however, is the fact that it has one “normal” eye and one big green eye. It is believed that the smaller eye detects bioluminescence generated from potential prey, while the other eye watches the sky and filters faint light from above.

Histioteuthis heteropsis

While the strawberry squid tries to confuse its own predators, sometimes the best defense is simply being bigger than the predator. Some squid have evolved to be gigantic, take for example the Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) from the gulf of Mexico. The human sized squid are known to be hostile towards divers and even hunt in packs – sometimes referred to as “a squad of squid”. An even bigger squid can be found in the deep: the Giant and Colossal squid (genus Architeuthis and Mesonychoteuthis) are known to reach sizes over 10 meters. There is only one animal capable of fighting a gigantic squid: the 16-meter long Sperm whale. Although never observed by biologists, evidence of squid-whale battles can be found on stranded whales. Circular marks, believed to be caused by the suckers of the squid, cover the hide of several found Sperm whales.

Lastly, there’s one group of cephalopods often overlooked by the general public. Having the creepiest name from the deep sea, the Vampire squid is one of the most interesting organisms on Earth. Its Latin name Vampyroteuthis infernalis literally means “vampiric squid from hell”, but its name is scarier than the animal itself. The Vampire squid feeds on the so-called deep sea snow: flakes of waste material that slowly falls to the ocean floor. It uses a long thread-like appendage to collect the snow and brings it to its mouth.

Thought to be the common ancestor of both squid and octopi, the bright red molluscs share a lot of characters with the other cephalopods. There are however some differences. When threatened, Vampire squids cannot simply swim away. Instead, they use an unique arsenal of defensive strategies. The filaments between their tentacles can be used to protect their soft bodies, exposing spiny structures on the inside of the tentacles. In addition, Vampire squid have no ink-sacs like other lineages, but can emit fluorescent fluids to scare predators away.

Vampyroteuthis infernalis

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the deep sea and its inhabitants, but every day new species are being discovered by marine biologists. We don’t have to look for other planets to find aliens, the weirdest organisms can be found below the waves, waiting for us.

Since it’s on our social media pages, I can finally tell y'all this story.

Last week, our little Pokey butt helped save a life! The vet from the marine science center just south of us had a sick kemp’s ridley being rehabilitated that needed a blood transfusion, and we were able to help out! Though Pokey has a shoulder disease that impacts his ability to survive in the ocean, he is otherwise a healthy turtle. The donation of his blood helped the sick animal recover, and the staff is hopeful for a full recovery and release of the turtle.

Zoos help, support, and lead conservation efforts. In doing so they save species from extinction. #BringBackTheWild

Unknown (via words-of-emotion)

Good Vibes here