discovery-at-sea

[discovery-at-sea]

god made molluscs and then everything else was an accident

[discovery-at-sea]

Take the memory, leave the shell! Watch what happens when we return seashells to the beach & marine hermit crabs!

Seashells are so important to beaches for a whole host of reasons.

🐚Over-shelling can affect hermit crabs because it reduces the availability of suitable shells for them to inhabit. Hermit crabs rely on empty shells of other creatures for protection and shelter. When there are too few shells available, hermit crabs may be forced to inhabit inadequate shells & pollution as homes, which can hinder their growth and make them more vulnerable to predators and environmental stressors. This can ultimately impact their survival and reproductive success.

🐚Shells provide homes or attachment surfaces for algae, sea grass, sponges, coral and a host of other microorganisms.

🐚Animals such as decorator crabs and octopus use shells as camouflage and many fish use shells as hiding places to avoid predators.

🐚Shells help to stabilize beaches and anchor seagrass.

🐚Shells are used by shorebirds to build nests.

🐚When shells break down, they provide nutrients for the organisms living in the sand or for those that build their own shells. (Shells are a major source of calcium.) I’m a firm believer in when we know better, we do better. I once shelled, and then when I learned all of this, I returned all shells that were not sprayed with a clear varnish to the beach & watched the marine hermit crabs go wild changing shells that were so needed!

[discovery-at-sea]

So.

Y'all know that one meme of the tank being dumped off the ship saying "I go kill submarine for the motherland"?

If not, here it is:

The origins behind this image are utterly fascinating.

This is not a soviet built tank despite what the meme implies, it is actually a chinese built tank, a T-69-2 to be more specific.

What you don't see in the image are the further 24 tanks that are also on the barge about to dropped into the water as well.

These tanks are being dropped in on personal orders by Queen Sirikit, the queen mother of thailand.

No, for those worried, this was not them discarding old unusable tanks, at least in this instance. Rather, each of these tanks have selected and prepared to make an artificial reef. Rather than melt them down for scrap, in 2010 there were pushed into the water off the gulf of siam to create a home for hundreds of sea creatures. All the internals are gutted, including the engine and transmission, don't worry.

If you looks a little closer into the image, you'll see that all the hatches are open or removed, probably to make room for sea life.

If you want anymore info, I'd suggest checking out ConeOfArc over on youtube, he has a lot more on this and many more fascinating subjects such as the origins behind the panzer of the lake.

Y'all find this as cool as I do, right? Like, this shit is just so damn cool. As a wee bit of a tank nerd, it does make me sad that these are being dumped never to be seen again, but at least their still being used for something rather than being turned into tin cans.

[discovery-at-sea]

one fish two fish,,,

[discovery-at-sea]

one fish two fish,,,

[discovery-at-sea]

Just a reminder that while prehistoric fish are cool, there are plenty of neat babies still around!

[discovery-at-sea]

Florida Wildlife; vol. 9, no. 11. April, 1956. Illustration by Wallace Hughes.

Internet Archive

[discovery-at-sea]

the mighty gar...

(my half of an art trade with @jackalspine!)

[discovery-at-sea]

Suddenly struck with a need to explain to you how boat pronouns work (I work in the marine industry).

When you're talking about the design of the boat, you say "it".

When the boat is still being built, your say "it".

When the boat is nearing completion, you can say "it" or "she".

When the boat is floating in the water you probably say "she", unless there is still a lot of work to be done (e.g. no engine yet) then you say "it".

When the boat is officially launched and operating, you say "she". If you continue to say "it" at this point you are not incorrect but suspiciously untraditional. You are not playing the game.

If you are referring to a boat you don't really know anything about you may say "it" ("there's a big boat, it's coming this way"). But if you know its name, it's probably "she" ("there's the Waverley, she's on her way to Greenock").

If you are talking about boats in general, you say "it" ("when a boat is hit by a wave it heels over")

If you speak about a boat in complimentary terms, it's "she" ("she's a grand boat"). If you are being disparaging it may be it, but not necessarily ("it's as ugly as sin", "she's a grotty old tub").

If she has a boy's name, she's still she. "Boy James", "King Edward", "Sir David Attenborough"? The pronoun is she.

If it's a dumb barge (no engine), you say it. But if it's a rowing boat (no engine), you say she.

I hope this has cleared things up so that you may not be in danger of misgendering floating objects.

[discovery-at-sea]

Do you love the colour of the sturgeon?

Which one?

[discovery-at-sea]

I have long accepted the weird fact that sea spiders's digestive systems extend into their legs, but did not know that this also applies to their gonads..

[discovery-at-sea]

DREDGE (2023) ▸ The Pale Reach

Down here to investigate the ice field too? It seems to have appeared out of nowhere - my best guess is that it drifted up from the south.

[discovery-at-sea]

Marine life specialists noticed a spotted eagle ray mother was having trouble and helped her deliver two baby rays 

(Source)

[discovery-at-sea]

[discovery-at-sea]

[discovery-at-sea]

tumblr is getting frighteningly good at appealing directly to whatever online demographic i'm a part of and its upsetting me

[discovery-at-sea]