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bethanythebogwitch · 7 months

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I am a survivor of Florida, having gone to college there for 4.5 years. There's a lot (a LOT) to not like about Florida, but the wildlife is not one of those things. So for this Wet Beast Wednesday, I'm gonna talk about the most famous Florida resident, the manatee. And why stop there? I'll discuss all the sirenians in one go.

(image: three manatees facing the camera. They are rotund, resembling a potato in shape. Their heads are smaller and end in squarish snouts. They have two flippers at the front of the head. The tail is flat, wide, and round. They are grey all over)

The sirenians are a taxonomic order of marine mammals consisting of 4 living members: three species of manatee and the dugong. They are the only herbivorous order of marine mammals, a trait that has given the the nickname "sea cows". The name Sirenia comes from the sirens of greek myth. In the original story, the sirens were bird with the heads and breasts of women, but later stories turned them into mermaids and that's the version that's stuck. There are unconfirmed stories that European sailors (the most common story uses Christopher Columbus) mistook manatees for mermaids, which is why they're named after sirens.

(image: a manatee facing the camera. Its face is visible, revealing two nostrils on a broad, flat shout covered in whiskers. It's eyes are located above the snout and are small and black. It is grey, but has patches of greenish algae growing on it)

Sirenians all have a pretty similar body plan. They are fusiform (bulky in the middle and narrower at the ends) and very bulky animals not built for speed. They don't ned to be fast (though are capable of short bursts of speed) because unlike other marine mammals, they are herbivorous. The vast majority of a sirenian's diet consists of sea grass and most of the rest is other aquatic plants. All species have been known to supplement their diet with invertebrates, mostly during times of poor food availability. When feeding, they move their snouts through the sediment, letting sensory bristles detect plants. They then use their flexible and muscular lips to pull up the sea grass, roots and all. While an individual can eat up to 15% of their body weight a day, they are known to seek out seagrass patches with higher nitrogen content instead of eating everything they can get. This reliance on seagrass limits the range of sirenians to shallow coastal areas, rivers, and estuaries in warm climates. Hearing and touch (with the bristles that cover their bodies) are their main senses. Their eyes are weak, making them almost blind. Sirenians are large, with the largest ever known, Stellar's sea cow, growing up to 10 meters (33 ft) and 11 tons. Mature sirenians are large enough to have no natural predators. Like all marine mammals not named sea otters, sirenians have a thick layer of blubber to keep them warm. Their bones are extremely dense and likely act as ballast to counteract the buoyancy of the blubber. In the marine mammal breath-holding competition, sirenians do pretty bad. They can hold their breath for about 15 minutes at max.

(image: a dugong. It is similar in appearance to a manatee, but skinnier. Its tail is a fluke with two points. Its head is larger and the snout and mouth point downwards)

Sirenian reproduction is somewhat poorly-understood. They only have a single calf at a time (with a gestation period of about a year) and mothers will raise them for one to two years. Calves mature quickly, reaching sexual maturity in around 2-5 years in manatees and 8 years in dugongs, though most females do not give birth until between 6 and 15 years. Their nipples are located behind the flippers, making a nursing calf appear to be sucking its mother's armpit. Sirenians are solitary animals who typically only congregate in groups when females are in estrus. Males are believed to compete for the right to mate and may engage in lekking. Lekking is when a male will claim a territory and mate with females in this territory while chasing opposing males out. Sirenians live long lives, with the oldest known individual being a female dugong that lived to 73. Despite how long they live, each female will only get pregnant a few times in her life.

(image: a manatee mother with calf. The calf looks like a smaller version of the mother and is suckling, making it appear to be biting the mother's armpit)

As with all marine mammals, sirenians are descended from land mammals. The study of sirenian evolution has led to a surprising conclusion: the closest relatives of sirenians are elephants. It sounds weird, but there is substantial DNA evidence supporting this conclusion. In addition, the tusks of a dugong (see below) and flexible and prehensile lips of sirenians are based on the same structures as the tusks and trunks of elephants. It gets better, the next closest relative of both groups are the hyraxes, who look more like rodents than anything that should be related to an elephant or a manatee. All three are part of a clade called paenungulata, which is part of a clade called afrotheria. The other main group within afrotheria is afroinsectiphilia, which consists of aardvarks and various shrews. The afrotherian family reunions must be wild.

(image: a scientific diagram showing a cladogram of afrotheria and the groups within it. source)

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is the last surviving member of its family, which also included the now extinct giant Stellar's sea cow. The easiest way to tell a dugong apart from a manatee is its tail, which is shaped like a dolphin's fluke instead of the round tails of manatees. Internally, there are also multiple differences, many of them relating to the skull. The skull has a very distinct shape, with the upper jaw bending down at a sharp angle. The tip of the upper jaw has two short tusks emerging from it. These tusks are found in moth males and females, but develop differently. In males, they emerge when the calf reaches sexual maturity, while those of females only emerge later in life and sometimes not at all. It is believed that these tusks are used by males to fight over females, as males are often found with scars matching the shape of the tusks. Dugong teeth as simpler than those of manatees, being simple pegs. While manatee teeth will be replaced continuously through life, dugongs only get one set and have to make it count. Dugongs reach an average length of 3 m (10 ft) and 420 kg (930 lbs). Dugongs have the largest range of any sirenian, stretching from east Africa to the Solomon islands east of Australia. This range is fragmented rather than continuous and dugongs are separated into multiple isolated populations. The largest population is believed to exist in northern Australia.

(image: a dugong feeding on seagrass, seen from the front. It's snout is being dragged through the sediment, leaving a cloud of dirt behind it. Small yellow fish surround it)

The west Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) does not live in west India. It lives in North America. I dunno who named it, but you had one job. The species is divided into two subspecies: the Florida manatee (T. m. latriostris) found in the Gulf of Mexico and east coast of the United States, and the Antillean manatee (T. m. manatus) found in the Caribbean and down south to Brazil. The Antillean subspecies is much more poorly known compared to the Florida subspecies. The Florida manatee may be the most well-studied of all manatees due to the extensive conservation efforts regarding them since the 1970s. Like other manatees, the WI manatee has a round, paddle-like tail and fingernails on its flippers. Their diaphragms are divided into two hemidiaphragms, each of which contracts one lung. They have the northernmost territory of all manatees, which comes with some consequences. They are susceptible to stress and even death when exposed to water under 20 degrees C (68 F). They travel south during winter, usually to southern Florida, but conservationists still have to rehabilitate manatees harmed by cool water every year.

(image: tourists in transparent kayaks observing a west Indian manatee swim below them)

The Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis) is the only sirenian that lives entirely in freshwater, residing in the Amazon river basin. They move seasonally inhabiting flooded areas during the wet season and lakes during the dry season. They fast during the dry season, subsisting off of their fat stores. There are believed to be multiple relatively isolated populations of Amazonian manatee, but studying them is difficult due to them preferring to live in areas away from humans. The Amazonian manatee is the smallest sirenian, reaching between 160 and 230 cm (5 ft 4 in to 7 ft 7 in) and 120 to 270 kg (265 to 595 lbs). Scientist Marc van Roosmalen has proposed the existence of a related species, the dwarf manatee, that lives only in one tributary of Aripuanã river, which is in the habitat range of the Amazonian manatee. Their existence is debated, but most manatee scientists think that they are misidentified juvenile Amazonian manatees.

(image: an Amazonian manatee with calf, seen from ahead and below. they have the same body plan as the above images, but are a darker grey with a white patch on the stomach)

The African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) is the only species found in the old world, in west Africa from Senegal to Angola. They occupy the largest range of habitats of all sirenians, from tropical islands to flooded forests, to offshore sand flats, to lakes and rivers. They will swim up river during the wet season and back down during dry season. Some isolated populations live exclusively in rivers, never venturing out to sea. They are the most omnivorous of the sirenians, seeking out invertebrates to eat and stealing fish from nets. Many cultural groups in their range consider the African manatee sacred, some saying they used to be people and that killing one requires paying a penance. Mami Wata, a water spirit revered in throughout west, central, and south Africa, has been identified with manatees by some folklorists.

(image: an African manatee seen from the side in an aquarium. It looks almost identical to the west Indian manatee)

All sirenians are classified as vulnerable by the IUCN, except for the Antillean manatee, which is endangered. As they have few to no predators as adults, the primary threats for all sirenians come from humans. Boat strikes and getting tangled in nets kills and injures many individuals, possibly more than die of natural causes. This is not helped by them lacking fear responses to predators, meaning they don't flee from humans and boats. All species were historically hunted for their meat, blubber, and bones, reducing their populations. While all species are now legally protected, poaching and legal hunting by indigenous groups still occurs. They are also threatened by habitat loss as coastal development, pollution, and climate change reduces the range of seagrass. Damming has also reduced their ability to travel up rivers, cutting off valuable feeding ground. Learning about freshwater ecology will make you despise dams. In the United States, the west Indian manatee has become an icon of conservation, especially in Florida, where they have extensive legal protections. Controversially, the US government reduced their legal protections in 2017, much to the ire of many conservation groups. The manatee is the state marine mammal of Florida, presumably narrowly beating out dolphins and meth heads wandering around the everglades.

(image: two juvenile manatees who were abandoned by their mothers. They are being bottle fed by employees of the Cincinnati zoo. Ideally, they will be able to be released into the wild once weaned)

#wet beast wednesday #sirenia #manatee #dugong #west indian manatee #amazonian manatee #african manatee #marine biology #biology #zoology #ecology #animal facts #marine mammals

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someidiotwithalaptop · 7 months

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So... about the "Ironwood Was Right" thing.

I recently saw this resurface a bit, in the context of Ruby's regrets in Volume 9. Basically, taking the fact that she felt like she'd failed as the show saying that yes, actually, she was wrong to go against Ironwood's plan in Volume 7.

I feel like I went into thinking about this trying to debunk it on a logical level. Like, is it actually a good idea to fly off into the sky in one big long stalling measure when your opponent is literally immortal? What's stopping Salem from grabbing all the rest of the relics and then just waiting as many generations as it takes, until the people of Atlas forget why they came up there in the first place and return to Remnant out of curiosity?

The thing is, treating it as an argument about what's the more "rational" choice is missing the point that like. We're talking about a story. We don't know exactly how many people are in Atlas and in Mantle and where they are and how many more trips they'd have to take to finish the evacuation, because details like that would just bog things down.

This is not a trolley problem with x number of people from Mantle on one side and y number of people from Atlas on the other. This is a trolley problem with a wealthy and powerful person on one track, and a disadvantaged person an alternate track, and Ironwood choosing to pull the lever instead of trying to stop the trolley. The point is not "how many." It's not about math. The point is that there is a fundamental difference between dying in the central location while a bunch of Huntresses and Huntsmen do absolutely everything in their power to protect you, and dying abandoned in the mines you used to work while the city built off of your labor flies away to safety.

The question this conflict is asking is about whether or not other people can be sacrifices. Ironwood says yes—team RWBY disagree. That's the actual crux of this argument. Does Ironwood have the right to decide who deserves protection and who isn't worth the risk? Do we get to give up on other people before we've even tried to save them? It's about the idea of certain people being disposable. Mantle's wall isn't important, Amity is. Amity will protect all of Atlas, and that wall will only help the people in Mantle. It implies that their safety is an acceptable sacrifice for the greater good. It treats them as disposable.

There's a reason it was Nora who spoke up and pointed out that it's always Mantle being asked to bear the burden for the greater good. Nora has been a disposable person before. Hell, Cinder has been a disposable person! The way Atlas (through the madame) treated a living person as a resource to be exploited or sacrificed is the entire reason that Cinder is trying to burn the kingdom down. Thematically, Atlas cannot escape the danger she poses by sacrificing more disposable people.

One of the biggest themes of this show is cooperation. It's all about how Salem can only be defeated by working together. But working together is not possible if certain people are taking on all of the risk, all of the sacrifice. Everyone has to be willing to put some skin in the game. Like, imagine trying to do a group project if you knew half of you were guaranteed to get an A no matter what and the other half weren't.

So the idea that Volume 9 is supposed to come back around and say that actually, that plan that would have literally divided a city in half and cut loose the poorer half like fucking ballast, that was the right thing all along and Ruby Rose was wrong to challenge it... that would be an absolute disaster of a thematic statement.

This is not a show about hard military men making hard military choices. It's not going to contrive a situation where cold-blooded calculation determines that the right thing to do is to pull up the ladder. Because outside of weird philosophical experiments about trolleys, the right thing to do usually has more to do with empathy. Compassion. Cooperation. All that gay shit.

#rwby #rwby volume 9 #james ironwood #long post #this is kinda spicy and i may regret this but tally ho #utilitarianism makes a good scalpel #in messy situations where the right choice is unclear #but it's also very good at making excuses #“it's ok if I do x bad thing as long as it balances out”

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coffeeandbatboys · 1 month

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Hello! This is Carol (@clonethirstingisreal) but I can't send an ask from that account.

Congratulations on your 270 followers!!! Thanks so much for doing this event!

I pick Howzer, the #1 and 😜

Thanks so much!!

Thanks for sending in an ask! I threw everyone’s favorite future rebel and past gremlin child Hera in here for plot 😂

Prompt: sending each other little selfies or pictures throughout the day when they’re apart

Alema: Twi’leki meaning Protector. Nerra means Brother.

Warnings: possible itty bitty innuendo at the end if you squint really hard. Reader is Hera’s babysitter/bodyguard/chaperone. Howzer is a smooth and chivalrous little shit

Girls Day (Howzer x Fem!Reader)

“Alema look! Hera shouted, practically dragging you towards the merchant stall that housed racks of jewelry made with braided twine.

You sighed and trotted along behind her.

“Hera if you want me to take you shopping I need my arm in its socket.”

“Sorry. Got a little excited.”

You both scanned the colorful array of handmade jewelry when your eyes landed in a stack of teal bracelets. Hera must have spotted them too because she looked up at you with wide green eyes.

“It’s the same color as Howzer’s armor!”

You smiled and turned to the woman running the stall.

“How much?” You asked.

The woman peered at the teal bracelets you pointed to and nodded. “Four credits each.”

You took out your little pouch and handed her eight credits, slipping one of the bracelets on Hera’s wrist and one on your own.

“Let’s take a Holo for Howzer.” You said, kneeling next to the girl and holding up your wrist. She did the same and gave the biggest grin she could.

You snapped the pic and stood, taking Hera’s hand again and leading her along as you sent the holo.

“Honorary squad members?” You typed, giggling at your own stupid joke.

A few seconds later your comm pinged. A picture of Ballast and Howzer flickered up.

“Nice try. We’ll defend you fine ladies with our lives though. Having a nice girls day, cyare?”

You blushed, still getting used to the nickname. Every time he used it, your insides turned to mush and you couldn’t help but feel like a giddy child.

Speaking of giddy children, you decided that a something cold and sweet sounded very good at the moment.

“Hera, dear. How do blue milkshakes sound?”

If the girl’s eyes could get any bigger, they wouldn’t fit her face. She nodded. “Yes please, Alema!”

After ordering and receiving the drinks, you both sat down in the shade to enjoy them.

You and Hera chatted about her schooling and about your latest project when another shadow loomed over the both of you. Your eyes followed teal and gray plastoid up until they met that beautiful face.

“Afternoon, m’ladies.”

You smiled. “Afternoon, Howzer.”

Hera beamed. “Hello Nerra!”

Eleni and Cham waved to their daughter from the distance, beckoning her over. She scrambled up to leave, but not before giving both you and your trooper a hug.

Howzer chuckled and sat down next to you. You offered him the rest of your milkshake, which he gladly accepted.

"You know, Mesh'la, I had to think about something today."

"Mm?" You hummed, leaning into his shoulder.

"Holos don't do justice to your beauty. I think I'd much rather see you in person."

You giggled and kissed his jaw, right over the scar that sat there. He gave you a cheeky grin and twisted the straw around the cup with his tongue.

"Oh, I think that can be arranged."

Here’s the bracelet that inspired this 😂 you can buy it on Etsy also

#star wars #coffee’s 270 follower celebration #captain howzer x reader #howzer x reader #captain howzer #tbb howzer #clone trooper howzer #bad batch howzer #Howzer x female reader #Captain Howzer x female reader #Howzer x fem!reader #Captain Howzer x fem!reader #Tbb #The bad batch #Hera syndulla

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ltwilliammowett · 9 months

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How were ships' bottoms cleaned in the Age of Sail?

Hi, the ship was laid on its side, which is also called careening. Careening, is the turning or rolling of a vessel around its longitudinal axis so that one side of the lower hull and keel - the lowest part of a watercraft - is exposed for cleaning or repair. Incidentally, the term "heaving down" was used in the past. This required either a beach, a shipyard or a careening shipyard. If this was done on a beach, the ship's guns could be moved to the shore and used as anchor points, but a wharf in a shipyard was preferred because it was equipped with the capstans and rigging needed to haul the ship in.

HMS 'Formidable' careened in Malta Dockyard, 31 January 1843. The second rate warship ‘Formidable’ is shown being careened at the dockyard in the Grand Harbour at Malta. By Quintanas, J, 1843 (x)

The next step was to lighten the ship by removing unnecessary materials and putting them into temporary storage ashore. After all the sails, running rigging, ropes and most of the yards had been removed, the ship's three-part masts - consisting of lower mast, upper mast and topgallant mast - were dismantled down to the lower third. Then the crew members lifted the sledge-mounted guns from the deck, fastened the main and fore hulls with ropes and cordage, laid them on the quay and rolled them into storage. All the cargo and barrels of provisions were also lifted from the ship's hold and rolled ashore. The crew members who were in the bottom of the ship passed the iron shot and most of the ballast stones to a number of shipmates, who passed them on and stacked them ashore. Only a portion of the ballast, determined by the captain, was left in the hold to maintain the ship's balance. The lower gun ports were sealed, reinforced and made watertight. Numerous thick wooden booms were also installed, up to 61 cm in diameter and 12 m long. The ship was then pulled with ropes, blocks and the capstan to lay it on its side.

Now, standing on a floating platform connected to the ship, the carpenter could inspect the hull and determine the extent of repairs needed.

This work could include removing rotten or damaged planks and installing new ones, or replacing the sacrificial keel that protected the actual keel from damage.But also all the livestock that had settled on the hull was removed.And the chaulking was done, with ship's caulkers with special hammers tapping dense stands of tar-soaked oak into the seams to keep the water out. When all the repairs and cleaning were completed on one side, the ship was put back into the water, turned around and the process repeated on the other side. when all the sides were finished, everything could be loaded and reassembled and the ship was put back into the water.

So, I think that should be it for the moment, if you want to know more just let me know

#naval history #careening

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paraparaparadigm · 2 years

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#postcard #ballast point #tampa

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clonerightsagenda · 5 months

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My notifications are still blowing up over the blorbo post, but let's get this blog back to its regularly scheduled terrible space facts.

Envision your classic spinning ring space station. Now imagine your washing machine when too much weight gets stuck on one side of it. This is a concern. A hypothetical space wheel would need a system to manage any unexpected weight shifts, such as a hydraulic ballast system that moves water around to compensate. The bigger the wheel the more it can tolerate minor weight shifts, of course, but then you need more materials. Plot point where a Dramatic Confrontation is occurring on your wheel station and everyone runs over to have a look and the gravity starts getting wonky and slamming people into the walls. Sticking to your scheduled lunch period and not overcrowding the cafeteria is now a matter of life and death.

#source: weinersmith & weinersmith p. 153 #terrible space facts #learning terrible space facts is always like.... wow this messes up a lot of my favorite scifis :(#but it could generate weird and interesting new scifis

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weirdowithaquill · 7 months

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Traintober 2023: Day 5 - It's Only Me

The Words that Mean the Most to Edward:

Edward had been celebrating a successful rescue of Henry. Henry had just gone to push Gordon into the works siding, when he heard ballast crunch on the lineside behind him. “Driver…” “No Edward.” Edward jumped; a line of trucks behind him went flying. “It’s only me,” snorted the Fat Director, stepping around to the front of the old blue engine. “I thought I’d congratulate you on a successful job today.” “Oh, uh… thank you sir. I did my best.” The Fat Director chuckled. “That you did,” he said easily. “But next time… perhaps give Gordon some tips on what to lie about breaking down. Safety valve my hat! Did no one think to mention I was CME of the railway at one point?” With his piece said, the Fat Director strode off, leaving Edward speechless.

The old blue engine watched as James sulked away, banging the coaches roughly as he shunted them back into their sidings. “Stupid coaches, stupid passenger, stupid newspaper, stupid bootlaces…” the red engine muttered darkly under his breath. “Do you think we should keep him?” asked a familiar voice. Edward jolted – the Fat Direct—no, the Fat Controller was standing right beside his bufferbeam. “It’s only me,” chuckled Sir Topham Hatt, patting Edward’s buffer before leaning against his running board. “I just thought I’d ask your opinion on James.” Edward shot a look over at the red engine, then back at the controller. “I think he has a lot of potential sir, but I also think he needs to challenge himself to show off his potential. He’s in a new environment, with new engines and he had a crash – he’s just acting aggressive to try and hide his fear.” The Fat Controller nodded, and strode away.

“I can’t believe they would… they would say such things about me!” hissed Edward furiously, sparks shooting from his funnel as his safety-valve popped up. As much as he’d tried to keep a calm face in front of the Fat Controller, to hear the engines he’d thought of as friends treat him like they did – speak to him and belittle him for just wanting to do his job and doing the job none of them would do. It… it hurt. “It wasn’t right of them,” agreed Sir Topham Hatt, stepping into the shed from out in the cold. “I… uh… sir! I apologise, I must have sounded a right—” “Edward, please,” Sir Topham huffed, pulling up a crate and sitting down beside the old blue engine. “It’s only me.” “I… I don’t know what to think, sir. They’re meant to be my friends, and yet they treated me like ash and clinker…” Edward spent all night talking, venting out his thoughts and feelings – and when he was done, Sir Topham Hatt simply patted him on the buffer, smiled and strode out.

Edward barely managed to keep a grimace on his face, and not burst into tears. Henry was one of his closest friends on the railway – in spite of years’ worth of teasing – and here he was, lying on his side half-buried in the snow. He was groaning lowly, and the way almost every piece of his running gear was skewed in some unnatural direction made Edward feel sick – but he had to help. He had to help clear away the splinters that remained of many of the vans, then position the flatbed and the cranes so they could hoist Henry up into the air. “The signal was down sir…” Edward couldn’t bear to listen. All he could do was wait and watch as James resolutely dragged the flatbeds away. “Are you alright, Edward?” “I… don’t want to talk sir.” “Oh Edward… it’s only me,” Sir Topham said gently, taking a moment to haul himself up onto Edward’s bufferbeam to sit beside the old engine. “You can talk to me about this, it must have been traumatic to witness.” Edward couldn’t deny it, and even though it was dangerous, and against railway regulation, and all sorts of other things, Sir Topham Hatt sat on Edward’s running board as the old engine slowly puffed home, releasing all his fears and worries and letting the kindly controller into his deepest, darkest thoughts.

Edward cried at the funeral. The Fat Controller was gone – dead, and he’d left Edward and the other engines right after British Railways had announced their plans to scrap them all. While he wasn’t the first owner Edward had had, he was certainly one of the men closest to Edward’s heart – for all that some controllers said engines didn’t have hearts, and didn’t care, Edward did. Almost all the engines did, for all their various relationships with their controller had played out. Sir Topham had kept him on long after another controller would have scrapped him, had listened to him in his darkest times and sought his advice when needed. And perhaps he wasn't perfect - no human was - but all the same, he'd done a lot more for his engines than history would ever give him credit for. “Don’t cry, Edward,” whispered a voice on the wind. “It’s only me.” And for a brief moment, Edward thought he could see Sir Topham Hatt smile at him from beside his son, their new controller.

Back to Master Post

#fanfiction writer #railway series #weirdowithaquill #thomas the tank engine #railways #traintober #traintober 2023 #It's Only Me #ttte edward #ttte sir topham hatt

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