Photohunter: advertisement

This photo was taken at Kondalilla National Park, located near Brisbane in Australia. I think it sends a particularly powerful message about protecting the natural beauty of all parks.

White Abalone

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Gastropoda

Order: Archaeogastropoda

Family: Haliotididae

This is a very rare animal, the white abalone (Haliotis sorenseni). They used to be found in great abundance in the subtidal waters off California (80 to 200 ft), there are now less than 3,000 individuals remaining in the wild. This is an issue as these animals are broadcast spawners, that is they release eggs or sperm into the water column to be fertilized. If there are no other individuals nearby, then the eggs will not be fertilized. Because of the low population numbers and their reproductive strategy, these animals are considered reproductively extinct.

However, they are on the list of endangered species, giving them great protection in their natural habitat. There are also some efforts underway to breed these snails in captivity to restock the wild populations. Work is slow, as it takes time for them to grow, and as growing them in farms leads to the increased risk of transporting diseases from the farm to the wild.

Photohunter: Stripes

I really love hanging out in the tidepools. You can always find such interesting things if you are willing to poke around and not afraid of getting pinched.

This is a striped shore crab, and I found him under a rock in the mid-intertidal zone. They like to eat algae and are generally eaten by gulls. They are pretty common, but I really like the colors on them.

Photohunter: Yellow

This is a black dorid (Polycera atra) that I caught feeding on some bryozoans I collected for my thesis. I have caught at least four different species of nudibranch (sea slugs) as I am collecting their main food source, but I think this one is my favorite for its coloration. These nudibranchs tend to e a little toxic, as they concentrate the toxins from their food source in their tissues, so the beautiful patterns are used to warn off would-be predators. Some nudibranchs take a different route, and use their coloration to blend in with their food source so well, it is hard to see them even when you look very closely.

Reviewing 'Alien Landscapes': Carlsbad cavern

The following are pictures of (in my opinion) one of the most impressive spaces in all of the US. That is Carlsbad Cavern. The cave system is considered a national monument (like White Sands) and hosts about 110 caves. Carlsbad cavern is the name of both the park and the largest cave in the park. The entrance to the cave is atop a mountain, and the cave extends 750 ft (230 m) down. Once down you enter an amazing space...

These caves were formed by the mixing of hydrogen-sulfide rich waters seeping up from the the base of the mountain and rainwater seeping down. The mixture of these two waters created a sulfuric acid, which ate away at the limestone. You can still see pools of mineral rich waters in the caves.

This is a very unusual mode of cave formation, as most caves form by rain water only eroding the insides. The caves boast an amazing array of decorations: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and draperies...


The formations are made in the normal way for caves. Rainwater seeping down deposits the mineral it picked up from the surface. Since the cave is now in the middle of a desert, the formations don't grow as fast as they did 10,000 years ago, when it was a woodland area. Here you can see the edge of a massive stalagmite that is still growing, with the area were the water collects and eats away at the surrounding limestone...


The cavern is a most amazing space...

Life Photo Meme: Love and the Midshipman

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Batrachoidiformes

Family: Batrachoididae

This fish is the plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus). If you were looking at the top of the fish, you would see a plain grayish fish with a rather large mouth. One of the midshipman's interesting features actually lie underneath the fish. These interesting dots on the underside of the fish are photophores, which can produce a bright light pattern. Its still not clear what the light is for, but some speculate that the midshipman uses them to lure prey closer when hunting. The midshipman will hang in the water column and flash its light to attract prey items.

Interesting thing number 2 is how midshipman reproduce. Like most fish, males are responsible for maintaining the nest and attracting the females to lay their eggs. Male midshipman will hum for hours on end to attract females to their nest. The hum is produced by the fish vibrating their swim bladder, and can be so loud that people walking on a beach can hear it (and people living on boats often find it hard to sleep). Female midshipman who are producing eggs (more estrogen) are more sensitive to the humming noise and more likely to seek out its source [1].

Here's a nice news article on the midshipman's love life, with some sound bytes attached (for Quicktime viewers only).

Photohunter: Bridge

Here's a pretty well known bridge; the golden gate bridge. What most people don't know is the great variety of life which resides under the golden gate bridge, like the seven gill shark.

Seven gill sharks are called that because unlike most modern day sharks, which have five gill slits on either side of their head, seven gills have seven. There are only a few other sharks which have more than five gill slits, namely the six gill shark, and the sharp-nose seven gill shark. These sharks are considered some of the most primitive sharks alive today. The seven gill generally hangs out under the golden gate bridge area, as it is the deepest part of San Francisco bay. They are also the largest shark in the bay, reaching 10 ft (~ 3 m) in length. The largest shark in the area, the white shark, does not enter the bay as it cannot tolerate the brackish water.

Back in the day, these guys were heavily fished for their oily liver. The fishery in San Francisco collapsed in the 1940s due to heavy fishing. They seem to be making a bit of a comeback, although there is no official data on their status. They are doing a tagging and tracking study on these guys, to see exactly how they use the bay, so maybe we can also get a better idea of population numbers too.

Photohunter: Chipped

I think this qualifies as 'chipped'. This big cat toy looks like it has been thoroughly enjoyed by its owner. This toy was probably put in the enclosure as part of an enrichment program. Enrichment is when you try to provide opportunities for an animal to act naturally. It could be as simple as providing a nutritional treat, hiding food around the enclosure, giving toys, or re-arranging the 'furniture' (logs, ropes, sheets, etc.) in the enclosure to create new places to hide or climb. Enrichment is just that, something to enrich the animal's well-being.

And you can see that this is one content kitty...

Life Photo Meme: Shiny

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Cetacea

Family: Monodontidea

I finally got to see a Beluga whale! However, they were so white and shiny it was hard to take a picture of them...

Here are some interesting facts about the Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucus). They can get to 4.5 meters (~15 ft) in length and weight about 1500 Kg (3300 lbs). The whales are born toothless after a 14 month gestation period. They nurse for one to two years. After getting their teeth, they eat darn near about anything (octopus, worms, and fish to name a few).

They are a very vocal species; so much so, that they are often called the "sea canary". They are also the only whale with free cervical vertebrae (rather than fused), which means that they are the only whale which can turn its head or nod. They are most closely related to the Narwhal.

Photohunter: Hats

I'm not much on hats myself, so I spent a bit of time going through my photos before finding this. It is a picture of my little sister dissecting a squid in a whale tail hat. This picture was taken at my all time favorite festival, the Whale Fiesta. This is a celebration of the return of the Gray whales migrating to Baja to where they have their calves. There are lots of fun activities going on, contests, and tons of vendors selling super-cool things (I'm hoping that the lady who makes nudibrach necklaces comes again). All and all my favorite festival to attend, and a very appropriate picture pick as the festival is next week!

Life size Gray Whale head (can you imagine fitting a hat to this?)

Photohunter: Squeaky

This cute little fish is a grunt sculpin. It is not a good swimmer, and it generally moves by using its bright orange pectoral fins to hop across the sea floor. They are generally found in shallow waters (subtidally) and live in crevices. They only get a little over 8 cm (3 .25 in). It has been reported that these fish make little grunting noises when you remove it from water.

Some interesting behaviour has been observed in aquariums during spawing season. Like most fish, males are generally the ones to guard the eggs. What's different is how the eggs are laid and fertilized. Normally, males have to entice (or chase) the females into their chosen nest site to lay eggs, however with grunt sculpins the females chase the males into a cave where they are laying eggs, and won't let them out until they are finished.

Photohunter: Wide

Can't get much wider than this. This is a preserved megamouth shark. This shark is known only from 38 specimens captured, salvaged, or recorded world wide. Despite its very large mouth, the megamouth eats small planktonic animals, such as jellies and copepods. It follows its prey, swimming up through the water column during the night and descending as night falls.

Photohunter: Breakfast

This is a picture of Kellet's whelk, Kelletia kelletii, snacking on some fish for breakfast. Kellet's whelks are one of the larger gastropods (snails) found on the California coast. They generally tend to scavenge on dead or dying animals, but have also been know to eat crabs and lobsters caught in traps. They use their long, prehensile proboscis to reach into the traps, or in this case holes on top of the plexiglass container, and use the radula at the tip to scrap off flesh or drill through shells.

Photohunter: Reflection of my inner geekyness

This is a picture of a collection of artifacts I have in my house. The collection is often a surprise to most visitors, but give who we generally hang out with, it ends up being a fascinating conversation piece. Not only does our collection offer a glimpse at our inner geekyness to visitors, but they are often used as educational tools for the various classes and fairs that we teach. Most of these items were gotten from the various institutions that me and my husband have worked at or volunteered for over the years. Often, when departments have to move their collections, things get stuck in a cardboard box in the back halls with a sign saying "free, take me home!".

Some of my favorite pieces are:

• A 60 million year old sperm whale fossil tooth bought from the Bone Room (a super awesome place), the elongate, black fossil in the front center right.
• A paper nautilus 'shell', in the open box in front of the true nautilus shell.
• A copy of an archaeopteryx skull, in the clear black bottomed box in the center.
• A fossil of an open brachiopod, showing the fossilized internal structures (mainly the brachidium, which supports the lophophore)

It's a good thing my spouse and I both like biology!

Photohunter: Ruined

I was going to post something else, but a quick look outside my window changed my mind. This was taken at 2:30 pm. Right now, Southern CA is being hammered by wildfires. A little to the north of me, there are some major fires going on and many people are being evacuated. Needless to say, our air quality is ruined as well.

Life Photo Meme: Secret

What is the secret behind the demise of this coral? I don't know for sure, but I can make a pretty good guess based on the picture. Can you?

It looks like this coral has been the victim of that famous corallivore, the crown of thorns starfish (Acanthaster sp.). You can see part of the culprit in the center bottom of the picture. What looks like a patch of grey, red-tipped spines is actually the starfish. The crown of thorns is infamous for eating corals. They crawl on top and digest the fleshy parts, leaving the stripped white skeleton of the coral behind. Their spines are also a painful irritant to humans.

The crown of thorns is distributed throughout the indo-pacific, and has been thought to consist of single species, Acanthaster planci. However recent molecular evidence suggests that there are actually four species of Acanthaster [1].

This coral-eating starfish can devastate reefs when they appear in high numbers, but there is hope from a coral eating starfish.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Echinodermata

Class: Asteroidea

Order: Spinulosida

Family: Acanthasteridae

Photohunter: Blue

"Blue you sit so pretty west of the one"

-- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Road Trippin'

(Hanauma Bay, Hawaii)

For me there is only one blue... the endless blue of the ocean. It is so fascinating words cannot describe it. Even if you only get to visit the edge, it's amazing; and if you get the chance to immerse yourself, it's like stepping into another world.

( Los_Cat at Blue Pearl Bay, Australia)

I can't remember a time when I was not fascinated by the ocean.

Fun ocean facts:

• 70% of the world's oxygen is produced by organisms in the ocean
• 70% of the world's surface living space is provided by oceans, and 95% of the world's living space by volume.
• 20-50% of the world's species are found in the ocean (this number is skewed towards the terrestrial as more species have been identified on land, and the large number of insect species)

And there is still so much to learn!

Photohunter: Scary fish

This is a fangtooth fish, a deep water fish with very large teeth. It's been said that they have the largest teeth to body size ratio of any fish. They are found around 2,000 feet, and can be found as deep as 5,000 feet.

These fish are the poster child of the deep sea fish and can be seen on any special featuring deep sea animals. Although they general do extreme close-ups of the face, which makes them seem very large and frightening, they only get 5 inches (13 cm) in length. They are the terror of various shrimps, small fish, and cephalopods, that make up the majority of their diet.

There are only two species of fangfish world-wide, one which is present world-wide, and the other which is only found off the pacific coast.

Photohunter: View

This view needs a little explanation in order to inspire awe. This is a photo taken on Fraser Island, the largest sand dune island in the world. It is about 123 Km in length and 22 Km wide (76 miles long, 13 miles wide), and still growing. The sand comes from the erosion of the near by mountains in the Great Dividing Range, and gets blown out to sea and dropped on the island. This results in huge sand dunes which slowly move through the island and build it up and out. This is a picture of one of those sand dunes. You can see dead trees poking through the middle of the sand, and those are the tallest ones. The rest are buried under a lot of sand.

And a bonus view of the west side of the island at sunset. This is the area where I got the picture of my cute crab at the bottom of the page...