Deep Sea Cucumber: “jettisons internal organs from anus”
September 2, 2010
Unbelievable – nature’s defense strategies never cease to amaze…
Photo by INDEX-SATAL/NOAA
“A free-swimming sea cucumber moves through the freezing waters of a 10,515-foot (3,205-meter) abyss.
The 1,250 known species of sea cucumbers—named for their distinctive shapes—live on or near deep ocean floors or dwell in the shallows. (Watch a video of a “hairy” sea cucumber.)
When threatened, some sea cucumbers can mutilate their own bodies as a defense mechanism: The animals violently contract their muscles and jettison some of their internal organs out of their anuses.”
From National Geographic New Deep Sea picture gallery
Gallery: Satellite view of Bahamas Ocean sands
April 30, 2009
Though you would be forgiven for thinking this picture a work of abstract art, it is actually a photograph of the Bahamas Ocean Sands captured by the Earth-orbiting Landsat 7 satellite.
Ocean currents in the Bahamas made the sand-and-seaweed sculpture in much the same way that winds create sand dunes in the Sahara.
NASA’s Earth Observatory has announced the ten most popular pictures of our home planet from its Image of the Day catalog, the culmination of a user-voted contest marking the tenth anniversary of the observatory’s Web site.
From “The best pictures of Earth: Reader pics of NASA Shots” Gallery, NationalGeographic.com
For full gallery, click HERE
Gallery: Rich life under the sea
June 14, 2008
Gorgeous photographs of Gelatinous Zooplankton, Pelagic Molluscs, Crustacea, Eukrohnia, Tompteris, Colonial radiolarians and Globigerinoides ruber (pink variety)…
Census of Marine Life (2006) scientists trawled rarely explored tropical ocean depths between the southeast U.S. coast and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, revealing a newfound variety of zooplankton and other small creatures.
OK, its a bit technical but anyway, they look cool.
From Livescience.com, an original content site that chronicles the daily advances and innovations made in science and technology.
Photography: Coral & Ice by Anne Doubilet
April 10, 2008
Coral & Ice: From the Ends of the Earth. Stunning photography from the depths of the ocean to the top of the world highlighting two of the most important barometers of the health of our oceans.
Photographer, writer and explorer, Anne Doubilet works with National Geographic Magazine all over the world including Papua New Guinea, Palau, Japan, the Galapagos, the Red Sea, all around Australia’s coasts, and the Caribbean. She has witnessed the disappearance of chorals she has photographed in the last 30 years and is committed to promoting conservation and awareness of the devastating changes on our planet through her work.
Well worth a trip to her exhibition at the The National Arts Club in Gramercy Park, NY if you’re in the neighborhood (open to 15th April).
Check out her incredible work at www.annedoubilet.com
