closely related to sharks but with long, flat bodies and wing-like pectoral fins, mobula rays are ideally suited to swooping through the water – here off the gulf of california – yet seem equally at home in the air, so much so that they have earned the name “flying rays”. mobula rays can reach heights of more than two metres, remaining airborne for several seconds.
mobula rays are quite elusive and difficult to study, so biologists are not quite sure why they jump out of the water. theories vary from a means of communication, to a mating ritual (though both males and females jump), or as a way to shed themselves of parasites. they could also be jumping as a way of better corralling their pray, as seen with them swimming in a circular formation.
what is known about mobula rays is that they reach sexual maturity late and their investment in their offspring is more akin to mammals than other fishes, usually producing just a single pup after long pregnancies, all of which makes them extremely vulnerable to commercial fishing, especially as a species that likes to come together in large groups.
Waaaaait whoa. Guys. He’s also changing the texture of his skin, along with attempting to match the tone of the ship’s(?) floor.
HE’S TRYING TO BLEND IN.
HE KNOWS HE’S IN DANGER AND HE’S SCARED AND DOESN’T WANT TO BE SEEN.
SHHHHH NO BABY OCTOPUS COME HERE IT’S OKAY ❤
We literally have a shape shifting animal with the best camouflage mechanism in nature and nobody thinks that’s the coolest shit like what the fuck we could learn so much from it’s biology everyone needs to get outta my face cause this creature is metal as fuck
There’s one better than this. It’s the cuttlefish. (I watch a lot of animal documentaries, okay?)
No but you have to post a gif of the cuttlefish now. Animal shows are the best shows because nature
the ninjas of the sea
y’all see this motherfucker right here?
this is the Indonesian Mimic Octopus.
This cool little guy can mimic a crab, lionfish, sea snake, flatfish, and jellyfish. He uses these amazing disguise techniques to avoid and deter predators, and also to attract possible meals.
he is the sneakiest ninja of the sea
what the fuck is happening underwater to create these fucking things
Time and space is happening.
Animals lived on ground for only 550,000,000 years, while underwater life existed for billions of years. Also the ground is only 30% of the Earth and height wise it’s only as tall as some tall trees unless you’re flying. Also many places on the ground are deserts and thus don’t have water to support much life.
The ocean on the other hand is 70% of the Earth’s surface, has depths of down to 10+ kms, and most of those depths can support life, so there’s a lot more variety in the types of animals you can see while on the ground most animals stick to 20-30 different basic survival strategies.
Octopuses are the shit
Years ago I made the personal decision to stop eating octopus and squid at sushi restaurants. I honestly and truthfully believe them to be as intelligent as we are, just in different *directions*.
My mom and her wife volunteer as docents at the Hatfield Marine Center in Newport, OR. The Center catches, studies, and releases great Pacific octopuses every 6-8 weeks. Longer than that is considered cruel. Male octopuses don’t live very long – females live longer, but only until they lay a clutch of eggs. Then they starve to death protecting their hatchlings.
Depriving them of too much time is like solitary for DECADES for a human.
And the Hatfield treats them as close to people-in-different-shapes as possible. Octopuses learn individuals. Docents they like, they hug (since they taste through the sensors in their suction pads). Docents they don’t like they squirt with jets of water – and everyone knows that’s valid, and that docent is reassigned.
When the time period is up, the Hatfield takes the octopus in question out to the bay and releases him/her back to the sea. It’s a testament to their treatment that the animals tend to hug everyone goodbye, then swim away slowly. They form attachments.
I think they’re smart. I think their smarts involve their lives underwater, and not our technological world in the air – so they don’t LOOK smart to US.
I want to be kind and gentle with them. I wish I could talk to them and hear what they say to each other. I wish I could understand how they perceive and conceptualize the world – because it has to be SOMEWHAT similar to the way we do – look how their camouflage looks like how WE perceive the animals they’re pretending to be.
Cuttlefish and octopuses are badass. They’re incredibly intelligent and emotional creatures. I highly, HIGHLY recommend reading Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus (a National Book Award Finalist BTW). It is an astounding read, a look into the people who work with and study octopuses along with the emotional behavior of these amazing animals.
So this went, uh, a little viral, and I’m cracking up seeing a pretty fair response division between “So soothing, I love the ocean” and “JESUS FUCK MY ANXIETY IS THROUGH THE ROOF.”
ifesbob 