Arquivos de periódicos de setembro 2021

03 de setembro de 2021

By-the-wind Sailors

Animal highlight! By-the-wind Sailors, or Velella velella, live on the surface of the ocean where they literally go wherever the wind blows, hence their name. These jellyfish relatives are also related to sea anemones and corals, though one of their closest relatives on the oceans surface is the Portuguese man-of-war, which they are often mistaken for. By-the-wind Sailors, like much of their relatives, have stinging tentacles that they use to capture small prey such as krill, plankton, and fish eggs. They also have a special type of algae in their body that they can harvest for food. As many of you know, these eager sailors can be found very far from their home in the open ocean and often wash up on shore in large numbers. Currently, they are our most observed species!

I will be making weekly posts to highlight cool organisms and to keep everyone updated on what is going on with our project! If anybody has any suggestions or feedback on the project so far I would love to hear it, since we are just getting started, we are still trying to figure out how to make this page as easy to navigate as possible.

I hope everyone has a great week, I can’t wait to see what you all find!

-Ari Puentes

Posted on 03 de setembro de 2021, 04:35 PM by goseascience goseascience | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

10 de setembro de 2021

Portuguese man-o-war

The Portuguese man-o-war (Physalia physalis) definitely earns its name with a powerful sting! The name is inspired by their very stylish sail that floats above the ocean’s surface, resembling 18th-century Portuguese warships. Although these organisms are mostly recognized and feared due to their sting, they are also an important part of the ocean surface ecosystem.  Man-o-wars are clones colonies, with each clone performing a unique job. There is the bag-like float above the surface and multiple specialized clones that make up the tentacles and underwater portion of the man-o-war. Some clones specialize in feeding, others in prey capture, and others in reproduction. The tentacles of the Portuguese man-o-war can be anywhere from 50-100 feet long, and they primarily eat fish and fish eggs. They often wash up on shore in large numbers, but these should still be avoided as they can still sting even on the beach. Next time you see one of these take a moment to appreciate these strange creatures.

In the past 3 weeks, our GO-SEA members have more than doubled and we now have over 500 observations!! I want to thank all of our members for their participation and would like to let everyone know that we are planning our first virtual meeting with our iNaturalist participants to discuss the experience of joining our project, more details about the project, and answering any questions anyone might have! If you would be interested in attending please direct message us for details!

That's all for this week, happy hunting!

-Ari Puentes

Posted on 10 de setembro de 2021, 04:18 AM by goseascience goseascience | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário

25 de setembro de 2021

Blue Buttons

Blue buttons are making an appearance in Florida this week! Blue buttons are jelly-relatives, and have two main parts: the float, which is the round structure in the middle (the button), and the tentacles radiating out the side, which are usually bright blue! Although Blue Buttons resemble jellyfish with their tentacles, they can’t swim like jellyfish and instead float on the surface, using their tentacles for prey capture. Some of their favorite foods include small shrimp and other crustaceans, and they are often preyed upon by sea slugs and floating snails.

As always, it has been great seeing what everyone is finding! We would love to chat with our iNaturalist members during our first virtual meeting on October 3rd at 2:00 pm EST (11 am PST, 8 am HAST, 7 pm BST) anyone is welcome to join, just message us for the link!

Thanks for sharing your finds!

-Ari Puentes

Posted on 25 de setembro de 2021, 03:45 PM by goseascience goseascience | 0 comentários | Deixar um comentário