sea creatures – LemonGrenade

Seal with a data-logger on its head. [reddit]

“LOOK! LOOK! I’M A NARWHAL!”

Awesome Digital Paintings by Artem Rhad Cheboha

RHADS (Artyom) on deviantART, on Behance

currentsinbiology:

Pollution linked to lethal sea turtle tumors

Pollution in urban and farm runoff in Hawaii is causing tumors in endangered sea turtles, a new study finds.

The study, published Tuesday in the peer-reviewed open-access journal PeerJ, shows that nitrogen in the runoff ends up in algae that the turtles eat, promoting the formation of tumors on the animals’ eyes, flippers and internal organs.

Scientists at Duke University, the University of Hawaii and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conducted the study to better understand the causes behind the tumor-forming disease Fibropapillomatosis, which is the leading known cause of death in green turtles, said Kyle Van Houtan, adjunct associate professor at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

“We’re drawing direct lines from human nutrient inputs to the reef ecosystem, and how it affects wildlife,” said Van Houtan, who is also a scientist in NOAA’s Turtle Research Program.

Caption: This image shows a sea turtle with tumors caused by fibropapillomatosis.Credit: Chris Stankis

we treated a bunch of these cases at the rehab center this summer

kirstendraws:

251/365 - Bisexuwhale
Celebrate Bi Pride! Available as t-shirts, throw pillows, and more on my redbubble. 🙂

theartofanimation:

Starry11

ostracizedpoodle:

Im not allowed outside after dark because i outshine all the stars and the moon so baby sea turtles always end up flocking to me

rkherman:

Organisms that spend part of their life cycle as plankton are called meroplankton. These are usually the larval or early stages of reef creatures such as sea urchins, sea stars, crustaceans, worms, gastropods, and fish. Meroplankton either feed on the nutrients from the egg they hatched from, or they feed on other plankton. Meroplankton also look vastly different from their adult forms, and in the past the larvae were believed to be completely different species from the adults.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meroplankton

Species featured:

Common starfish (Asterias rubens)

Green crab (Carcinus maenas)

Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)

Peacock mantis shrimp (Odontodactylus scyllarus)

Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

Purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)

Nemertean worm (Micrura alaskensis)

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Inspired by Rosemary Mosco’s “When I Grow Up…”