Essentially, fish that lead schools have a higher tail movement frequency than their follows. So some engineers created a robot fish that could mimic the tail movements of a lead fish and put it in a tank with a school of fish. They quickly fell in line behind it! The notable application is the ability to lead fish away from environmental (oil, radiation) disasters in an effort to protect them. Really cool stuff though.
This is really awesome! Well done Science.
Wow! What a great idea!
Crab Carrying Jellyfish
Cassiopea andromeda
Cassiopea andromeda, the upside-down jellyfish, is named for one of Greek mythology’s treacherous queens. Cassiopeia was punished by Poseidon, who deemed that her constellation often appear upside-down in the sky. Her namesake jelly often lies on the seafloor with its mouth and arms facing the surface, which allows symbiotic algae to collect sunlight for photosynthesis and pass nutrients along to the jelly. Crabs sometimes carry these jellyfish on their backs to serve as a very effective protective shield.
Facts | Photo © Tim Laman
eduardo-:the-blue-revolution: Cuttlefish at Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Sepiidae are fucking cool.
* they look like maybe S. pharaonis.
mad-as-a-marine-biologist:ichthyologist:
Frogfish with sponge
Frogfish are masters of camouflage often mimicking their immediate surroundings perfectly.
Photo: Andrew Taylor
That awkward moment when you point a Frogfish out to a fellow diver and they can’t see it. Followed by that awesome moment of eyes-widening-bubble-blowing-vigorous-nodding realization. Oh, and the ‘OK’ sign.
100leaguesunderthesea: The Mating Game by digidiverdeb
* Giant Cuttlefish (Sepia apama) making smushy face :3
Shhhhhh… Ocean Noises Stress Out Whales
by Helen Fields
Scientists have long wondered whether propeller and engine noises from big ships stress whales out. Now, thanks to a poop-sniffing dog and an accidental experiment born of a national tragedy, they may finally have their answer.
Baleen whales use low-frequency sounds to communicate in the ocean. “They’re in an environment where there’s not a lot of light; they’re underwater. They can’t rely on eyesight like we do,” says veterinarian Roz Rolland of the New England Aquarium in Boston. Some studies have found that whales alter their behavior and vocalizations when noise increases, and it stands to reason, she says, that noise pollution would hinder their ability to communicate and cause them stress. But because scientists can’t control the amount of noise in the sea, that’s been very hard to prove.
Researchers couldn’t stop traffic, but the September 2001 terrorist attacks did. At the time, Rolland was collecting feces of right whales in the Bay of Fundy in Canada so she could try to develop pregnancy tests and other ways to study the animals’ reproduction. Animals break up their hormones and get rid of the leftovers in their poop, so feces can show whether an animal is pregnant and reveal its levels of stress. Blood samples would do the same, but feces are much easier to collect…
(read more: Science NOW) (image: New England Aquarium)
Near Extinct Spider Monkey Spotted in Colombia
by OurAmazingPlanet staff
Researchers have spotted one of the rarest primates on Earth in a national park in Colombia. A subspecies of the brown spider monkey (A. h. brunneus) was seen in Colombia’s Selva de Florencia National Park, the only national protected area with a confirmed population of the critically endangered monkeys.
When the park was created in 2005, the only known A. h. brunneus in the region was living in captivity, and the monkeys were thought extinct in the area.
Yet in November 2011, a local farmer reported the possible presence of the species, setting off a furious search for the rare primates, during which park officials and researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society spotted at least two individuals living in Selva de Florencia…
(read more: Live Science) (photo: Nestor Roncancio/WCS)
