(Photo found here)

Happy Mother’s Day :)

Mother and baby sperm whales (see this previous post)

Sperm whale society is matrilineal (grandmothers, mothers, and their daughters live together for life). Sperm whale mothers are pregnant for about 16 months. Calves are born at about 4 meters long and weigh around one ton. Sperm whale calves suckle for at least three years, during which time they do not dive deeply to feed on squid with their mothers. As a result, at least one of the calf’s family members remains at the surface to “babysit.”

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The pelagic stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae. The pelagic stingray is easily distinguished by its characteristic, serrated tail spine which is flattened and attached rigidly to the skin of the tail. Cells at the base of the spine secrete a poison which can inflict exceedingly painful wounds.  It is possible, as with other members of the family Dasyatidae, that new spines develop before an old one is lost. The body of the pelagic stingray is disc-shaped and depressed but thick, with a blunt, rounded snout and angular pectorals. The mouth is small and curved, and filled with bands of small, rounded teeth with cusps, ridges, or tubercles. Pelagic stingrays have no prominent markings on their skin, and vary in color from uniformly violet or purple to dark blue-green, both on their dorsal and ventral surfaces. As its name suggests, the pelagic stingray occupies open surface and near surface waters, usually occurring in the first 100 m of the water but reaching depths of 381 m.  It is often reef-associated, and is perhaps the only totally pelagic member of the family Dasyatidae. Traditionally, spines of members of this family (Dasyatidae) were used for spear tips, awls, and daggers, and are currently sold as curios.  However, the pelagic stingray is of no great commercial importance, and – due to its pelagic existence - comes into contact with humans only rarely.

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(Photo found here)

That weird blue thing is a pyrosome. Pyrosomes, genus Pyrosoma, are free-floating colonial tunicates (marine filter-feeders, see this post) that live usually in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths. Pyrosomes are cylindrical or conical shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids. Colonies range in size from less than one centimeter to several meters in length. The individuals that make up this giant, floating, colonial tunicate are only about 1 in (2 cm) long, but the giant pyrosome colony, which resembles a gigantic hollow tube, can be large enough for a person to fit inside. Each individual lies embedded in the wall of the tube, with one end drawing in nutrient-laden water from outside and the other end expelling water and waste inside. The expelled water is used to propel the giant pyrosome colony as a whole. A wave of bioluminescent light travels along the community if it is touched.

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(Photo found here)

Nautilus belauensis, also known as the Palau Nautilus, is a species of nautilus native to the waters around the Pacific island nation of Palau. Nautilus is the common name of marine creatures of cephalopod family Nautilidae (see this previous post), the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in two genera. The nautilus is similar in general form to other cephalopods, with a prominent head and tentacles. Nautiluses typically have more tentacles than other cephalopods, up to ninety. These tentacles are arranged into two circles and, unlike the tentacles of other cephalopods, they have no suckers, are undifferentiated and retractable. The radula (structure used for feeding) is wide and distinctively has nine teeth. There are two pairs of gills. Nautiluses are the sole living cephalopods whose bony body structure is externalized as a shell. The animal can withdraw completely into its shell and close the opening with a leathery hood formed from two specially folded tentacles.

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