Life

jtotheizzoe:

Meet Mr. Camouflage, one of the special stars of sea life in the Lembeh Strait. I literally said “Whaaaaaaaat the f…” when I saw that amazing color change.

Isn’t evolution grand?

Check out more from the Sea’s Strangest Square Mile in this post.

Here’s a feature from Science Friday on octopus and cuttlefish camo skills.

jtotheizzoe:

Narwhals, finally explained.

Narwhal tusks are the result of some fascinatingly odd evolutionary anatomical migration. The “tusk” is actually not a tusk at all, but actually a single canine tooth that made its way to the forehead of an otherwise completely toothless whale. Males can have two tooth-tusks on rare occasions, while females usually have no tusks (but sometimes grow a small one).

These tusks can be up to 10 feet long, and their use, if there is any, is unknown. They are hollow, spiral, and are perhaps to only straight tusks in the animal world. One of the most fascinating parts of narwhal tusk evolution is that they always end up on the left side of the forehead. Somehow this gene can sense when it is on the left side of the body and be activated only there.

Check out Why Evolution is True to read more about the amazingly odd forehead-tooth of Monodon monoceros, the “one tusk, one tooth” whale.

(image via Ed Yong on Twitter)

(Source: loitersquadtv)

tastefullyoffensive:

Well played, neighbor.

[via]

catodoom101:

anachristiangrey:

whosagoodpig:

defiantlyiddy:

superkianagalaxy:

ponytailwhippingnacho:

christophool:

vorticity007:

supaslim:

Guys, let me tell you about orcas.

Orca whales are mean motherfuckers. They cruise the oceans with only two things in mind: one, having sex, and two, eating every poor fuck they find out there that’s smaller than them. They are such badass motherfuckers that even great white motherfucking sharks don’t dare fuck with them, which in my books, places them above the sperm whale as Biggest Badass of the Ocean. And why don’t sharks bother them, you may wonder? Because orcas fucking learned that if you flip a shark over they go into a sort of coma, so now they do it intentionally so they can eat the motherfucking sharks. Not only that, but orcas have also learned how to hunt sperm whales and motherfucking sea birds.

The orca whale lives in a matriarchal pod. Every pod has unique hunting methods and whatnot, which is passed down from parent to offspring- these scary fuckers have formed civilizations. And what do they do for fun, apart from hopping around on the water’s surface and grinning like crazy mofos? They hunt for fun, going so far as to tip over ice floes and beach themselves just for the thrill of killing.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Orca whales are too damn cute and smiley looking to be heartless predators of the sea. Well, let me counter-argue with this photo:

THOSE ARE NOT THE TEETH OF A CREATURE THAT WANTS TO BE YOUR FRIEND.

Reblogging for excellent commentary.

Why has nobody mentioned what’s happening in the original gif?

This is how orcas hunt - or, it’s one of the ways they do. They have a ton of tricks and techniques they use to fuck up everything below them on the food chain, and that gif portrays my personal favorite.

Orcas will literally BEACH THEMSELVES to grab unsuspecting seals (or whatever else happens to be splashing around in the surf) and snarf them down like hot dogs. Yeah, that’s right. This is a 6-ton apex predator, crashing right out of the fucking water to snatch their prey right off the beach. Any other animal that size would get stuck there and die, but do you see that fucker? He fucking wriggles right back into the surf. An orca can get all the way up onto dry land and still manage to wiggle their way back into the water to fuck up more shit on another day. There is literally no other sea-dwelling creature of comparative size with that ability - most sea animals lack the muscular strength to move without enough water supporting their weight.

Orcas have also been known to eat moose. Yeah, that’s right. Fucking MOOSE.

You don’t fuck with orcas.

Another terrifying thing: Orcas will stalk mother grey whales and their babies for miles, waiting for the calf to get tired. Then they try to get in between the mom and the baby. eventually the baby gets too exhausted and the mom can’t get it to fight anymore, so the orcas kill the baby

here’s the brutal part: the only thing the orcas will eat is the baby’s jaw and tongue. the rest of the meat they complete ignore and let sink to the bottom.

it’s just a delicacy for them

If textbooks were written like this, I would actually read them.

Orcas are just 6 tonne bro’s.

 I’m curious to know why no one mentioned the fact that yes Orcas are bad ass yes they will beach themselves for prey but this fucking seal turns around and bitch slaps the thing with its head and the Orca is just like oh ok my bad and slinks off! #Badass Seal

JACK IM NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN RANT ABOUT ORCA FACTS!

(via spittingknowledge)