critters
jstemwedel | December 29, 2007On that beach walk the other day on which we saw the various shorebirds, we also got a peek at some tidepool inhabitants, notably anemones.
The tidepool dwelling anemones may look like flowers, but they're actually invertebrates.
There are a bunch of species of anemone within the genus Anthopleura, and I wasn't committed enough to actually messing with the critters in ways that would help me make a definitive identification. (For example, this site says that A. xanthogrammica can be distinguished from A. sola by way of its "tighter sphincter muscle". I can live with the uncertainty,…
jstemwedel | December 28, 2007My better half and I were able to join friends on a beach walk yesterday. We hiked a little more than five miles from Goleta to Santa Barbara, and along the way we saw at least eleven sandpipers.
At least, I think the birds we saw were sandpipers. Perhaps those of you who are birders can help with the identifications.
All of the birds we were lumping in the category of sandpipers were wading along the shoreline and periodically poking their beaks in the sand, presumably to harvest and eat some tasty morsels.
However, while these birds all looked pretty similar from a distance, on closer…
jstemwedel | December 24, 2007Given the available options, would you be stirring?
You could, after all, be sunbathing on the beach.
Of course, you might have to haul yourself out of the waves every now and again.
Or you could nap in a sunny wading pool with your siblings.
Maybe you could relax among the orchids.
Perhaps a shark's gotta swim, but a flat fish who wants to blend in can take things slower.
And a snake who stirs is much easier to distinguish from a vine.
Here's hoping that those of you longing for some downtime get a chance to relax with the ones you love.
jstemwedel | December 23, 2007
Here are some more jelly pictures from my most recent visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Today, the Spotted jelly (Mastigias papua).
I really like the coloration of these critters, as well as the way that they swim together in patterns that look like a complicated water ballet.
According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Online Field Guide, those coffee-with-cream colored spots are due to tiny algae called zooxanthellae growing in the jellies. The algae aren't just cosmetic -- they also produce nutrients that feed the jellies, supplementing their zooplankton diet.
If you're serving as a home…
jstemwedel | December 15, 2007Today I stumbled upon a story the elder Free-Ride offspring wrote. Possibly intended to strike a Charles Dickens-like tone, I think it ended up a bit closer to Dostoevsky.
Of course, I have to share it:
When Mice Go Caroling
When mice go caroling, you better watch out.
When they're done, they will ask for cookies.
OK, so at this point I'm expecting a plot arc of the sort found in the classic book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Likely there will be some unforeseen consequence -- or some elaborate chain of unforeseen consequences -- following upon this innocent act of generosity. Hilarious…
jstemwedel | December 15, 2007
There are lots of cool things to see at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but my favorite by a fathom is the assortment of jellyfish. And somehow, among all the jellies they have, it's the moon jelly that sticks in my mind as the canonical jelly.
As it turns out, probably it shouldn't. According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Online Field Guide, the moon jelly (Aurelia labiata) is somewhat unusual in having a fringe of cilia around its bell to sweep in the food. (Other jellies get the job done with dangling tentacles.)
Like other wildlife we know and love, the colors of the moon jelly are…
jstemwedel | December 9, 2007
On a recent trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium I snapped this picture of an underwater garden of the sort you might find in mangrove forests and shallow lagoons along tropical coasts.
It gets some of its food by way of photosynthesis, but not all of it.
Another important source of food for this garden is zooplankton. And indeed, these beautiful flowery organisms depend on algae to perform the photosynthesis for them. Because these aren't aquatic plants.
They're "Upside-Down Jellies" (Cassiopeia xamachana). Here, to the left of the jellies who are upside-down and attached to the bottom of…
jstemwedel | December 8, 2007My better half and I have been catching up on movies (thanks to Netflix and our DVD player). Last week we watched 28 Days Later .... Last night we watched 28 Weeks Later. It is my better half's view that the rage virus has burned itself out, so to speak, and that there won't be another movie in the franchise.
But the drive to make sequels of sequels in inexorable, and I believe a recent news item from the UK holds the key to the next movie in the franchise.
First, the news, as reported in The Mail:
Abandoned baby hedgehogs are too weak to hibernate
by DAVID DERBYSHIRE
... The RSPCA says…