Monday, May 31, 2010

With Creatures Like This....


Who needs science-fiction when there are creatures like this on earth? I'd say unreal, only this is absolutely real. And terrifying. And beautiful. Besides, who can resist the common name - the Googly-Eyed Glass Squid (so much more charming than Teuthowenia pellucida)? To see more photos like this, spend some time here, and then get your hands on a copy of The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of The Abyss by Claire Nouvian.

And if you're in Seattle, check out the 7th Annual Cephalapod Society celebration (Cephalopod-Inspired Live Music, Poetry, Shipwrecked Tales, Art, Fashion, Film & More!) on Sunday, June 13, 2010 from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at the Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave (btwn Pike & Pine on Capitol Hill) Seattle, WA.

To whet your appetite, here's another unbelievable creature: The Dumbo Octopus. If you made something like this up, people would tell you, No, no one will ever believe that.


 

8 comments:

  1. These are GREAT--the names, the photos, wow! Thanks for sharing, Julie. (I'm usually a jellyfish fan, myself.) Oh, and speaking of octopuses, did you read about the mimic octopus? It uses its body the way we make shadows with our hands, forming the shapes of predators to scare away its own potential predators!

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  2. Kate - A mimic octopus?? I love it. Must go check it out. Thanks!

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  3. What is a Dumbo?

    Dumbo Octopus, poor dear,
    Celebrated for an ear—
    Sorry, two ears!—never sees,
    Mirrored, those parentheses.
    Since the ocean floor’s so dark,
    Everyone’s a question mark.
    Still, our Dumbo likes to go
    Unseen through this picture show
    (Dumbo’s very camera shy),
    Hoping Dumba’s floating by.

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  4. Julie,

    I wonder how many such creatures as those whose pictures you posted will die because of the Gulf oil spill.

    I'm a news junkie--but I find it difficult reading/watching news about the ecological disaster because it makes me so angry...and so sad.

    **********

    Good one, Pat!!!

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  5. Pat - love the Dumbo/Dumba.

    Elaine, you're so right -- it seems that some disasters are so large lately that sorrow is the only option. I can't begin to figure out how to help, or how to ask the people in charge of regulating the big companies to do a better job of protecting us and our environment. What a combination: dergulation plus a global economy, global carelessness, and global greed. Did you see the photo of a dragonfly with wings are covered in oil?
    http://www.colorlines.com/articlepix/dragonfly.jpg

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  6. Well, I meant "deregulation" in that last comment, but "dergulation" is a good typo - it actually sounds like "strangulation."

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  7. Julie,

    Did you hear the latest Palin news? She's claiming that "extreme environmentalists" are to blame for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

    Here's a link to an article about it at Huffington Post--
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/03/sarah-palin-blames-enviro_n_598977.html

    Imagine that bobblehead of blather as vice president of the US!!!

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  8. Elaine, I'm hoping all I have to do is IMAGINE....not witness.

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