Apr 02 2012

Mary’s Monday Metazoan: The color of awe is BLUE

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Physicists might look up and recognize awesomeness in the skies, but biologists look down and see it swimming in our seas.

(via The Scuttlefish and Whales of Dominica)

(Also on Sb)

And now I’ve been sent this:

Whoa. Anyone know the source?

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25 comments

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1

Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort

2 April 2012 at 11:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The ocean is a weird place. We know so little about it, what kinds of creatures in it. It’s almost like an alien world!
2

Brownian

2 April 2012 at 11:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

My cat rolls over like that. That whale wants his belly rubbed and to lie on your keyboard.
3

bbgunn

2 April 2012 at 11:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Which just reinforces my own opinion that Ahab was the dick in that novel.
4

Cosmic Teapot

2 April 2012 at 11:15 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

My cat rolls over like that.

But do they eat squid?
5

Brownian

2 April 2012 at 11:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

But do they eat squid?

Who? Cats? Depends. If you put some in their bowl, then no. If you leave some on the countertop and leave the room for a moment, then hells yes they do.
6

Brownian

2 April 2012 at 11:23 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

And I mean to write “shklis belly”. I didn’t mean to get my patriarchy in your ocean.
7

cervantes

2 April 2012 at 11:30 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Are they not the sworn enemy of all things cephalopod? The PZ Meyers antichrist, as it were?
8

Glen Davidson

2 April 2012 at 11:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

All the while the whale is thinking, “Do I dare eat that?”

Glen Davidson
9

Louis

2 April 2012 at 11:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

That top sperm whale is saying “Holy shit! Humans! Look, Barry! Look! Humans!”

Louis
10

timmyson

2 April 2012 at 12:12 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Are they not the sworn enemy of all things cephalopod? The PZ Meyers antichrist, as it were?
Precisely my thought. This could represent a sea change on this blog!
11

fastlane

2 April 2012 at 12:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Sperm whales have always been my favorite cetacean. Great pics and video.
12

Didaktylos

2 April 2012 at 1:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Are they not the sworn enemy of all things cephalopod? The PZ Meyers antichrist, as it were?

It’s all right – they only catch the dumb ones
13

cervantes

2 April 2012 at 2:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I believe that new photo was taken by Ishmael.
14

A. R

2 April 2012 at 3:02 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

The only protection you measly humans have from giant squid world domination!
15

Sili

2 April 2012 at 3:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

I can’t decide if the last one is grumpy or making the “not sure if” face.
16

MetzO'Magic

2 April 2012 at 4:39 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Hmm. Looks like a PhotoShop effort to me. Probably wrong on that assumption, but with no attribution…
17

Dan J

2 April 2012 at 5:17 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

An article from news.com.au in 2010 credits the bottom photo to “Austral International.”

Sperm whale poo helps planet
18

MG Myers

2 April 2012 at 7:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Some fun facts from Wikipedia:

“The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale, with adult males measuring up to 20.5 metres (67 ft) long and weighing up to 57,000 kilograms (56 long tons; 63 short tons). By contrast, the second largest toothed whale, Baird’s Beaked Whale measures 12.8 metres (42 ft) and weighs up to 15 short tons (14,000 kg).”
19

WMDKitty

2 April 2012 at 8:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Am I the only one here feeling the urge to boop those snouts?
20

Lonely Panda, e.s.l.

2 April 2012 at 10:22 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Credit for the bottom pictures is Dr Peter G Allinson.
It’s the last in a set of 11 pictures here
21

pentatomid

3 April 2012 at 3:04 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Are they not the sworn enemy of all things cephalopod? The PZ Meyers antichrist, as it were?

Ahum… Myers.
22

ambulocetacean

3 April 2012 at 3:17 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Pffft! When I see a sperm whale walking I’ll be impressed.
23

pacal

3 April 2012 at 10:42 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

bbgunn No. 3 says:

Which just reinforces my own opinion that Ahab was the dick in that novel.

Actually if you look at it from the point of view of the whale, yeah Ahab is a major dick. After all their are all these people trying to kill it and the whale is just trying to stay alive. So Melville’s turning the whale into some sort of cosmic symbol of nature / evil just doesn’t work if you think about it.

Margaret Atwood once said after being asked why there was no Canadian Moby Dick said that if there was a Canadian Moby Dick it would be from the point of view of the whale.
24

sundiver

3 April 2012 at 12:14 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Jesus Iced Haploid Christ, what a privilege to have one of the largest animals to ever live on earth allow these guys to hang out with them. Gotta wonder just what they think of us. Then again, I’ve wondered about the thought processes of an animal that has to think about breathing. Putting myself in the diver’s swimfins I’d be a bit concerned one of ‘em might decide to have a quick snack on the surface, just for a little variety.
25

ralfmuschall

6 April 2012 at 8:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment

Famous last words: “Noooo, these are rubber fins, not tentacles!”