# The Deep and Mysteries Thereof



## freedombecki (Oct 6, 2013)

This thread is for all things found in and around the Seven Seas and Five Oceans, estuaries and inland lakes included! Enjoy!


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## freedombecki (Oct 6, 2013)

There are some fantastic aquariums in homes, large cities, and coastal areas. Here's one of a place we visited a few years back, the Oceanario in Lisbon, Portugal:


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## freedombecki (Oct 6, 2013)

Oh, that has to be a painting. 

Credits: http://www.houzz.com/photos/2512703...Aquarium-Wall-mediterranean-basement-new-york


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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)




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## testarosa (Oct 9, 2013)

Ta-Da!

Sorry Beck!  Haven't had time to get here.

Looping around to the butterflies.


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## freedombecki (Oct 11, 2013)

testarosa said:


>


 Thanks, Testarosa. I though horseshoe crabs were fossils. Don't know why. *sigh*

You have contributed some fabulous sea creatures. Thanks!


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## freedombecki (Oct 11, 2013)

A Peacock Mantis Shrimp *Odontodactylus scyllarus*:






Credits: The Wild Side Blog


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## freedombecki (Dec 22, 2013)

From Wikimedia, here is a horseshoe crab:






Discussion:



> Four species of horseshoe crabs exist today. Only one species, _Limulus polyphemus_, is found in North America along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Maine to Mexico. The other three species are found in Southeast Asia. Horseshoe crabs are not true crabs at all.  Horseshoe crabs are more closely related to arachnids (a group that includes spiders and scorpions) than to crustaceans (a group that includes true crabs, lobsters, and shrimp).  Horseshoe crabs are often called "living fossils" because fossils of their ancestors date back almost 450 million years--that's 200 million years before dinosaurs existed.


Great discussion continues here: Facts about Horseshoe crabs

Nesting areas and Horseshoe crabs live in the coastal water of several states: Florida, Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland. Some states are requiring themselves to protect nesting areas, as the population of these creatures is on the decline.


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## freedombecki (Dec 22, 2013)

Steller Sea Lions are now on the endangered list due to overfishing, but possibly some of them are at risk near underwater hydroelectric efforts that have huge and killing undersea turbines. 



 


> Steller sea lions, _Eumetopias jubatus_ (Schreber, 1776), aka northern sea lions and Steller's sea lions, are the largest of the Otariidae (eared seal or sea lion) family. Adult males measure 2.8-3.2
> 
> m in length and weigh an average 566
> 
> ...


 Photo and discussion credits (and much more about this endangered specie that has declined to 40% of its 1960 population): Marinebiodotorg


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## freedombecki (Dec 22, 2013)

Seen by vacationers near their Seward campground, AK: (and it's just one of many spectacular area photographs of resurrection bay, its flora and fauna.)


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## freedombecki (Jan 14, 2014)

Credits: sou-wes diving service and hotel irifune


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## freedombecki (Jan 15, 2014)

> Brazil, Costa Rica, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Denmark on behalf of the European Union, and Mexico, proposed three species of hammerhead sharks for inclusion in Appendix II. The three species proposed are the *Scalloped hammerhead*, _Sphyrna lewini_, the *Great hammerhead*, _S. mokarran_, and the *Smooth hammerhead*, _S._ _zygaena_. The two later species are included in this proposal due to their similarity as look-alike species. Declines in scalloped hammerhead sharks from the mid 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s to recent years range from 98%, 89% and 26%-89% respectively in the northwest Atlantic, and 98% in the southwest Atlantic. Significant declines have been reported in the Indian Ocean, and in the Mediterranean there has been a decline of 99.9% in the past century.
> 
> Hammerhead sharks are some of the most frequently illegally fished of all shark species. Trade in meat and other products of hammerheads are insignificant compared with the trade in their fins. Their fins are primary products in international trade.


 
 Credits: Sea Save Foundation


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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)

How did I miss this thread? I live on the Oregon coast...


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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)




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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)




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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)




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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V46lgi1u1xQ&hd=1]The Spouting Horn at Cook's Chasm on the Oregon Coast - YouTube[/ame]


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## freedombecki (Jan 15, 2014)

koshergrl said:


> How did I miss this thread? I live on the Oregon coast...



Wow! Those nettles remind me of parachutes, koshergrl.


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## freedombecki (Jan 15, 2014)

Triggerfish​ ​


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## Jughead (Jan 15, 2014)

Extremely rare Peppermint Angelfish.


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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)

I am out of rep, but I will be back tomorrow...and I will post more images. It's difficult for me to post many of my own, it's cumbersome and time consuming to move the images around but I will find more. The tidepools and the water spout are frequent destinations for the kids and I...not so much this time of the year when the sea is more unpredictable than usual, but often....


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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)

Cook's Chasm is actually a part of the Cape Perpetua trail system...you can watch for whales from there.


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## koshergrl (Jan 15, 2014)

For a little scale:


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## freedombecki (Jan 23, 2014)

Green mandarin goby fish:

 I machine embroidered one of these onto aqua blue towels a few years back--and love it.



 ​ Credits​


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## koshergrl (Jan 23, 2014)

How can we look at these things and not be convinced that there is a God, and He is wonderful?


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## Jughead (Jan 23, 2014)

freedombecki said:


> Green mandarin goby fish:
> 
> I machine embroidered one of these onto aqua blue towels a few years back--and love it.
> 
> ...


What an extremely colorful fish, very stunning to look at!


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## freedombecki (Jan 23, 2014)

Jughead said:


> Extremely rare Peppermint Angelfish.



He has to be one of the most photographed deep sea angels on earth, but this one was my personal fave:

 [ame=http://youtu.be/NKJ8EKxlaJQ]The $30,000 Peppermint Angelfish at Waikiki Aquarium - YouTube[/ame]


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## freedombecki (Jan 23, 2014)

This one of Mandarin and other fish is a little addictive to watch due to the coral reef atmosphere..
 .
 [ame=http://youtu.be/EVbyMEkFK7E]green mandarin dragonet/goby - YouTube[/ame]


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## freedombecki (Feb 14, 2014)

I don't know a lot about the Flying Fish, but the above is a pink-winged flying fish, family is Exocoetidae. I'm still looking for its exact specie name, though.

 There are other Pink-Winged Flying Fish online. The above came from Wikimedia.

 This one was making a beeline for Angola:






 There's a blogger who wrote up his knowledge of them, having seen many of them, plus he took some pictures of them when he was in the Indian Ocean. His article says they can fly up to 50 meters, although he said something to the effect that they look awkward when flying. 50m would save them from some fearsome predators as an elusive tactic.

 He wrote Do You Believe In Flying Fish? I Do. Here is one of his pictures:




















 Another site, Wikipedia, said the fish are generally 30 cm or less (~12") although a few grow to be 45 cm (~17.7")

 A page on Flying fish at Wikipedia says this:

*Exocoetidae* is a family of marine fish in the order Beloniformes of class Actinopterygii. Fish of this family are known as *flying fish*. There are about sixty-four species grouped in seven to nine genera. Flying fish can make powerful, self-propelled leaps out of water into air, where their long, wing-like fins enable gliding flight for considerable distances above the water's surface. This uncommon ability is a natural defense mechanism to evade predators.
 The oldest known fossil of a flying or gliding fish, _Potanichthys xingyiensis_, dates back to the Middle Triassic, 235242 million years ago. However, this fossil is not related to modern flying fish, which evolved independently about 66 million years ago.[1][2]

I love the sea and all its secrets.


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