Beautiful Sea Dragons-dads raise the babies

Sea Dragons are some of the most ornately camouflaged creatures on the planet.
Adorned with gossamer, leaf-shaped appendages over their entire bodies,
they are perfectly outfitted to blend in with the seaweed and kelp formations
they live amongst. Endemic to the waters off south and east Australia, leafy and
weedy sea dragons are closely related to seahorses and pipefish.

Leafies are generally brown to yellow in body color with spectacular olive-tinted
appendages.

Weedies have less flamboyant projections and are usually reddish in color with
yellow spots.

As with sea horses, sea dragon males are responsible for childbearing.
But instead of a pouch, like sea horses have, male sea dragons have a
spongy brood patch on the underside of the tail where females deposit their
bright-pink eggs during mating. The eggs are fertilized during the transfer
from the female to the male. The males incubate the eggs and carry them to term,
releasing miniature sea dragons into the water after about four to six weeks.

Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) Photos

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Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)

Steller sea lions range along the North Pacific Rim from northern Japan to California. Pupping and breeding occur late May to early July throughout their range. Males set up territories on rookeries in late May, females arrive shortly thereafter and give birth to a single pup. They alternate between nursing their pup and feeding trips; most pups are weaned by the end of their first year. The species is not known to migrate, but individuals disperse widely outside of the breeding season, particularly adult males and juveniles. Adult males are up to 3.25 m long and weigh up to 1120 kg; females are considerably smaller at up to 2.9 m and 350 kg. Pups weigh about 23 kg at birth. Two separate stocks of Steller sea lions are recognized within U. S. waters: an eastern and western stock. As a result of a precipitous decline in numbers beginning in the 1970s, the western stock is presently listed as Endangered under the ESA.

National Marine Mammal Laboratory
Marine Mammal Image Gallery
Back to Pinniped photo gallery
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Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) Photos

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Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus)

Steller sea lions range along the North Pacific Rim from northern Japan to California. Pupping and breeding occur late May to early July throughout their range. Males set up territories on rookeries in late May, females arrive shortly thereafter and give birth to a single pup. They alternate between nursing their pup and feeding trips; most pups are weaned by the end of their first year. The species is not known to migrate, but individuals disperse widely outside of the breeding season, particularly adult males and juveniles. Adult males are up to 3.25 m long and weigh up to 1120 kg; females are considerably smaller at up to 2.9 m and 350 kg. Pups weigh about 23 kg at birth. Two separate stocks of Steller sea lions are recognized within U. S. waters: an eastern and western stock. As a result of a precipitous decline in numbers beginning in the 1970s, the western stock is presently listed as Endangered under the ESA.

National Marine Mammal Laboratory
Marine Mammal Image Gallery
Back to Pinniped photo gallery
Back to gallery main page

Weird Deep-Sea Creatures Found in Atlantic

With a fearsome grin fit for a movie monster, this viperfish is a real-life predator that lurks in one of the world's most remote locations.An international team of 31 researchers found this and other strange animals while exploring the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an underwater mountain range that runs from Iceland to the Azores islands west of Portugal (see Europe map).Over the course of five weeks, the team cataloged a host of exotic worms, colorful corals, unusual sea cucumbers, and weird fish. Clearly, viperfish has plenty to eat. Many of the species found on the ridge are rare and had only been discovered in recent years, scientists said. At least one species found during the survey—a tiny crustacean called a seed shrimp—is thought to be new to science. "It was like going to a new country," said expedition leader Monty Priede of Britain's University of Aberdeen. The survey was coordinated by the Norway-based MAR-ECO project and the Census of Marine Life program.

Weird Deep-Sea Creatures Found in Atlantic

With a fearsome grin fit for a movie monster, this viperfish is a real-life predator that lurks in one of the world's most remote locations.An international team of 31 researchers found this and other strange animals while exploring the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, an underwater mountain range that runs from Iceland to the Azores islands west of Portugal (see Europe map).Over the course of five weeks, the team cataloged a host of exotic worms, colorful corals, unusual sea cucumbers, and weird fish. Clearly, viperfish has plenty to eat. Many of the species found on the ridge are rare and had only been discovered in recent years, scientists said. At least one species found during the survey—a tiny crustacean called a seed shrimp—is thought to be new to science. "It was like going to a new country," said expedition leader Monty Priede of Britain's University of Aberdeen. The survey was coordinated by the Norway-based MAR-ECO project and the Census of Marine Life program.

Ancient Minoan Palace, Agean Sea-photos

The Minoans were a pre-Hellenic Bronze Age civilization in Crete in the Aegean Sea, flourishing from approximately 2600 to 1450 BC when their culture was superseded by the Mycenaean culture, which drew upon the Minoans.

Ancient Sea Monsters, Prehistoric Sea Creatures--Photos

Also called a straight ammonite, Bacculite is an ammonite mollusk with a straight, not spiraled, shell.

With its leathery skin, long tail, short legs, and needle-like teeth, the nothosaur resembled a prehistoric crocodile.

With eyes 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) wide, Temnodontosaurus could see in near-lightless conditions and probably dove for food.

Ancient Sea Monsters, Prehistoric Sea Creatures--Photos

Also called a straight ammonite, Bacculite is an ammonite mollusk with a straight, not spiraled, shell.

With its leathery skin, long tail, short legs, and needle-like teeth, the nothosaur resembled a prehistoric crocodile.

With eyes 10 inches (25.4 centimeters) wide, Temnodontosaurus could see in near-lightless conditions and probably dove for food.

Prehistoric Sea Monster uncovered in Arctic,pliosaurus

Forget Jurassic Park and those cuddly velociraptors. For a real prehistoric nightmare, check out what an international team of scientists unearthed last year in the far north Atlantic island group of Svalbard.

With jaws large to munch a modern killer whale and flippers as wide as airplane wings, this ancient marine predator would have stretched 15 meters from snout to stern — as long as a one of those mondo trailers hauled behind a semi.

So don’t blame the scientists for nicknaming the beast “The Monster.”

“After months of preparing and conserving the specimen at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo, researchers confirmed their earlier suspicions: the 150-million-year-old Jurassic marine reptile is perhaps the largest ever found,” according to the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

“This is one of the largest and relatively complete pliosaurus specimens ever found,” says earth sciences curator Patrick Druckenmiller, who spent several weeks last summer working with a Norwegian research team on the excavation.

“Its discovery in Svalbard also demonstrates that these gigantic animals inhabited the northern seas during the age of dinosaurs.”

A pliosaurus was a marine reptile, one of the pliosaurus, that lived during the age of the dinosaurs, between 205 million to about 65 million years ago.

Prehistoric Sea Monster uncovered in Arctic,pliosaurus

Forget Jurassic Park and those cuddly velociraptors. For a real prehistoric nightmare, check out what an international team of scientists unearthed last year in the far north Atlantic island group of Svalbard.

With jaws large to munch a modern killer whale and flippers as wide as airplane wings, this ancient marine predator would have stretched 15 meters from snout to stern — as long as a one of those mondo trailers hauled behind a semi.

So don’t blame the scientists for nicknaming the beast “The Monster.”

“After months of preparing and conserving the specimen at the Natural History Museum at the University of Oslo, researchers confirmed their earlier suspicions: the 150-million-year-old Jurassic marine reptile is perhaps the largest ever found,” according to the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

“This is one of the largest and relatively complete pliosaurus specimens ever found,” says earth sciences curator Patrick Druckenmiller, who spent several weeks last summer working with a Norwegian research team on the excavation.

“Its discovery in Svalbard also demonstrates that these gigantic animals inhabited the northern seas during the age of dinosaurs.”

A pliosaurus was a marine reptile, one of the pliosaurus, that lived during the age of the dinosaurs, between 205 million to about 65 million years ago.

Sea Otters

Sea otters usually do not migrate. They seldom travel far unless an area has become overpopulated and food is scarce. They are gregarious and may become concentrated in an area, sometimes resting in pods of fewer than 10 to more than 1,000 animals. Breeding males will drive nonbreeding males out of areas where females are concentrated. In some areas, the nonbreeding males will concentrate in "male areas" which are usually off exposed points of land where shallow water extends offshore. Bald eagles prey on newborn pups and killer whales may take a few adults, but predation is probably insignificant. Many sea otters live for 15 to 20 years.

Deep Sea Giant Isopod-Photo

Deep sea giant isopod, originally uploaded by coda.

The largest known living isopods, these animals occupy the cold, dark ocean floors, occuring at depths of 360-600m in temperatures below 9 degrees C.

Deep Sea Giant Isopod-Photo

Deep sea giant isopod, originally uploaded by coda.

The largest known living isopods, these animals occupy the cold, dark ocean floors, occuring at depths of 360-600m in temperatures below 9 degrees C.

Deep Sea Creatures at the Drive In-Photos

Deep Sea Creatures at the Drive In-Photos

Red Sea Corals -Photos

Corals belong to a group of animals called Cnidarians. This includes hard and soft corals, sea fans, gorgonians, jelly fish and sea anemones. Amongst other common characteristics is the presence of stinging cells (nematocysts) which are used to catch prey.
A single coral animal is a polyp - the attractive "flowery" item looking like an anemone. The soft coral shown above is actually a colony of animals, each connected to its neighbour by living tissues. Soft corals are not reef-building, although they do secrete limestone. In their case this is as internal crystals called sclerites or spicules. Because soft corals do not have large skeletons, they grow faster than hard corals
Eight feathery tentacles surround the coral's mouth and whip food into it. They filter-feed: removing plankton from water flowing around the colony. Relatively recent data on soft corals indicates that they feed on very small planktonic particles, such as single-celled algae, rather than larger larvae as had previously been thought.
The photos above were taken in the egyptian Red Sea.

Red Sea Corals -Photos

Corals belong to a group of animals called Cnidarians. This includes hard and soft corals, sea fans, gorgonians, jelly fish and sea anemones. Amongst other common characteristics is the presence of stinging cells (nematocysts) which are used to catch prey.
A single coral animal is a polyp - the attractive "flowery" item looking like an anemone. The soft coral shown above is actually a colony of animals, each connected to its neighbour by living tissues. Soft corals are not reef-building, although they do secrete limestone. In their case this is as internal crystals called sclerites or spicules. Because soft corals do not have large skeletons, they grow faster than hard corals
Eight feathery tentacles surround the coral's mouth and whip food into it. They filter-feed: removing plankton from water flowing around the colony. Relatively recent data on soft corals indicates that they feed on very small planktonic particles, such as single-celled algae, rather than larger larvae as had previously been thought.
The photos above were taken in the egyptian Red Sea.