Hidden Humpback Hunt Captured
January 15, 2013—National Geographic’s Crittercam team deployed cameras onto humpback whales and, amazingly, captured them bottom-feeding.
(via: National Geographic)
Tracks
Banded Piglet Squid
(Helicocranchia pfefferi)
the banded piglet squid is a small 4in long species of squid of the family Cranchiidae (glass squids) found in the North Atlantic. This species of squid is unique in that they have a pair of small tentacles above their eyes which expose their beak, these tentacles and their exposed mouth give them the animal their name as apparently people think the squid looks like a piglet (although i don’t see it).
Phylogeny
Animalia-Mollusca-Cephalopoda-Teuthida-Cranchiidae-Helicocranchia-pfefferi
Check out these amazing photos of polychaetes! Polychaetes are mostly marine and are covered with hard, chitin spines, giving them the nickname “bristle worms.”
They are pretty much ubiquitous in the ocean, found on the cold, dark deep-sea floor, swimming in the water column, near boiling-hot hydrothermal vents—there’s even a species that exclusively feeds on whale bones that have fallen to the deep sea.
See more photos at the Echinoblog.
Photo Credit: Arthur Anker, National University of Singapore.
Video Footage of Deep Sea Exploration
Did you miss any of the Submarine Ring of Fire 2012 underwater action? Or maybe wish you could watch it again? Check out our video and photo log, where we’ve assembled 60, yes, 60 videos of highlights from the expedition.
Whether you want to watch scaleworms swim along, see lava formations up close, or see samples collected, we’ve got you covered:
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/12fire/logs/photolog/photolog.html
MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle photographed this “flytrap anemone” about 1,900 meters (6,200 feet) below the sea surface during a dive on Davidson Seamount. Marine biologists have not been able to determine the exact genus or species of this animal, but they have placed it in the family Hormathiidae. We often see flytrap anemones up to 30 cm (one foot) across growing on exposed rock outcrops on seamounts and deep sea ridges, where currents are relatively strong. Although some scientists have suggested that flytrap anemones eat bits of debris carried on the ocean currents, their body shape suggests that they feed on small animals, such as shrimp, that happen to swim by. Flytrap anemones were recently discovered to release bioluminescent slime when disturbed.
This lanternfish (Diaphus sp.) has its own built in light system: photophores that line its belly and a nasal light organ that acts like a headlight!
Learn more about bioluminescence in the deep sea in this video, Encounters with Bioluminescent Creatures.
Photo: Edie Widder, ORCA
Deep-sea fish, such as this batfish, have evolved bizarre morphological features as adaptations to this extreme enviroment. Image captured by the Little Hercules ROV at 600 meters depth on the Paramount seamounts on July 14, 2011, during the Galapágos Rift Expedition.
Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program.
Dumbo Octopod
The dumbo octopod (Grimpotheuthis sp.) is a fascinating animal! Its large ear-like fins help to propel it through deep ocean waters and hover over the ocean floor to look for food.
Watch some rare video of it swimming at 6,600 feet - http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-videos/oceanportal-dumbo-octopusmov
(via: Smithsonian Ocean Portal) (photo: ©1999 MBARI)
A chimera aka Ratfish, a kind of cartilaginous fish related to rays and sharks, photographed by the Little Hercules ROV during its dives from July 2010.
Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010.
A giant basket star with an intricate network of bifurcating legs is imaged 555 meters deep by the Little Hercules ROV at a site referred to as ‘Nuang Traverse’ on July 3, 2010 during the INDEX SATAL 2010 Expedition.
Image courtesy of NOAA Okeanos Explorer Program, INDEX-SATAL 2010.
