Yessss Except I Can Barely Speak Dutch 🥲

it’s so gorgeousss 😍😍 i love siphonophores

Up close and personal with the angler siphonophore. 🎣

Siphonophores are close cousins of jellies. They’re fragile creatures composed of individual, specialized parts connected to each other in a chain. Some parts pulse and steer the colony, others stun and ingest prey. Siphonophores thrive in the midwater where there aren’t any sharp surfaces to damage their delicate bodies. MBARI’s remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, have revealed a surprising diversity of siphonophores in Monterey Bay, and we’ve learned they’re important predators in the ocean’s depths.

We’ve discovered several remarkable new siphonophore species, including this especially cunning predator—the angler siphonophore (Erenna sirena). In a dazzling display of predatory prowess, it dangles luminescent lures that mimic crimson crustaceans and attract unsuspecting fishes (wait until the end to catch a glimpse of these). Zap! When a curious lanternfish gets too close, the siphonophore’s tentacles deliver a powerful sting and snare a meal.

theyre so cuteeeee and bioluminescent too 😍🫶

Feeling the Friday flow—mushroom coral edition.

The mushroom soft coral (Heteropolypus ritteri) is one of the most common animals we see in the depths off the central coast of California. They are abundant on the jagged walls of Monterey Canyon and the rocky slopes of local seamounts. Fast currents running along the bottom can carry an abundance of plankton and other tiny bits of food. Heteropolypus extends delicate tentacles into the currents to snag a feast. When their tentacles are extended, they resemble a beautiful flower. When the tentacles are pulled in, they look more like their namesake—mushrooms.

A resident of rocky environments, the mushroom soft coral offers safe haven for small animals seeking protection. A snailfish may hide near the umbrellas of stinging tentacles. A shrimp might hang on to weather the storm of strong currents. A mother catshark may secure her egg cases to the coral’s sturdy trunk.

Unlike their close cousins in shallower waters, the mushroom soft coral spawns year round. Their larvae are large and have robust energy reserves to ensure their survival as the currents running along the seafloor carry them to new environments. But some of the larvae stay close to home—we sometimes see clusters of smaller corals alongside a big parent. Growth studies suggest this coral can live at least 25 years, perhaps even longer.

Some of our observations have sparked intriguing questions. For example, we have learned that when disturbed, the mushroom soft coral glows with a steady blue light, but we still do not know why Heteropolypus produces brilliant bioluminescence or how this light show affects their neighbors.

The abundance of mushroom soft corals and their diverse relationships with other bottom-dwelling animals tell us they are an important part of the seafloor community. But the intimate interactions among deep-sea animals only become apparent when we conduct regular surveys. We cannot protect what we do not understand. Our research is helping improve our baseline understanding of the largest environment on Earth, even if our encounters sometimes yield more questions than answers.

heheeee i love vampire squid 😍

fun fact despite the name vampire squid, they are not actually squid but a whole separate series of cephalopod

i’ve lived in a small australian city all my life but my family is from holland and england, so i have a weirdly english accent compared to my friends and sometimes i randomly sound really english???

my sister told me i sound like Zelda from totk when i sound english

i've started talking rlly british lately for some reason, to the point where my (english) dad is commenting on it...

(it’s these damn marauders i swear)

definitely pancakes! :)

waffles are good too but pancakes are superior

@mrecury42 @eep-blue-sea

I'm boutta start a war on Tumblr

Pancakes or Waffles (Reblog with answer then tag more people)

@mifgirlcomics @belladeezbombz

@mosslover999 @the-real-great-papyrus

rowing regatta update nobody asked for 😍

i had my VIII race and it went pretty well and we came 3rd!! we lowkey crashed into the pontoon at the start line tho…

it was only a 1km race but i still felt rly tired after bc i just recovered after having the flu…

then as soon as i got back in from my VIII race i had to get to my quad race and i was meant to be 3 seat but the girl in stroke reeeeallyyy didn’t want to be stroke seat so we swapped

we did so well in that race!!!! we came 2nd and we all rowed in time and with really good technique and no crabs!! and my coach told me she might put me in stroke seat more often.

alsooooo there was this really pretty girl in stroke seat for our biggest rival school…. we actually made eye contact and we congratulated each other after our races

after that my friends and i bought food and smoothies from the food stalls and helped with boats and derigging

while i’m writing this we are on the bus back to the boatshed. it’s like an hour long.

1 more regatta until head of the river!!!

why is this song so comforting to me rn??!

a little drawing i did 🫶🪽 inspired by some random image on pinterest that caught my attention

not super detailed, just a quick little doodle, but it made me happy 🌷

idk what to write in these things but here goes i guess…

⭐️intro post!!⭐️

hiiii!! my name is Ella!

i love marine biology, especially the deep sea, and i also love art and crocheting.

always feel free to send me asks, it makes me so happy when people talk to me and i love making friends on this app 🫶

about me:

pronouns: she/her

sexuality: pansexual 🩷💛🩵

nationality: i’m from western australia, but im also part dutch

age: i’m a minor, please don’t ask me for my age unless we become friends 🫶

main fandoms:

arcane

sonic the hedgehog

marauders

the outsiders

acnh

any studio ghibli movie

other fun facts:

i do rowing! i sometimes post about regattas and stuff

i play violin

i have a lot of creative hobbies, but i really like sewing and crocheting

i love to go camping and snorkelling

i think bioluminescence is really cool and i will yap a lot about it if u let me

in fact i can and will yap about a lot of things :)

other socials:

spotify: ella crochet cat

instagram: @ellacrochetcat (crochetcat13)

kind of a face reveal on my instagram but i don’t rly mind

ao3: dodo_airlines

i don’t have many fics posted, also it’s kind of a shared account with my friends. the Triden one is satire i promise

my current favourite song:

changes almost every day, my music taste is all over the place

omg thank youuuu <3

wait you’re a ginger

that’s so cool!!

i wish i was ginger but my dads genes took over :(

yeah i’ve got ginger hair :) nobody else in my family does tho

all my friends call me a teenage mutant ginger turtle after finding out u get ginger hair from some genetic mutation

as a ginger i also steal souls to give to my supreme leader ed sheeran :D