#Ocean Life

[happycrabitat]

Take the memory, leave the shell! Watch what happens when we return seashells to the beach & marine hermit crabs!

Seashells are so important to beaches for a whole host of reasons.

🐚Over-shelling can affect hermit crabs because it reduces the availability of suitable shells for them to inhabit. Hermit crabs rely on empty shells of other creatures for protection and shelter. When there are too few shells available, hermit crabs may be forced to inhabit inadequate shells & pollution as homes, which can hinder their growth and make them more vulnerable to predators and environmental stressors. This can ultimately impact their survival and reproductive success.

🐚Shells provide homes or attachment surfaces for algae, sea grass, sponges, coral and a host of other microorganisms.

🐚Animals such as decorator crabs and octopus use shells as camouflage and many fish use shells as hiding places to avoid predators.

🐚Shells help to stabilize beaches and anchor seagrass.

🐚Shells are used by shorebirds to build nests.

🐚When shells break down, they provide nutrients for the organisms living in the sand or for those that build their own shells. (Shells are a major source of calcium.) I’m a firm believer in when we know better, we do better. I once shelled, and then when I learned all of this, I returned all shells that were not sprayed with a clear varnish to the beach & watched the marine hermit crabs go wild changing shells that were so needed!

[sharks-are-friends-not-foes]

🐙 Daily Cephalopod Fact: 🐙

Coconut Octopus: This species has been reported to show bipedal locomotion, or "stilt-walking". This involves rolling two legs to walk while the other six legs are used to mimic the appearance of a floating coconut. They have also been bserved using tools for concealment and defense by gathering available debris to create a shelter. Researchers have filmed this species collecting coconut half-shells from the sea floor, that had been discarded by humans. They were then carried up to 66 ft and arranged around the body of the octopus to form a spherical hiding place similar to a clam-shell.

[jellycatstuffies]

Riley Razor Fish

Ko-fi / Instagram

[beautifulbitch-2]

[soupandcats]

I wanna go to the aquarium 🐠🪼🐚🐙

[snailfish-enthusiast]

The wonderful Glass Octopus. Living at depths of around 3000 ft and only being about a foot long, these strange little creatures are rarely seen by scientists.

[seashellblue]

[allenanix]

Wow 🦩

[alohamoon]

I love you ocean, I love you beach, I love you seashell, I love you fish, I love you moon, I love you sun, I love you stars, I love you mermaids, I love you ships, I love you sailors, I love you surfers, I love you weird deep sea creatures, I love you pearls, I love you fossils, I love you treasure chests, I love you houseboats, I love you anchors, I love you waves, I love you sea foam, I love you sea glass, I love you-

[thedeepsharks]

YIPPE

[gidrosfera]

[beauty-funny-trippy]

For years now, this wild grey whale has come to this boat captain to have its lice removed at the calving lagoon of Ojo de Liebre, Baja California, Mexico.

[sharks-are-friends-not-foes]

🐙 Daily Cephalopod Fact: 🐙

Blanket Octopus: Blanket octopuses are immune to the venomous Portuguese man o' war, whose tentacles the male and immature females rip off and use for offensive and defensive purposes. Like many other octopuses, the blanket octopus uses ink to intimidate potential predators. Also, when threatened, the female unfurls her large net-like membranes that spread out and billow in the water, greatly increasing her apparent size.

[the-briny-bulletin]

Whenever I see a picture or a video of moon sea jellies I have to stop whatever I am doing and count the gonads (circle things on their bell) they all have because I know that most sea jellies are suppose to have 4 but sometimes will have fewer or more due to mutation and I like spotting the ones that have an abnormal amout of testies

[beautifulbitch-2]

[s-ublimedyke]

pyjama shark?? is he going to bed??????