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5 fun facts about seahorses

April 27, 2009 by 7 Comments
English: Hippocampus zosterae at the Birch Aqu...

English: Hippocampus zosterae at the Birch Aquarium, San Diego, California, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  1. The female lays her eggs in the male’s tummy pouch, he then incubates them for about 30 days, then they hatch.
  2. Seahorses do not have a stomach; they eat constantly to help get enough food to digest.
  3. Seahorses do not have teeth; they have a fused jaws, so they kind of suck up their food like a straw.
  4. Seahorses can be an inch to a foot more in size.
  5. Seahorse species vary in monogamy.

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Filed Under: Fish Tagged With: , , , ,

Is there seaweed in ice cream?

April 27, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Some products need a little something extra to basically hold it together. Certain ice creams, lip sticks and even beer use a derivative of red seaweed, called carrageenan, to emulsify the products.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Random Fun!

Are horseshoe crabs dangerous?

April 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

No. I mentioned in the very first BCS blog entry that the horseshoe crab is a “sweetheart of an animal” and I will continue to defend that statement. Some people may think that the tail spine, or telson, is poisonous. What the telson is simply used for is to flip the animal over when a wave turns it onto its carapace. The tip of the telson is jabbed into the sand and the horseshoe crab rights itself over, somewhat like the act of throwing a javelin.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Atlantic Horseshoe Crab

What is sea glass?

April 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Sea glass can be thought of as a well traveled piece of history. The hard substancesseaglass that you find have spent a considerable amount of time floating in the ocean. It has been tumbling along the sand and water for so long that that the glass, slate or what have you, has been polished by the sand grains.

Usually the brightly colored pieces are collected quickly by beachcombers. If you spend time investigating the wrack line you will surely discover some more subtle pieces – if you are lucky you will find some with faded descriptions of their original containers.

Photo (c) freefoto.com

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Beach, Ocean, Wrack Line

Why do we have life guards?

April 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

According to the Discovery Health Channel, it is estimated that 1 in 3 beach goers do not know how to swim. The rational is that if you were not taught as a child then there is a hesitation to learn to swim as an adult.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Ocean

Why does a sea urchin attach seashells to itself?

April 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

You may not notice it, but sea urchins have very thin tube-like suction cup feet, just like their close relative the sea stars. These feet are useful to grasp onto pieces of seashells, pebbles, or seaweed to disguise the sea urchin from other nearby predators.

Click on this post to see what eats a sea urchin.

But we’ve only scratched the surface here. Check back often at http://www.beachchairscientist.com for more insight about your favorite beach discoveries.

Filed Under: Echinoderms Tagged With: , , ,

Is there any fish species closely related to mermaids?

April 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment

As paleontologically-inclined artist and author Ray Troll likes to say, people—and by extension, all mammals—are just really complicated fish. Since mermaids are widely believed to be the optimistic misapprehension of common manatees by sadly sea-addled sailors, the fish species most closely related to mermaids would be…well…us, mammals.

Jim Wharton
Vice President, Education Division, Director, Center for School and Public Programs, Mote Marine Laboratory

Filed Under: Ocean, Random Fun!

Do all ocean animals swim together in schools?

April 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Nope, here is a short list of terms used to describe certain groups of ocean animals when they congregate together.

Jellyfish swim in a smack.
Whales swim in a pod.
Herring swim in a seige.
Penguins walking together on land is called a waddle.

Have a great question that needs a concise and comical answer? Email info@beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Fish, Jellyfish or Jellies, Marine Mammals, Ocean, Random Fun! Tagged With: , , ,

What is the largest bony fish in the ocean?

April 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Not to be confused with the question, “What is the biggest fish in the sea?” the largest bony fish in the ocean is the ocean sunfish. The biggest fish in the sea is the whale shark, but, sharks do not have bones, they have cartilage. Cartilage is the bendy material that makes up our noses and ears.

Ocean sunfish are made up of bones, just like us. They can be up to 2-3 tons (2000 pounds makes up a ton).

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Filed Under: Bony Fishes, Fish

What do you call a person that collects sea shells?

April 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

In the most amateur sense you would call yourself a shell collector…However, considering the fact that you are not just collecting for the sake of collecting (although you may be), but to study the specimens (even if it may be in the most primitive sense), therefore, you can call yourself a conchologist.

A person that studies sea shells is called a conchologist.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!

Filed Under: Random Fun!, Seashells