3 replies to this topic

[tnctx02]

1) Why is the ocean Blue?
2) What is the fastest fish in the ocean?
3) What are the largest known animals to ever have lived on land or in the sea?
4) Lysmata amboinensis - an underwater skunk? What is it?
5) What invertebrate feeds on insects and even small vertebrates, such as mammals, snakes and birds? (Hint-this one can walk on water)
6) What is the name of the oldest commissioned warship still afloat today?
7) Adding tomatoes to this Massachusetts delicacy is illegal, what is it?

Answers Below
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1) Sea water absorbs all the reds, yellows and greens out of the water. That leaves only blue light to be reflected by the water molecules. You may notice that sometimes, water looks green. That's because the blue water mixes with the yellow pigments in floating plants. So what about the Red Sea? Well, that got its name because, similar to green water, that area contains seasonal algae blooms that color the surface water red. The Yellow Sea is a little different; it contains a yellow mud carried into it by adjoining rivers.

2) Sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus: 68.18 mph

3) On land - it was the Seismosaurus dinosaur that was 150 ft. long and weighed as much as 15 elephants.

In the ocean - the blue whale is the largest animal in the world - probably the largest that ever lived. Long ago, Antarctic blue whales measured 30.5 m (100 ft.) and 145,280 kg (320,000 lb.), before whale hunters took the most massive individuals. The largest blue whales today measure about 26 m (85 ft.), but lengths of 21 m (70 ft.) are more common. A blue whale's heart alone may weigh 908 kg (2,000 lb.), as much as a small car.
Usually found alone or in pairs, blue whales occur in all oceans, primarily along the edges of continental shelves and ice fronts. Blue whales belong to the cetacean suborder Mysticeti - the baleen whales. Whales in this suborder lack teeth. Instead, they have stiff, hair-like baleen plates that hang from their upper jaws and filter vast quantities of krill (tiny shrimp-like crustaceans), consuming as much as four tons per day. Females give birth to a single calf every two or three years following a 12-month gestation. Blue whale calves measure about 7 m (23 ft.) and 2,700 to 3,600 kg (6,000-8,000 lb.). Calves are weaned at eight months, when they gain as much as 90 kg (200 lb.) a day.

Widespread commercial whaling during the 19th and early 20th centuries severely depleted blue whale populations. The worldwide population is currently about 11,000, only a fraction of the more than 200,000 blue whales that once roamed the seas.

4) It's a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. The Skunk Cleaner Shrimp gets its name from the distinct white stripe on its back. Like other cleaner shrimps, it picks tiny parasites and dead skin from many reef fishes, including moray eels and large groupers.

5) Tarantulas!!! Tarantulas feed on insects and even small vertebrates, such as birds, snakes, and mammals. To protect themselves, New World tarantulas flick hair into the eyes of their predators. I threw this in as a trick question.

6) The U.S.S. Constitution, constructed in Boston in 1797, is the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat. The Constitution never lost any of her 42 naval battles. No enemy has set foot on her deck, except as a prisoner, and no member of her crew was ever taken prisoner by another vessel.

7) In the state of Massachusetts, adding tomatoes to your favorite clam chowder is actually illegal. The addition of tomatoes would turn New England Clam Chowder into Manhattan Clam Chowder. And that's a NO-NO!

[Neon]

Excellent stuff

i love facts and trivia, their is more Ocean than land so i suppose we should take an interest!

[ShadowFox]

Cool, good read

[atsaunier]

i hadent ready anything he posted thats not good