The ocean holds some incredibly weird creatures. Much weirder, at least to us land-dwellers, than anything that exists on the dry part of the earth. Its vast depths hold creatures that are so foreign to us that they are on the same level as aliens–which makes sense, since according to the NOAA, we’ve only truly explored about 5% of the ocean. Which, of course, begs the question: what else is there? Based on everything we’ve seen so far, it seems evident that we’re missing a very large part of the equation. Which is kind of awesome.
One of the strangest creatures that we HAVE discovered is called a predatory tunicate. Living in the Monterey Canyon at depths of anywhere from 500 to nearly 4000 feet, this weird little invertebrate plants itself firmly to canyon walls and waits patiently for some unsuspecting sea-bug to swim into its “mouth.” Then, once something does, the little moving mushroom clamps down tight and keeps its trap shut until its finished digesting. Then it opens back up and begins all over again.
Oh, and one more thing: if there doesn’t happen to be any other predatory tunicates around suitable for making more little baby predatory tunicates, these things aren’t too stressed. They’re called simultaneous hermaphrodites, which means that they’re capable of producing both eggs and sperm… so they can make babies all by themselves.
The ocean is an endlessly fascinating place, full of stuff that is gross, and creepy, and beautiful, and amazing. Let’s try not to screw it up too much, shall we?
