Mouth shout + a day among the rocks

Today my sisters and I talked about something... important.

It's absolutely infuriating that I can't talk to you about it yet, but at the same time, I'm a little happy about this, about the fact I have to keep my mouth shut. Kinda. Because at the end of it all, when Mrs. Alkahest finally gives us permission to talk to you about it, probably what... no, I can't phrase it that way, it would be too obvious what I'm talking about... um... okay, let's just say it'll be interesting.

We're also involving Sangreal himself; he doesn't think he has the talent to do what we asked of him, but he'll make himself available to us anyway.

We're gathering more information. Some of it will be difficult to find, but we really can't afford not to verify the sources. Oh no, um, I have to find a way to talk to you about it that doesn't break the silence clause Seras imposed on us, damn it.

I won't talk to you about it anymore. Imagine me whistling, with my hands behind my back.

No, no, don't worry, there's nothing strange about this blog, nothing that could help you understand what it's all about. Whistle, whistle.

Anyway, today was an incredible day! We went to the pools (that's where we talked about the project) to take some samples, and there were the fluffiest algae in the world, but more importantly, there were some new mini-fish! It really looks like spring has arrived.

Lots of Palaemon shrimp crowded the shallow, warm water, beautiful, with their transparent, streaked bodies bursting with intense shades of color, making them look like glass toys. They weren't even afraid of us! Sure, they didn't want to be touched (maybe a giant poking you with his finger isn't your thing, and I can understand that), but they seemed more curious than scared.

We found several dead crabs, and this is interesting, because while some were open, a sign that someone had pried open their shells and eaten their flesh, others were dead but closed, with some legs missing. Two different causes of death, perhaps two different predators? According to my brother Seraphin, even the first crabs were probably not forced by a predator, but rather lost structural integrity post-mortem, but I'm not convinced.

And then we also observed a "mysterious" creature. Nothing sensational, but it was a small black mass, wagging its tail from a pool, and then dived back into the sea before we could photograph or even see it. Could it really be the mysterious crab predator?

Of course, we also observed some live crabs, but above all, an enormous number of hermit crabs! I swear, there seemed to be more hermit crabs than snails; every shell we turned had a small red-orange hermit crab inside. Absolutely adorable!

Ionia continues her experiments to reproduce small marine environments in jars (very spacious jars, obviously, I want that on record), and thanks to her experience, it's working! Well, I mean, she's a marine biologist with a thing for micromanagement, and it's obviously working. Three new Phorcus richardi snails have joined the "family" in her latest jar (she'd already gotten one before, to see how it handled itself, and since it was doing so well, she increased the number), some algae (I'll have to ask her what they are later), and the shell of a large limpet covered in smaller ones.

We'll see how it goes!

And that's it, until next time (hoping to be able to give you some more information about our special little project. But until then, we'll keep our mouths shut!).

The first mysterious (but not TOO mysterious) sea city!

Friday, February 13, 3267

Sorry, I haven't been posting a ton of updates lately. I know, I know. Sometimes life is more entertaining to live than to talk about, and these past few days we've seen some beautiful and interesting things... and by the time we returned to our cabins in the evening, I was always too tired to update the blog.

We visited an absolutely delightful seaside town! Oh, as the old saying goes, "there are benefits to being a marine biologist"... and one of them, my dears, is that we're taking an incredible panoramic tour of the entire Mediterranean Sea. Oh, I love the Mediterranean!

For reasons of confidentiality, I can't tell you the name of the town we landed in, nor the exact date or time, but perhaps the photos might reveal which town it is (but not what day! Eh!).

Mistery photo!

Another mysterious photo. Just a little less mysterious.

Did I take only mysterious photos? Maybe yes.

The sea :O

We ate a particularly thick and tasty pizza, which even had lil' salty anchovies inside, diced cheese on top, and the most abundant tomato sauce I've ever seen in my life. Cascades, of tomato sauce (the sweetest and tastiest one). 

A large seagull landed next to us, craning and craning its neck, which was probably its way of letting us know it wanted to try the thick pizza too, so we let it try it.

The sea was calm, the breeze gentle. At a certain point, a huge white bus with silver lettering arrived, and a ton of tourists got off, all bundled up as if they were about to embark on an expedition to the Arctic Circle. I looked down at my short sleeves and smiled. Who knows where they were from... but they seemed so happy! Many of them had children with them, and they came down to the beach, after wandering the streets for a bit, looking distraught.

The children immediately began digging holes and building sandcastles, using reeds and pieces of wood, like little architects, to hold the structures up. I had never seen children build sandcastles like this on the beach: everyone I know (and I did, too, when I was little) uses only a bucket, making sure the sand inside is always wet to avoid losing structural integrity, and a shovel, maybe a few stones and shells to decorate the magical "crab palace," as I called it.

No, these children looked like they'd been preparing their whole lives to build sandcastles, and they didn't want to waste the moment, because they didn't waste any time getting down to business!

The adults, as I said, seemed happy. They didn't do much: they looked at the sea, talked to each other, smiled.

I feel lucky to be able to see the sea every day, especially when I remember that there are plenty of towns that don't even have access to the sea.

Oh, and then we saw so much art! In this town, they love their murals, their glazed tiles, and their decorations, I tell you!

Look at this! This view is fake, like in a cartoon. There's actually no tunnel in this wall!

 

Do you think this is an oarfish? At first I thought so, it even had a crown, but then one of my sisters pointed out that it's not the oarfish's crest, but the fin of the fish on top of it, and that ruined the magic for me. It's probably a conger eel or a "normal" eel, it's a rather generic fish, so who knows. But it's cute, like all the other fish drawn on this wall!

Probably only an eel...

This one, on the other hand, is an oarfish! (The Casalpalocco Rome tile isn't a spoiler about the location; the Rotary club does this thing where they exchange tiles with other Rotary clubs.)

We also went to a bookstore: it was really cute, full of independent projects. We also bought some postcards (but obviously we can't show you because the name of the city is on them) and a children's book called "Lilly of the Abyss" (or was it "Lilly IN the Abyss"? I can't remember right now, and the book is gone).

My brother loves children's books; he practically collects them, and who can blame him? They're beautiful, especially the intelligent ones, the ones that don't treat the child like an idiot. Even though I pretend not to notice, I spend a lot of time reading my brother's books... if he ever has daughters and/or sons (and he will have a son like him, there's no doubt about that), they'll be able to have a blast in Dad's bookshop.

Sangreal explored the city with us, with the enthusiasm of someone who's never seen a seaside town (and he's only seen those in his life, though, because as far as we know, he was born there, by the sea). I mean, he wasn't screaming and jumping for joy; he's not the type to do those things... let's just say that, in his own way, he seemed delighted and surprised by everything. Except the bread. Apparently, he hates bread. Have you ever met a person who doesn't even want to be touched by a sandwich?

Ionia bought a bunch of sandwiches.

Eeee... nothing. That's what we did.

It's nice, sometimes, not to have to tell strange things, to simply appreciate the life around us, the sea, a thick pizza that leaves your fingers greasy, the seagulls.

Until the next adventure!

Best (cuddly) wishes,

Your favorite marine biologist, Nana!

Vampire squid!

Thursday 27 January 3266

 Wow, today was a great day!

Our ROV saw some really cool things. And I can't wait to show you all! Unfortunately, the "deep silence" clause is keeping us all kinda quiet right now (on our social media 'n stuff). Oh no! I can't tell you everything I saw. But I do have some mini-permissions to tell you some mini-things (without, unfortunately, showing them to you).

For example, I can tell you that we spotted a vampire squid. Have you ever heard of one? I hope so, because it's a truly beautiful, absurdly beautiful animal.

It's a squid (no, wait, it's not exactly a squid, but at least it's a cephalopod!), but not a vampire, in the sense that it doesn't drink blood... the reason it's called that is to be found in its appearance (absurdly beautiful): it has a deep red body (blood red, you could say), which seems to be made of silk (and just like silk, it's iridescent. Yes, of course I know vampires aren't normally silky, I realize that...) what vampire squids have in common with vampires are their "teeth." I mean, no, not teeth, but spines. I mean, um... vampire squids are harmless. But it looks like they have teeth/spines (they're actually cirri!), because they're inside their "umbrella" made up of tentacles and the flaps of skin that go between them.

Basically, when seen from above, vampire squids are adorable little creatures: red, with a pair of fins, that pop out of their heads (a bit like the more famous dumbo octopuses! Or like flapjack octopuses, which are my favorites!).

I'm wondering if I should write a whole page dedicated to vampire squids, because they deserve it, they really deserve it... maybe even a little pixel art! You could put some stickers on your pages too! Some... little adoptables? Like the ones you put in forum signatures. Something cute, saying "I adopted the Vampire Squid" and a link to the page that explains all the cool things about this animal.

Woah. What a great idea. I think I'll make some "scientific adoptables" for all my favorite creatures, so you can put them on your personal websites or in your forum signatures! That'll be really cool.

But back to the vampire squid and its spine-like teeth that aren't really teeth: from above, they look like "normal" cephalopods, but when they feel threatened, they turn around, spread their tentacles, and... bam! They look like they're become a huge mouth overflowing with monstrous, pale teeth, like those of a lamprey, but worse, like the menacing whirlpool of Charybdis (I think I should tell you about Charybdis, it's a really cool story!).

In addition to having fake teeth that transform it into monstrous living jaws, the vampire squid also has two scary, glowing fake eyes, and can exude bioluminescent mucus from the tips of its arms (think Mega-Malamar, if you're a Pokémon fan! It does something similar!).

In reality, as I told you, vampire squids aren't dangerous at all: they feed on zooplankton, or tiny animals, and sometimes even... poop... yes, especially the younger ones, they eat the fecal pellets that come from animals that live in shallower layers of the water, so all the "coolness" of the vampire squids is just for show.

And I didn't tell you the funniest thing! But this isn't the vampire squid's fault for trying to look edgy; it's the fault of the people who gave it its scientific name: Vampyroteuthis infernalis, which actually means "vampire squid from hell." Wow. That's a lot for a colorful octopus that eats shrimp and poop!

Anyway, if you're curious to see what one of these creatures looks like, I can't show you what we recorded, but I can show you some old Nautilus footage, where you can admire the squishy, ​​silky skin of this adorable animal, completely different from what you'd expect when you hear the words "vampire squid from hell":

Well, now Seraphin's calling me, and we're about to have a midnight spaghetti dinner. Bah-bye from your favorite marine biologist!