Sea creatures - did you know...

Most people know that our planet’s oceans cover more surface area than the mainland, fewer know that it is exactly 71% of the mainland, and I wonder how many know that 80% of living organisms live beneath the surface of the water?

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In fact, the oceans make up 99% of the living space on Earth. The largest inhabitant in the history of our planet, the Blue Whale, obviously lives in the deep sea. Just to give everyone an idea of the size calibre we’re talking about, imagine its heart, it’s the size of a passenger car! If you feel curious about this information, check out the rest of this article to see what else you didn’t know about the inhabitants of our waters.

The octopus, is one of the most interesting creatures we can come across underwater. Its circulatory system is powered by 3 hearts, and the blood they pump is a beautiful light blue colour. It is a creature so flexible that an adult can squeeze through an opening the size of a small coin! What possibilities this creates when penetrating wrecks, if only humans could do that. Unfortunately, enthusiasts of this idea must be warned not to let the pros obscure the cons, because octopuses are completely deaf. An individual, threatened by a predator attack, can detach its body from the arms and continue its escape, the arms grow back and this happens without any harm to the octopus. Hapalochlaena – is a creature the size of a golf ball, but despite its small size, is one of the most venomous creatures on Earth and an encounter with it can end tragically.

Seahorses are familiar to everyone, but how many people realise that this is the only creature in the animal kingdom where the male is responsible for the birth of the offspring and their subsequent care? The female lays her eggs in a pouch similar to that of kangaroos, the male fertilises them and then they develop until birth occurs. Seahorses are monogamous animals that choose a mate for life. They begin each day with a kind of dance with their partner, during which they change colour, twirling around with their tails joined together, before splitting up for the rest of the day and repeating everything with the arrival of the next morning. During mating, they make music-like sounds. Seahorses are animals with insatiable appetites and can eat up to 3,000 Artemia salina crustaceans a day.

Sea turtles inhabit the waters of all continents except Antarctica. Their size varies greatly. The smallest individuals, such as the bog turtle, reach a height of 10cm and the largest, the leatherback turtle, 2m and can weigh up to 700kg! Sea turtles excrete the salt that their bodies absorb from the sea water, which is why it feels like they are crying.

Jellyfish are creatures that have lived on Earth for a good 650 million years, so they probably have a lot to tell us. In comparison with her, both dinosaurs and other inhabitants of the deep – sharks, must bow their necks and give her the palm of primacy in terms of the amount of time they have inhabited our wonderful planet. Its body consists of 95% water. A representative of this species, called the sea wasp (Chironex flecken), causes more deaths among humans each year than any other creature inhabiting the sea depths. Death can occur as early as 3min after a bite. The chances of reaching shore and surviving are almost zero. The amount of venom in a single bite could kill 60 adults! The largest known jellyfish can reach 2.5m in size and their tentacles, at record size, can reach halfway across a football pitch!

Crabs are not as deadly as jellyfish and perhaps this is one of the reasons that over 8 million of these creatures end up on the tables of restaurants and homes around the world every year. From an anatomical perspective, it is interesting to note that a crab’s teeth are located in its stomach. The Japanese Pacific crab, is the oldest species known to science and the deepest living of all crabs. This species reaches 3-4m with an arm’s reach of up to 8m! It is also the longest living crab in the world.

We hope that the above text surprised you and allowed you to complete your knowledge of the uniqueness of the underwater world and their inhabitants. If you know of other amazing creatures that inhabit the oceans, please tell us about them!

Source: http://aquaviews.net
Photo: http://aquaviews.net, http://www.apokalipsy.fora.pl