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Meet the Pangolin.
If this is a familiar creature to you, forgive my many pictures. I was not at all aware of it and I am more than a little captivated.
Said to be the most widely trafficked mammal in the world, all eight pangolin species – which are native to Asia and Africa – are now categorized as “vulnerable”, “endangered” or “critically endangered” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species.
The main reason they are being threatened is the false belief that their scales can heal a multitude of diseases.
After seizing 12.9 tons of pangolin scales on 3 April, Singapore seized another 12.7 tons on 8 April. In both instances, the scales were in containers on their way to Vietnam from Nigeria. The previous record seizure of pangolin scales was in Shenzhen, China, in 2017, when 11.9 tons were seized. Altogether, it is estimated that the scales were from 38,000 pangolins and were worth US$76.5 million.
Australian photographer Tim Samuel managed to get a once-in-a-lifetime shot while free diving off The Pass in Byron Bay, on the north coast of New South Wales. The marvelous images present the bizarre sight of a fish stuck inside of a jellyfish. Even more unusual is that, according to Samuel, the trapped fish was able to control where the jellyfish moved, like some sort of twisted version of a living and breathing submarine.
Despite the fish’s worried face, Ian Tibbetts, an Associate Professor at the University of Queensland, explained to Australian Geographic that “it's difficult to tell whether disaster has just struck, or whether the fish is happy to be in there.” Some breeds of fish seek shelter underneath the stingers of jellyfish, so perhaps this little guy just slightly missed his mark.
Spider season in Australia.
There is a species of jellyfish that never dies.
[img]https://i0.wp.com/bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/immortal-jellyfish.jpg?resize=500%2C332&ssl=1[/img]
Known as Turritopsis dohrnii—or colloquially, the immortal jellyfish—this sea creature is able to revert back into its adolescent state after going through adulthood, a “process that looks remarkably like immortality.”
Like all jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii begins life as a larva, called a planula, which develops from a fertilized egg. A planula swims at first, then settles on the sea floor and grows into a cylindrical colony of polyps. These ultimately spawn free-swimming, genetically identical medusae—the animals we recognize as jellyfish—which grow to adulthood in a matter of weeks.
Fully grown, Turritopsis dohrnii is only about 4.5 mm (0.18 inches) across, smaller than a pinky nail. A bright-red stomach is visible in the middle of its transparent bell, and the edges are lined with up to 90 white tentacles. These tiny, transparent creatures have an extraordinary survival skill, though. In response to physical damage or even starvation, they take a leap back in their development process, transforming back into a polyp. In a process that looks remarkably like immortality, the born-again polyp colony eventually buds and releases medusae that are genetically identical to the injured adult. In fact, since this phenomenon was first observed in the 1990s, the species has come to be called “the immortal jellyfish.”
Whitetail Deer Does are having their Fawns now.They are all over the place. If the Fawn is curled up and resting, they are fine.
The Doe does not stay with her baby. She leaves and goes to feed so she can make the rich milk her baby needs.
She DID NOT abandon her baby.
If the Doe has twins she will often leave one and take one with her. She will bring the 2nd Fawn to another location. (this is to protect her babies. If a predator gets one the other will survive.)
The Mother may not return for up to 15 hours. Then she may feed her baby and leave it again to go forage.
The baby is born without scent to help keep it safe from predators.
If you stand a Fawn up, it will drop right back down to the ground. The babies legs are not broken, the baby is not paralyzed. This is s natural instinct to make themselves as small as possible and they know not move so a predator will pass them by.
Should you discover a fawn in your yard or while out walking/hiking leave it be.
Tasmanian devils born on Australian mainland after 3,000 years
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-australia-57249491
Tasmanian devils born on Australian mainland after 3,000 years
Tasmanian devils have been born on the Australian mainland for the first time in thousands of years.
Conservationists introduced the species back into a sanctuary north of Sydney in late 2020.
Now, around 3,000 years after the marsupials vanished from the mainland, the first joeys have been born in the wild.
It’s a Southern Flannel Moth Caterpillar and it’s very poisonous.
Horny Toad. lol
1 – Orcas are (very) greedy
Killer whales, also called orcas, hunt everything from fish to walruses – seals, sea lions, penguins, squid, sea turtles, sharks and even other kinds of whales are all on their menu.
Depending on the season and where they are, their diet varies – some eat plenty of fish and squid, others feast mostly on seals and penguins. But wherever they are in any of the world’s oceans, average-sized killer whales may eat about 227 kilograms of food a day!2 – Orcas aren’t whales
Despite being called killer whales, orcas (Orcinus orca) are actually dolphins. Historically, sailors took to calling these marine mammals whale killers after witnessing them preying on whales and other marine mammals.
Over time the name changed. While these large animals are apex predators that threaten fish and other animals, as of 2013 there’s never been a record of wild orcas attacking humans.3 – Orcas are the only known non-human animal to have evolved based on culture
Orcas have evolved complex culture: a suite of behaviors animals learn from one another. They communicate with distinctive calls and whistles. They can live 60 years or more, and they stay in tightknit matrilineal groups led by older females that model specific behaviors to younger animals.
Scientists have found increasing evidence that culture shapes what and how orcas eat, what they do for fun, even their choice of mates.
Only humans are known to have evolved based on culture, so this realization about orcas is a big deal for science.
They are the humans of the sea.4 – Orcas are found in all Oceans
Killer whales inhabit all oceans of the world. Next to humans and perhaps the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), killer whales are the most widely distributed mammal.
Populations have been documented foraging for long periods of time in shallow coastal and inter-tidal flats in just a few meters of water.
While killer whales can be found around the world, they are much more common in highly productive areas of cold-water upwelling; including the Pacific Northwest, along northern Norway’s coast in the Atlantic, and the higher latitudes of the Southern Ocean.
In addition to being found in colder water, killer whales also have been seen in warm water areas such as Florida, Hawaii, Australia, the Galapagos Islands, the Bahamas, and the Gulf of Mexico and more temperate waters such as New Zealand and South Africa. Such sightings are infrequent, but they do demonstrate the killer whales’ ability to venture into tropical waters.5 – Orcas are one of only three animal species on the planet to go through menopause
Only three known species go through menopause: killer whales, short-finned pilot whales, and humans.
Two years ago, scientists suggested whales do this to focus their attention on the survival of their families rather than on birthing more offspring. But now this same team reports there’s another—and darker—reason: Older females enter menopause because their eldest daughters begin having calves, leading to fights over resources. The findings might also apply to humans, the scientists say.6 – Most males never leave their mothers
Using 36 years of data on Orcas in the Pacific Northwest, the researchers found that for males over 30, the death of a mother meant an eightfold increase in the likelihood of death within a year.
Killer whales stick with their mothers their entire lives. Dr. Foster suspects that mothers help sons with foraging or offer protection in encounters with other males. Among female orcas over 30, there was only about a threefold increase in the likelihood of death in the year after a mother’s death. “It makes more sense for the mothers to invest more in their sons, because there is no increased burden on the family group,” Dr. Foster said. “Children of sons move on to new family groups.”7 – Orca groups are divided into pods and communities
Killer whales use a variety of sounds for communicating, socializing and finding prey. These sounds include clicks, pulsed calls, and whistles. Their sounds are in the range of 0.1 kHz to about 40 kHz.
Clicks are primarily used for echolocation, although they may also be used for communication. The pulsed calls of killer whales sound like squeaks and squawks and appear to be used for communication and socialization. They can produce sounds very rapidly—at a rate of up to 5,000 clicks per second.
Different populations of killer whales make different vocalizations, and different pods within these populations may even have their own dialect. Some researchers can distinguish individual pods, and even matrilines (the line of relationship that can be traced from one mother to her offspring), just by their calls.
Meanwhile, pods speak completely different languages. Clans coming together for a chat would be like an English speaker, Russian speaker and Chinese speaker trying to have a conversation.8 – Orcas have no natural predators
Orcas are apex predators—they are at the top of the oceanic food chain and have no natural predators. Humans have not even spent much time hunting killer whales because of their speed and streamlined bodies—according to NOAA, it would take 21 orca whales to produce the same amount of oil as one Sperm whale.
Lacking any natural predators of their own these marine mammals are able to freely hunt and kill other oceanic creatures without the fear of being hunted themselves.
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