“Baby humpbacks take these short dives to nurse while their mom lays relatively still at the surface. I’m not too sure how many gallons of milk they consume but based on how fast they grow it must be a lot! A future project I want to work on is using the drone to measure the growth/loss rate for mom and calf!”
Sea urchins have modified mouth parts on the underside of their bodies called an Aristotle’s lantern. The lantern is made up of tooth-like plates that scrape up bits of food like algae, as seen here.
We specifically don’t scrub the algae in this habitat for the urchins, and I see them on the walls all the time, presumably getting a tasty meal. But I had never seen it in action before last week! Invertebrates are such cool little aliens!
[A mom and baby otter are floating together. The baby otter is sleeping on his mom’s tummy so he’s still all dry and fluffy. She keeps giving him little otter kisses.]
wishwhale 