Along the wild Pacific coast of British Columbia, there lives a population of the sea wolves. “We know from exhaustive DNA studies that these wolves are genetically distinct from their continental kin,” says McAllister. “They are behaviourally distinct, swimming from island to island and preying on sea animals. They are also morphologically distinct — they are smaller in size and physically different from their mainland counterparts,” says Ian McAllister, an award-winning photographer who has been studying these animals for almost two decades.McAllister captured the magic of these wolves in breath-taking pictures.
As he swam towards them, “the curious canines approached him so closely that he could hear them grunting into his snorkel. He took several frames, then pushed back into deeper water without daring to look up,” writes the bioGraphic.One could almost call these sea wolves pescatarians – 90 percent of their food comes directly from the ocean, with a fourth of it coming from eating salmon. On top of having distinctive food patterns, sea wolves are also excellent swimmers, with their farthest record being swimming to an archipelago 7.5 miles from the nearest landmass. (Source)
The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur native to Madagascar. It is the largest nocturnal primate in the world. The aye-aye taps on trees and listens to find grubs to eat; it then uses its perpetually growing rodent-like teeth to chew a hole in the tree and a special thin middle finger to pull out the grubs.
Aye-ayes are endangered due to deforestation and local superstition. They are often viewed as a harbinger of evil and killed on sight. Others believe that if an aye-aye points its narrowest finger at someone, they are marked for death.
Some say the appearance of an aye-aye in a village predicts the death of a villager, and the only way to prevent this is to kill it. The Sakalava people go so far as to claim aye-ayes sneak into houses through the thatched roofs and murder the sleeping occupants by using their middle finger to puncture the victim’s aorta. However, conservation of the species has been aided greatly by captive breeding. (xx)
How did the gulper eel get its name? It’s easy to see here! The crew of the E/V Nautilus spotted this gulper eel (Eurypharynx pelecanoides) while exploring the deep waters of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Marine Sanctuary. Gulper eels’ mouths work similarly to pelicans’, growing bigger rapidly so they can scoop up prey.
Need to see it again, more slowly? We’ve got you covered.
(Video: OET/NOAA)
[Video description: A gulper eel “inflates” its mouth while floating near the ocean bottom. GIFs are slowed-down parts of the video.]
The Glass Anemone Shrimp, also known as the White-patched Anemone Shrimp, or Pacific Clown Anemone Shrimp, was first described in 1902. While it is sometimes difficult to see within its host anemone, it is the most common of all the imported anemone shrimps.
