Some folk love the sea...

I grow up in a city that lies next to it, so I love the sea. The thing is that I live now farther away and kinda missed it.

 

Being essentially landlocked in Pennsylvania, my love of the sea possibly arises from the fact that I don't often see it. Or, perhaps I see it as much as anyone else would, during vacation. Still I'm amazed at the bounty of the sea. There's more life in it than there is on land, and we don't know the majority of species living under the great blue meer. I find myself fascinated by the ctenophores and cnidarians, as well as cetaceans and echinoderms. I love octopi, and would keep one as a pet if they weren't so short-lived. I also have a love of sharks, in that I find all of them beautiful expressions of the need to feed. Surely all of you know most sharks can't sleep, or they die due to oxygen deprivation. That constant need of motion, the ruthless efficiency of their dogged hunting tactics, gives me a great joy to know they're keeping all of the ocean in check. It actually makes me sad to know dolphins will kill sharks on sight, but I know it's just a matter of self preservation. Really, the shark would kill them too, if it was hungry.

 

You're only able to bathe for a month or two out of the year? Remind me to only visit Sweden during those 2 months...

 

Hooray! Five votes for the sea. Any friend of the sea is a friend of mine.

Gross: Some sharks can sleep. Japanese reef sharks sleep in a pile like hamsters.

Dolphins are a tiny minority in the sea compared to sharks. They constantly scan for sharks, and their minimum pod size is determined by the need to defend against sharks. Even so, over a third of local dolphins around here have shark scars, and even more have bites which have completely healed (with the power of the sea).

When dolphins get together in a giant pod of 1000's to herd massive schools of fish, there are millions(!) of sharks waiting to exploit the dolphins' work. Sharks are one of the coolest, nastiest and most efficient inventions of the Great Spaghetti Monster, but my heart goes out to the underdog - the dolphin.

Also, octopus are THE best invention ever.

 

Oh, that's why I added the qualifier, "most."

 

Right, so you did. I guess I was just on a hair trigger to ejaculate marine trivia all over the place, prematurely too. Sorry.

 

It's all right. The reason I said most is because I couldn't remember which sharks did sleep.

 

Man, it's high-seas and gale force winds today. If you're surfing on the gold coast today, Zanza, then you're braver than me.

 

Quicksilver surf comp down at Coolangatta, so many hotties!

 

No doubt. But does that mean you haven't braved the waves today?

 

Nah left it to the pros today, looks a bit rough today.