Octopus steals camera:

Lovely octopus photo in the National Geographic.

Getting a tan while dreaming of conquest. 

The Navy said they wanted a killing machine... Roger Corman was happy to oblige 

Cephalopod fans, may I direct your attention to Pharyngula?  Besides being one of the better science blogs, there is a featured cephalopod every Friday for your edification and delight.

YES

I KNOW RIGHT

Also, meet the Denizens of the Dragon Vent.

Behold: GLAUCUS ATLANTICUS


When our overlords arise at last from the Deep they will come arrayed in many shapes; some hideous, some lovely beyond dreams, all TERRIBLE.

GAZE UPON THE MAJESTY OF GLAUCUS

GOOD AFTERNOON.

More nudibranches.  These are the small ones, the tiny ones... but make no mistake, their greater cousins exist, held back only by some fragile trick of depth, of distance or of time.  And their time will come; vast and magnificent they will parade through your cities, arrayed in robes of psychedelic flesh, driving all before them and crushing those who cannot flee beneath the poisoned rainbows of their bodies.

I used to play with sea hares at the beach, when they'd appear (which wasn't often). The ink fascinated me - that and the polka dots. 

Mordant Carnival said: GAZE UPON THE MAJESTY OF GLAUCUS

OMG that's beautiful!

-E-

I'm going to do Fimo ones of those and wear them for jewelleries.

That's brilliant MC :)

I was thinking hanging ornaments for my Yule trees - they look like pixies to me ;p

-E-

They'd make lovely ornaments.  Also kind of begging to be appliquéd onto cushions, waistcoats etc.

Ok, now I'm trying to figure out how to model one out of beads and wire.... I should stop now.

-E-

I like sea hares! They are fun to play with, and they ink you!

That Glaucus atlanticus is either a terrible wonder or a wonderful terror. It makes me imagine the Angel of Death enrobing zirself in material garments to go a-terrorizing mortals, enswathing zirself in the raiment of the physical world for the first time in aeons, and focusing zir power to push through the Veil...

"What th—G-d's Holy Behind, I've gotten the scale wrong AGAIN."

^ This nudibranch looks like a cheerful old lady in her very prettiest Sunday hat. She has brought her favorite cookie recipe to the social and they are exceptionally good this time, if she does say so herself. She is sure you will like them very much.

She totally does, too.

OCTOPUS SINGS

So aye, it seems Octopi can Rewrite Their Fucking RNA as a survival advantage.

Survivors of Atlantis

I am beginning to believe that cephalopods are our natural overlords.

They're just better than us in every way, aren't they?

One day octopuses will stop dying right after having sex and then we are all screwed.  Or not, because they would turn out to be fantastically wise and fair and just brillianter at being top species than we are.

I'm convinced the only reason they do that in the first place is so we don't get all bummed out by them. Like "See? Nobody's perfect, so relax man, it's all good. You're cool too, yeah? I mean opposable thumbs? That's like, some righteous shit right there! Don't be so down on yourself."

"I mean, we might have already done the internet with just our secret glowing brains 4000 years ago, but that doesn't mean nothing."

"Oh shit, I forgot for a moment that you can't taste with your whole skin.... Don't worry. It's honestly not as great as it sounds."

iamus said: "Oh shit, I forgot for a moment that you can't taste with your whole skin.... Don't worry. It's honestly not as great as it sounds."

*shudders* I'm so glad I can't taste with my whole skin. I'd go insane so fast!

-E-

And we never hear a peep from the octopus about it. Just another reason they're so awesome.

T-Rex learns about the sea

A GPO has been brought to the Aquarium! It is a big one—22kg. It inhabits the big tunnel tank, and generally lives in the crevice of a rock during the day. Yesterday when I was showing it to people it went for a walk, shlupping over the tunnel in the aquarium so that everyone could see it overhead, and then strolling along the bottom. A sheephead came over to investigate the possibility of tearing off small chunks of it for sadistic fun, but the octopus turned into an interesting throw rug and the sheephead went away confused.

Woo!

By the way, it's completely true about sea squirts. And the black swallower. (There's also a great swallower.) You're welcome.

Nevermind, here's more nudibranches.

The great swallower is going to make its way into my nightmares, I can already tell.

I aspire to be a great swallower, but not if I have to look like that.

This discussion suddenly seems smutty. What's the last entry that can't be made into a double entendre?

Is that a trick question, or are you asking for a challenge?

I am unable to work grant's "survivors of Atlantis" comment (January 6th) into any form of smut. Up till then, meh, the smut must flow.

Survivors of Atlantis... in bed? 

AAAHHHH FOOT-LONG SHRIMP AAAAAAAAAHHHH

Supergiant crustacean found in deepest ocean

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

All I can think of is "wonder what that tastes like with a bit of garlic, fish sauce, chili and coriander?"...

It's probably wondering the same thing about you.

C'mon, you wouldn't eat?

Some of us have noted this elsewhere:

Scientists close to entering Vostok, Antarctica’s biggest subglacial lake

After drilling for two decades through more than two miles of antarctic ice, Russian scientists are on the verge of entering a vast, dark lake that hasn’t been touched by light for more than 20 million years. . . .

Every Lovecraft fan knows how this is likely to end.

In racism?

In bed. 

With a Penguin!

-E-

Aren't there undead Nazis?