Explore the wonders of the ocean in a gif-ferent way, as we tumble through the beauty and science of the sea. Our mission is to inspire conservation of the ocean.
Color me camouflage
The decorator crab (Loxorhynchus
crispatus) camouflages in style.
It selects pieces of seaweed and soft
animals like sponges, corals, anemones and bryzoans from around its
neighborhood and secures them to hooked setae (Velcro-like bristles) on the
back of its shell and legs.
The effect is usually colorful, interesting and
a bit artistic, although probably not intentionally. It’s certainly very practical,
as the “decorations” make the brownish crab look a lot like a rock – the better
to blend with its environment and hopefully hide in plain sight from hungry
predators.
Big crabs with large claws can defend themselves better than small
ones, so don’t deliberately decorate their backs. But plants and animals often
settle there without help, take hold and grow anyway.
This crab even recycles its decorations when it’s time for a new home. It must molt as it grows, shedding its old exoskeleton
and forming a new, larger one. During the process, it removes the animals and
plants from the discarded shell and reuses them on the new shell.
National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore came to Monterey Bay Aquarium because of Makana, our Laysan albatross – the only one of her kind at any aquarium or zoo in the world.
Aviculturist Nat Wong saw Joel speak about the PhotoArk, Joel’s personal mission to inspire people to protect wild animals by taking studio portraits of their kin at zoos and aquariums. Afterward, Nat – who cares for Makana – invited Joel to meet and photograph this rare bird.
It Takes a Village to Take a Picture
Joel joined us a few months later for a PhotoArk session over two days that eventually resulted in 83 amazing images of 35 species of birds, fishes and invertebrates. The preparation involved over 20 employees, two rooms, several cameras, lights, tanks, towels, buckets, crates, carts and lots of cookies.
The timetable ran like an efficient train station – Joel photographed a new animal about every 20 minutes, but joked that we forgot to schedule bathroom breaks. His professionalism and Midwestern charm put us all at ease, including the animals, and made the hours zoom by.
The Simpler, the Better
Joel shoots using only black and white backgrounds whenever possible. He says it equalizes the animals – a moon snail looks as magnificent as Makana – lets viewers look them in the eye, and fosters a connection.
That’s also why the Aquarium exhibits the marine wonders of Monterey Bay and beyond. Because if you connect, you might care. And if you care, you can help save these species. They’re all important.
As Joel says, “It is folly to think that we can destroy one species and ecosystem after another and not affect humanity. When we save species, we’re actually saving ourselves.”
Thank you, Joel, for your passion and purpose. We hope to host you at the Aquarium again soon.
Want to see Joel’s pictures of our animals? Check out #PhotoArkFriday on our social media channels starting January 16.
We know that beautiful images can move people in profound ways to act on behalf of animals.
National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore is on a mission to inspire people to protect wild animals by taking studio portraits of their kin at zoos and aquariums for his Photo Ark project.
The stark black and white backgrounds equalize the animals’ importance, whether the largest elephant or the smallest insect.
“By isolating animals on black and white backgrounds, we can look them directly in the eye and quickly see that these creatures contain beauty, grace and intelligence. Perhaps some even hold the key to our very salvation,” Joel says.
At the Aquarium
We had the honor of hosting Joel recently for two fun and frenetic days as he photographed birds, fish, cephalopods and invertebrates. Joel’s hardworking staff is busy processing thousands of images he shot here and elsewhere, but we’ll soon share more of ours – plus what it’s like to work with Joel, a dozen aquarists, two other photographers and 30 critters parading in and out of one room.
In the meantime please support Joel by liking his Facebook page. To date Joel has documented nearly 4,000 animals for the Photo Ark and won’t stop until he gets them all – and you can help!
The sharp-nosed crab (Scyra
acutifrons) has an impressive rostrum, like the prow of a ship. that’s shaped like two flat, leaf-shaped horns. It’s longer than it is wide,
and widest at the middle of its length.
This roughly pear-shaped member of the spider crab family is
common in tide pools and shallow ocean
habitats along the Pacific coast. Its legs are relatively short and
stout, but its claws are long and slender – with some adult males sporting remarkable pincers.
This crab is often covered with barnacles, algae, sponges and
other small invertebrates (as is the case in this photo). But unlike its cousin the decorator crab (Loxorhynchus crispatus), the sharp-nosed crab doesn’t actively adorn itself. While it might
occasionally put a little something on its rostrum, it appears to just let its
hitchhikers colonize its bumpy carapace on their own.
It’s all about the foot for this marine snail. The abalone
uses this muscular appendage to cling to a rock and wait for kelp to float by,
or use it to slide across sand in search of seaweed. Once it finds its food, it
uses its foot to clamp down on the kelp then munches on the seaweed with its radula
– a rough tongue with many small teeth.
Have you ever seen an abalone eat kelp? You’d be surprised at
how quickly they finish off fronds. Schoolchildren can feed abalone in the Discovery Labs at the Aquarium, and we love to see how the kids’ faces light up with surprise when they watch abalone polish off kelp like they were potato chips.
The abalone also uses its foot for a fast getaway. Yes, fast. If it’s touched by a sea star, it twists its shell violently to dislodge the intruder and then gallops off! (Abalone style.)
The Foot as Food
An abalone’s foot is also prized as human food. The red
abalone (Haliotis refescens), pictured here, is the largest and most common
abalone found off northern California (although its full range is from Baja
California north to British Columbia). It is the only species of abalone still legally
harvested here – on a highly restricted basis – and poachers are heavily
fined.
The destruction of most wild populations has made abalone farming a booming business. Unlike some aquaculture practices, growing abalone has little environmental impact because they eat fast-growing kelp.
Abalone farmed in land- or sea-based enclosures (except from China and Japan) is a Seafood Watch “Best Choice.”
You can see and feel abalone in the touch pools in the Ocean’s
Edge galleries. And keep a sharp eye out for abalone stuck to rocks in such other exhibits as the Kelp Forest and Monterey Bay Habitats.
The smallest of shorebirds in the world (and weighing about 1 ounce), flocks of the least sandpiper (Calidris
minutilla) spend winter months scurrying around mudflats and estuaries in California
and U.S. southern states, and as far south as Chile and Brazil, poking around
for insects and small invertebrates.
Spring breeding season finds these sparrow-sized birds on
the Arctic tundra and in the boreal forests of the far north. The male establishes
the nesting area and makes several “scrapes,” one of which the female chooses
then lines with dry material.
Tiny and Tenacious
Least sandpipers migrate long distances between breeding and
wintering grounds – between 1,800 to 2,500 miles nonstop.
Best known in the bird world as “peeps,” least sandpipers have
a high-pitched creep call that’s distinctively
synonymous with marshlands. This species looks a lot like its sandpiper cousins. The best
way to tell if it’s a least sandpiper is to look at its legs. If they’re yellow-green,
that’s your bird.
You can see a least sandpiper year-round in our Aviary.
The Secret Lives of Seahorses special exhibition has become one of the most popular in the history of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It’s also been a labor of love for the Aquarium’s husbandry staff.
“It’s been hugely rewarding to see how well it’s been received,” says Jonelle Verdugo, associate curator of fish and invertebrates. “Years ago, when we thought of doing a seahorse exhibit, we knew it would be popular, but we didn’t expect it to be one of our highest-rated temporary exhibits.”
Along the way, Jonelle and her staff have learned a few of their own seahorse secrets.
A Seahorse Laboratory
Behind the scenes, there are rows of tanks, large and small, full of seahorses of every size. A thicket of pipes and tubes run down the aisles, keeping the water clean and aerated. Charts and white boards indicate recent work performed. Staff and volunteers scurry about with siphons and cleaning equipment. It’s a daunting task to keep 19 species healthy and cared for (including seahorses, sea dragons, pipefish, and pipehorses), but at the same time, it all looks orderly and efficient.
Seahorses may be small, but they can be quite demanding. It takes three full-time staff to run the exhibit, plus five part-time workers and 12 volunteers. “It’s a lot of work,” says Jonelle. “It has to do with the size of the exhibit, the number of animals, and the fact that each exhibit tank can be tough to access.”
Feeding is a never-ending task. “Seahorses have no true stomach,” says Jonelle. “That means they need to eat a lot. Food passes through them quickly.” Adult seahorses are fed two times a day, sub-adults are fed three times daily, “and babies are fed constantly,” says Jonelle. The type of food depends on the size of the seahorse, and includes everything from plankton (for babies) to mysid shrimp and krill (for large, fully grown animals).
And, not surprisingly, all that food needs to go somewhere after it’s eaten. “We don’t want poop or leftover food to sit in the exhibit or holding tanks. So it’s a matter of constantly feeding, cleaning, feeding, cleaning….”
The staff does a “gravel wash”—using a vacuum-like device—twice each day. Several exhibits are large enough for aquarists to stand in while cleaning. The sea dragon displays are actually big enough that staff can don dive gear and get completely underwater to do their work—though it’s a bit of a contortion act. About once a month, staff stays after hours for a “deep cleaning,” spending a few hours scrubbing everything and bleaching the plastic algae.
And it’s not just seahorses and their kin that need to be cared for—there are also 10-15 non-seahorse species in the exhibit, including fish, urchins, crabs and the like.
Babies Behind the Scenes
Part of the fascination with seahorses is their reproductive process—the males become pregnant and give birth. “We’ve seen babies from all nine seahorses species that we have here,” says Jonelle. “There have been some weeks where we’ve had babies every morning.” Species producing young on exhibit include the longsnout, zebrasnout, potbelly, yellow and White’s seahorses. Those producing behind the scenes include the Pacific, lined, dwarf and shortsnout seahorses.
They typically go into labor in the wee hours of the morning. When the aquarists arrive, the first step is to remove and isolate the juveniles to ensure they get enough food. The tool of choice for this? A turkey baster. “We need to suck them up and not expose them to the air,” says Jonelle. “And a net would damage them.”
Next, the miniature seahorses are placed in a fish bowl, which is suspended in a larger tank to ensure a uniform water temperature. For some species, like the Pacific and yellow seahorses, a current is provided to ensure they don’t become stuck at the surface, where they might ingest air and become buoyant. Other species, like the White’s and potbelly seahorses, use their tails to grab onto objects and remain in mid-water. Some even grab onto each other, forming a “daisy chain” that can be 5-10 seahorses long.
“We’ve been making big steps forward in learning how to raise many of the species that we have. Our hope is to become self sufficient and keep our exhibit stocked as well as being able to send surplus animals to other aquariums.”
When it comes to seahorses, it’s all part of a developing science. “We’re always learning how to make things better,” says Jonelle.
Presenting our nominee for Black Friday mascot: The decorator crab. This discerning shopper searches the rocky reef for seaweed, corals and sea anemones to wear on its shell. Stylish and good camouflage!
When these stars bump into each other, it’s not just a friendly handshake, it’s a ‘gently intense’ arm wrestling match! They become engaged in a slow-motion skirmish, striving to get the upper hand, er, arm. Who knew stars could be so competitive? 🌟
