Plankton of the world, beware! While most nudibranchs, or sea slugs, crawl and graze, the melibe sweeps its hood through the water like a net, capturing unsuspecting tiny drifters. A fringe of tentacles interlock and trap prey as the hood collapses to help the slug digest its meal.
Melibes may be expert plankton snatchers, but how do these soft-bodied invertebrates escape being a meal? Researchers have followed their noses to the melibe’s uniquely fruity smell–noxious secretions which may ward off nibbling fish. They can also “swim” away from predators by wiggling from side to side.
Living on giant kelp fronds or sea grass, melibes live higher up in the water column than most seafloor-bound nudibranchs. They’ve adapted well to the vertical life–as you can see in the background, their white ribbon eggs hang and sway with currents.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
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.More you might like
ROVing in the deep
By Samantha Wishnak, Social Media Associate
This week I’m out in Monterey Bay with scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Our mission: get to the bottom of the bay. The tools: a high-tech robot and support boat!
The robot, a remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) called the Doc Ricketts, acts as the eyes and mechanical arms of MBARI researchers at sea. But first—they have to move it from the center of the three-story Western Flyer research vessel, into the ocean. How do they do it? The floor drops out of the boat! It takes a crew of eight just to launch the ROV—and there are also seven other crew members and five scientists aboard. (I’m on the science team!)
We’re “flying” this robot to MARS!
We’re launching the ROV to reach the Monterey Accelerated Research System (MARS), an underwater power station where scientists can plug in their experiments. It’s located 3,000 feet below the surface, at the bottom of Monterey Bay. Like any network, it requires monitoring and maintenance. One of the reasons we’re out here is to check on parts of the 32-mile long undersea cable that runs from Moss Landing to the mouth of Monterey Bay. This is not your average extension cord!
Tomorrow I’ll take you into the control room—stay tuned.
ROVing in the deep: Part Three
By Samantha Wishnak, Social Media Associate
What do scientists do with all the samples they bring back from the deep sea? Join researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and I in the fun as we separate, sieve and slog through sand, mud and rocks from the deep!
Catch up on the expedition
Are you an octopus admirer? Squid supporter? Cuttlefish crusader? Then get ready for #CephalopodWeek! This week we’re joining Science Friday, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and others to bring you the latest and greatest stories from the tentacled world.
Watch this epic introduction to our Tentacles exhibition
Looking for aliens? Thanks to our partners at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), you can now find them in our Jellies Experience exhibition! As you can see, the large Aegina jelly in the center looks different than the others–and may be an undescribed species!
Typically, Aegina found in Monterey Bay are lemon jellies (Aegina citrea), recognizable by their yellowish color and four tentacles. While this jelly’s reddish-purple hue may come from a brightly-colored meal, the six tentacles make it an unusual find! Genetic studies at MBARI suggest this is a distinct species–and research continues.
Like many jellies, these animals can be fragile and short-lived, so we encourage you to visit soon and check them out!
Learn more about our Jellies Experience exhibition
Start your morning with some sunshine–underwater! Go on a dive from your desk with our live Kelp Forest exhibit cam.
Tune in now
Shimmering, sleek and speedy! Schooling anchovies find safety in numbers–can you keep track of just one fish without getting mesmerized?
Watch them with our live Kelp Forest cam
You’ve got to see them to melibe-lieve! With a foot for a belly, wing-like appendages, and Venus flytraps for faces, Melibe leonina nudibranch sea slugs are some of the most unusual inhabitants of the kelp forest!
Swaying on kelp blades, they catch passing plankton in their large hoods and lay tulip-shaped egg masses throughout the forest, ready to hatch out the next generation of these extraordinary—and watermelon-scented (!)—super slugs.
You can experience their mysterious molluscan majesty in our Enchanted Kelp Forest display—we guarantee you’ll be melibe-liebers!
Who lives in the kelp forest? From shimmering leopard sharks to lumbering giant sea bass, fish of all shapes and sizes rely on this towering ecosystem for food and shelter.
Watch our live Kelp Forest exhibit cam
Sea Palm Culture: In the Weeds
Our Kelp Forest exhibit is a visitor favorite. It’s gorgeous, and in 1984 it was the first living kelp forest grown outside the wild.
Today it’s home to a forest of giant kelp and bull kelp, and an understory of more than 65 other species of algae that colonize the exhibit as their spores enter with the raw seawater from Monterey Bay.
Thirty years later, we’ve created a second kelp forest in our galleries. Like the original, it’s home to marine algae that have never been grown at an aquarium. It’s every bit as remarkable as the original (if a bit smaller).
Look closely and you’ll find it in our Wave Crash exhibit, outside the signature walk-through tunnel. The exhibit resembles the complex ecosystem of the rocky shore because Aquarist Reggie Gary has painstakingly coaxed sea palms, feather boa kelp and at least three species of rockweed to grow in a man-made environment.
No. 1 algae fan: Julie Packard
Reggie’s efforts have won him a big fan: Executive Director Julie Packard.
“I fell in love with the ocean studying the amazing diversity of seaweeds on our rocky shores,” says Julie. “Sea palms are limited to really wild shorelines and it’s always a special treat to see them! We were proud to pull off growing giant kelp – but I never imagined we’d be able to grow sea palms. They are really challenging. Kudos to Reggie!”
You can see them at Point Lobos, or on the exposed rocky shorelines of Big Sur. They’re almost cartoon-like – a living Dr. Seuss creation.
Sea palms thrive under the harshest conditions: battered by fierce waves, alternately submerged in the surf and exposed to the air.
Just like Goldilocks
If the rocks are underwater too much of the time, or too high above the waves, they can’t support sea palms. Like Goldilocks, conditions have to be “just right.” Creating “just right” conditions is Reggie’s labor of love.
“I got a little emotional when I saw the first sea palms starting to grow, because no one else is doing it,” he says. “These are my babies.”
He started by collecting a few sea palms from the wild. He experimented, placing them in different locations in the outdoor Wave Crash pool, with mixed results.
He finally found the perfect spots: two exposed pinnacles that project above the water and are battered every 30 seconds by artificial waves.
Palm trees of the rocky shore
These hollow-tubed algae resemble miniature palm trees, and can grow to be just over two feet tall.
The adults that Reggie first collected produced microscopic gametophytes, the male and female offspring that colonize the exhibit. Each spring, in March or April, they reproduce and begin to grow a few centimeters a day. (Giant kelp grows several inches a day.) Each fall, the adult sea palm completes its life cycle and dies, leaving behind a new generation of gametophytes.
That’s what Reggie discovered when new sea palms first sprouted in the exhibit on their own.
“It was awesome,” he says. “I was in tears.”
A “geeked out” algae enthusiast
Success fired him up. Reggie frankly admits that he’s completely “geeked out” by rocky shore mysteries.
He next started colonies of other algae from the exposed rocky shore: feather boa kelp that looks like something a dance-hall girl would wear; and tiny Silvetia, Fucus and Endocladia rockweeds. All are growing and reproducing, just as they would in the wild.
Reggie’s also had luck with colonies of gooseneck barnacles, while fending off oystercatchers and other wild shorebirds that want to grab them as snacks. Like the algae, gooseneck barnacles thrive under pounding waves, alternately submerged and exposed to sunlight and air.
Location, location, location – and love
“It’s all about location,” Reggie says.
Location – and tender loving care. He makes sure there’s plenty of raw seawater running through the exhibit, so the algae get the nutrients they need. He drops the water level in the exhibit for two hours each morning so they’re left high and dry. And he’s arranged to have the waves crash 24/7 so his finicky charges are battered day and night.
Reggie’s been part of the Husbandry team for 25 years since we recruited him from the California Conservation Corps. After working in the food room and in every exhibit gallery, he now has special permission to focus on Rocky Shore exhibits, bringing what he sees in the wild to our visitors.
“When you’ve been here for 25 years, and you’re still excited to come in every day – that’s the best!” Reggie says.
Listen to our podcast as Reggie shares the story of raising sea palms.
Bat stars — the ultimate arm wrestling champions of the sea! 🌊💪
ALTWhen 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? 🌟
