Why explore space, when there is so much we don't know about our own planet.

Platapus · 04-25-13, 06:01 PM

http://aquaviews.net/explore-the-blu...s-harp-sponge/

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When you think of the fact that scientists estimate that just half of one percent of the reachable ocean depths have been explored — excluding the deepest recesses of the sea — how can you not do cartwheels every time a new marine creature is discovered?

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the discovery of the latest deep sea creature: Chondrocladia lyra, or the carnivorous harp sponge.

First discovered in 2000 by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), this fascinating creature was recorded at depths of 10,800 to 11,500 feet below the surface off the coast of California. Considering that carnivorous sponges have only become known to science in the last two decades, to come across a specimen so unique and ingenious as the harp sponge must have been quite a thrill! Most sea sponges are filter feeders, fixed in one location on a surface and passively catching what drifts by in the water column, but carnivorous sponges actively catch and digest their prey.

There is also a very interesting video on this site.

So much we still don't understand about our world.

u crank · 04-25-13, 06:21 PM

Very cool. Makes you wonder what else is down there.

Thanks for posting.

Kapt Z · 04-25-13, 10:22 PM

Why not explore both?

Cybermat47 · 04-25-13, 10:43 PM

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Originally Posted by Kapt Z

Why not explore both?

You can explore space. Just don't come back with your alien baby that will burst out of your chest and wipe out mankind.

Jimbuna · 04-26-13, 05:14 AM

Very interesting...I'd certainly be interested in finding out just what is down there.

04-25-13, 06:21 PM	#2
u crank Old enough to know better Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Prince Edward Island Posts: 11,744 Downloads: 136 Uploads: 0	Very cool. Makes you wonder what else is down there. Thanks for posting. __________________ “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” ― Arthur C. Clarke

04-25-13, 10:22 PM	#3
Kapt Z Grey Wolf Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: ...somewhere in the swamps of Jersey. Posts: 909 Downloads: 157 Uploads: 0	Why not explore both? __________________ ...I fought in many guises, many names, but always me. Patton

04-26-13, 05:14 AM	#5
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,525 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	Very interesting...I'd certainly be interested in finding out just what is down there. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!