#Blessed by the Ocean

[crybabyboyscout]

✨☆彡Pharaoh☆彡✨

[eyefoes]

weathersui outfits bc they're just too fun to dress up 🌦️

[pillowspace]

Listen to me, boy. You will hear about sea slugs. You will enjoy sea slugs

Costasiella kuroshimae / leaf sheep. Discovered off the coast of Japanese island Kuroshima in 1993, they can indirectly perform photosynthesis by absorbing chloroplasts from algae

Cyerce nigricans. The cerata can be easily cast when disturbed. They can also swim by powerfully flapping said cerata when strongly stimulated. I think they look like butterfly wings!

Jorunna parva / sea bunny. They are covered in papillae, which are fleshy protuberances used for sensory functions. It looks like fur!

Glaucus atlanticus / blue glaucus. They are rarely seen, except during periods of on-shore winds which brings them and their prey into coastal waters. They are the most dangerous sea slug to handle, able to give humans a very painful and potentially dangerous sting

Chromodoris lochi / loch's chromodoris. They are spongivores, and prefer being on the underside of overhangs on rocky reefs. Their distribution is widespread in the Indo-Pacific. Everyone I show sea slugs to seems to love this little guy

Dirona albolineata / white-lined dirona. A translucent predator that often eats bryozoans and small snails. They generally reside on rocks and sometimes mud in the intertidal. Pretty little things, they remind me of shards of glass

Phidiana hiltoni / Hilton's Aeolid. They are known for being quite aggressive, often biting and fighting other aeolids, which is so real of them. They always reminded me of lit matches

Acanthodoris lutea / orange-peel doris. Its bright aposamatic colouration is a warning to predators of its distasteful toxicity. They also notably smell of sandalwood! You don't understand. I NEED to hold one

Nembrotha kubaryana / dusky nembrotha. They use the toxins in their prey ascidians to defend themselves against predators. The toxins are stored in their tissues then released in a slimy defensive mucus when alarmed. Nembrotha kubaryana are well-known for their neon appearance

Phyllodesmium poindimiei / Spun Of Light. It's primarily nocturnal and can cast its cerata for protection. Anyway, can we all agree that Spun Of Light is the most awesome name for a sea slug ever? I mean, look at it. That's a sea slug spun of light if I've ever seen one

Conclusion: sea slugs are the creatures ever

[naixaie]

. 🥺🦋✨

[goatpunches]

the guy who sinks the ships or whatever

[csquarededdy]

This one goes out to all ocean sunfish worshippers and haters alike

[bestanimal]

Round 1 - Phylum Annelida

(sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Annelida is a large phylum, whose animals are sometimes called the “segmented worms.” This is a large phylum containing over 22,000 living species. Annelids are made up of multiple segments, each with the same set of organs (except for the oddball Echiurans). Instead of cilia, they use fleshy protrusions called parapodium for locomotion.

Annelida is a diverse phylum with animals that have adapted to many different environments, including terrestrial, freshwater, and marine habitats from tidal zones to hydrothermal vents. It includes the earthworms, leeches, ragworms, feather duster worms, and others.

Many marine polychaete worms live in tubes they build themselves or burrow in the sand to ambush prey or filter feed, but some spend their whole lives swimming in the water column.

Propaganda under the cut:

Earthworms are important in farming and in ecology as they help aerate and enrich the soil.

The largest annelid is the endangered Giant Gippsland Earthworm (Megascolides australis), which is on average 1 m (3.3 ft) long and 2 cm (0.79 in) wide. They can reach up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) long, and they can stretch to seem much longer or contract to seem shorter.

Like earthworms, marine polychaetes also aerate the sea floor, enabling water and oxygen to reach the other creatures that live with them.

Annelids help scientists monitor the quality of water, as different species have different tolerances for water quality.

Medicinal leeches are still used for blood-letting, though not as frequently as they once were. In fact, some species of leech are threatened due to overharvesting for this purpose!

Annelids don’t fossilize well due to their soft bodies, so most fossils are simply jaws or tubes. The earliest annelid fossil that can be confidentially identified is dated to the early Cambrian, and most of our modern polychaete groups appeared by the end of the Carboniferous.

Okay so you’d still love your partner if they were a worm, but would they be your favorite animal?

[nami-moittli]

Basically those two scenes to me lol

[langernameohnebedeutung]

I'm beginning to realise that a major reason why I woke up in the middle of August and was like "I REALLY DESPERATELY URGENTLY FINALLY NEED TO DRIVE AROUND ICELAND FOR TWO WEEKS ON MY OWN" (apart from, you know, seeing Iceland) is that this will be the first time since Ireland that I will completely on my own schedule and on my own and off to clock and not available and it's really interesting that the people in my life who are the most like 'why would you want to go to Iceland on your own, there's nothing there, that sounds boring, it's empty and cold' are the ones I most need a break from. It's you, the stressor is you.

[callmehaneul]

July 22, Monday : new week, same feelings.

[dollykiller]

Open me up tell me you like me fuck me to death love me until I love myself

[discordiansamba]

local merman describing all the weird ass shit he's seen in the deeper parts of the ocean, but everyone thinks he's just pulling their legs... at least until some sailors dredge up the corpse of something he'd talked about before.

zuko: see? told you I wasn't making it all up.

sokka: I am never going back in the water again.

[delightingintragedy]

Various Uses for Fossils in Magic from Wisht Waters by Gemma Gary

"Sea fossils, as well a guarding against drowning, had other protective uses. The fossils of sea urchins, or Echinoids, were employed for a variety of protections. Upon these fossils, one might find a star-like pattern, very reminiscent of the 'daisy-wheels', which one might find inscribed into the timbers and masonry of ancient buildings, most likely for apotropaic purposes. Their folk names include shepherd's crowns, thunder stones and fairy loaves. They protected against thunder, evil spirits and witches, prevented milk turning sour, and in common with other fossil amulets, they sweated in the presence of poison. As 'fairy loaves' they might be used to ward off supernatural interference from the baking process, and to ensure an abundance of bread."

pg. 104

"Belemnite fossils, from an extinct squid-like creature, were known as thunderbolts, and were thus kept as charms to protect against lightning. Once believed to be the tongues of ancient serpents, fossilised shark teeth were one of the fossil amulets against poison"

pg. 104

"Rings of stone, formed from the fossilised stems of the sea-lily were known as St Cuthbert's Beads, as were worn as amulets against evil influences."

pg. 105

"The 'Devil's Toenail' fossils were carried as charms against rheumatic pain, and they were powdered to be used in the treatment of soreness of the back in horses."

pg. 107

"Various accoutrements of the sea witch's divinatory work may be seen in the Museum of Witchcraft. Here we find that belemnites were employed by a Newlyn sea witch named Nancy. She would read the fall of her 'sea stones' to make predictions for fishermen. Perhaps their traditional association with lightning gave belemnites the virtue to make predictions regarding storms and changes in the weather?"

pg. 108

[...] There have been many ways to bless, consecrate and 'sain' water, thus rendering it more potent and useful within various rites and magical operations. This might be achieved by steeping or immersing charmed items within the water, or else allowing water to flow or be poured over such an item. These may include charm-stones, fossils, flints, or the metals gold and silver.

pgs. 115-116

"Ammonite fossils were also employed as charm stones to cure cattle in 17th century Scotland. They were known as 'cramp stones' because cattle afflicted with cramp would be treated by being bathed in water in which a 'cramp stone' had been steeped for a number of hours."

pg. 122

[somegrumpynerd]

CHARLIEEEEEEE YOU'RE SO COOL AND FUN AND SILLY IT'S A JOY TO HAVE YOU AROUND (figuratively) AND I HOPE YOU ALWAYS HAVE A GOOD TIME AND THAT WORK ISNT TOO STRESSFUL AND THAT YOU'RE HAPPY AND CAN DO WHAT YOU LOVE FOREVER <33333

HLSLKGLDDHSKDVFHSJDFIHJD;KB PIGEON THIS IS ILLEGAL YOU CAN'T BE NICE TO ME THIS MUCH!!!!!!

That's so sweet that's SOO nice YOU'RE so nice!!!!! You're always the coolest and you make beautiful art for anything you draw even fandoms I'm not in I'm like oooooooh~! cause you make everything so pretty. AND!!! You always have amazing ideas, every time I see you on the dash it's like OOH YESS HERE WE GO cause it's a banger every time!! I hope YOU have a really good time and college is chill and manageable and you get so many purrs and cuddles from your kitties every day and you experience joy every day!!!!

[zeezeebum]

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

[aurora-ze-aquarius]

Mer Elliott headcanon (also it's for mermay lmao)

Elliott sometimes helps Willy out with catching invasive sea urchin because they decimate entire reefs and kelp forests and populate like crazy. Though, he's a tad bit too squeamish to give it a taste.