#gray's reef

[starswallowingsea]

Lighthouses of the Great Lakes

[heartnosekid]

kelp forests & underwater structures centered around “what the water gave me” by florence & the machine for @kelpforrest!

🪸-🌊-🪸 / 🌊-🪸-🌊 / 🪸-🌊-🪸

[foolsocracy]

reef ily reef

[gummi-stims]

😺🦈Sharkitty plushies!🦈😺

[piratedllama-art]

Marinetober day 7: blacktip reef shark

markers + acrylic pen

[m00nb04rd5]

Moodboard of Mystic Opal Cookie pls!

Mystic Opal Cookie (Cookie Run)

[sitting-on-me-bum]

Gray reef sharks, common in the Indo-Pacific region, feed on short-nosed unicornfish.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURENT BALLESTA, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

[talos-stims]

ladonnamermaid on ig | source

[chasingrainbowsforever]

~ Black and Gray ~

[leahsskyblog]

By the way, i’m the #1 Treasure Reef liker 😭 I never see any people there though, that needs to change ‼️ I’m cheating by including my shared space, forgive me 🤍

[1smolbean]

if one more major historical event happens before the end of summer i am going to walk into the SEA and go to a CORAL REEF where i can hang out with the 25% of MARINE FISH SPECIES who live there despite coral reefs making up roughly 1% of the surface area of all oceans. then i am going to a KELP FOREST where i will observe tje SEA OTTERS using kelp to secure their young while the parents go diving for food including SEA URCHINS which are actively destroying kelp forests. i will then descend into the depths of the pacific ocean and befriend the various CRUSTACEANS and diverse types of DEEP SEA FISH, including but not limited to, COOKIECUTTER SHARKS, LANTERNFISH, and many kinds of EELS. also i will be locating a whale fall and joining the complex ecosystem that forms when a whale carcass falls to the sea floor, where sea creatures gather to feast on various parts of its corpse

[i-am-a-fish]

some good news articles I found

Recent breakthrough in combatting brain cancer

Major discovery in coral reef restoration

Thought to be extinct since the 18th century, 5 Gray Whales have been discovered alive and well

also this cool funny bird is doing alright too

2 million pounds of plastics and trash removed from the ocean by one nonprofit

Tidal power being used to power 1 million homes, largest tidal power project yet

and as a bonus thousands of 3D scans of animals have been published, which is very cool for anatomy artists and will increase the number of skeleton drawings in the world which is nice

[vestaignis]

PHLYCTENACTIS TUBERCULOSA.

Phlyctenactis tuberculosa, широко известная как блуждающая морская актиния или плавающая актиния, является видом морских анемонов семейства актиний. Она произрастает в мелководных морях вокруг Австралии и Новой Зеландии, а также встречается в Чили. Впервые была описана французским зоологом Жаном Рене Константом Куа и французским натуралистом Жозефом Полем Геймаром. Они были военно-морскими хирургами французского флота, которые собрали значительные коллекции различных организмов во время путешествий.

Эта актиния покрыта пузырчатыми мешочками и бывает разных цветов: от коричневато-оранжевого, лилового, светло-серого до коричневого. Щупальца светлее и могут быть бледно-желтого, серого, коричневого или оранжево-желтого цвета. Она вырастает до максимального размера 15 сантиметров (6 дюймов) в диаметре ,со стеблем, который может достигать 25 сантиметров (10 дюймов) в длину. В течение дня блуждающая морская актиния остается скрученной вместе, выглядя как шар из печеных бобов.

Этот ночной вид актинии, обитает на открытых побережьях и среди защищенных коралловых рифов на глубине до 35 метров. Он прикрепляется к камням, морским травам и водорослям, но может отцепить свой педальный диск и обычно дрейфует по морскому дну. Плавающая актиния передвигается по морскому дну, ползая с помощью своего базального диска, а ночью взбирается на морские травы или водоросли, чтобы найти лучшее место для перехвата проплывающей мимо добычи.

Странствующий морской анемон ядовит, и прикосновение к щупальцам может вызвать болезненный укус. Пловцам рекомендуется избегать прикосновений к анемону и надевать защитную одежду.

Phlyctenactis tuberculosa, commonly known as the wandering sea anemone or floating anemone, is a species of sea anemone in the family Anemoneidae. It is native to shallow seas around Australia and New Zealand, and is also found in Chile. It was first described by the French zoologist Jean René Constant Coix and the French naturalist Joseph Paul Gaymard. They were naval surgeons in the French Navy who made significant collections of various organisms during their voyages.

This anemone is covered in bladder-like sacs and comes in a variety of colors, from brownish-orange, lilac, light gray, to brown. The tentacles are lighter and can be pale yellow, gray, brown, or orange-yellow. It grows to a maximum size of 15 centimetres (6 in) in diameter, with a stalk that can reach 25 centimetres (10 in) in length. During the day, the wandering sea anemone remains coiled together, looking like a ball of baked beans.

This nocturnal species of sea anemone lives on exposed coastlines and among sheltered coral reefs at depths of up to 35 metres (115 ft). It attaches itself to rocks, sea grasses and seaweed, but can detach its pedal disc and usually drifts along the sea floor. The floating anemone moves along the sea floor by crawling with its basal disc, and at night climbs onto sea grasses or seaweed to find the best place to intercept passing prey.

The wandering sea anemone is venomous, and touching its tentacles can cause a painful sting. Swimmers are advised to avoid touching the anemone and to wear protective clothing.

Источник://t.me/+E4YBiErj0A8wOGUy,/collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8618,/atlasoflife.org.au/creaturefeatures/2021/01/07/an-early-brief-snorkel,/www.reeflex.net/tiere/8754_Phlyctenactis _ tuberculosa.htm,//www.realmonstrosities.com/2015/01/wandering-sea-anemone.html,//shapeandtheidea.wordpress.com /2015/10/11 / wandering-anemone/,/animalia.bio/index.php/phlyctenactis-tuberculosa.

[beni75]

Photos and texts: @thomaspeschak

1-. A curious gray whale exhales almost directly into my camera

2-. A curious juvenile gray whale vigorously exhales and speeds past my camera in Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon

3-. A Humpback whales breaches in the North Pacific Ocean off Canada's Great Bear Rainforest

4-. A dusky shark charges through a baitball of sardines

5-. y 6-. A whale sharks swins in shallow water in La Paz Bay, Baja California Sur

7-. A reef manta ray feeds on a plankton patch by barrel rolling over and over again in the same spot, not unlike a puppy chasings its own tail

8-. A reef manta ray feeds along the drop off at D'Arros Island an St. Joseph Atoll. Seychelles

9-. African peguins

10-. A endemic Socotra cormorant comes in to land on a roosting rock deep within the Fjords of Oman's Musandam Peninsula (2012)

11-. African peguins shelter and nest in decaying building long abandoned b the guano industry on Namibia's Halifax Island

12-. At Aldabra atoll green sea turtles often rest for hours on the sandy seabed between coral outcrops

13-. Blacktip reef sharks inspect the hull of our boat on Aldabra's tidal flats. Seychelles

14-. Blacktip reef sharks patrol the drop off where D'Arros Island's coral reef descendes into deeper water

15-. Cape fur seals surf Altantic swell in the Table Mountain Marine Protected Area

16-. Cape Gannet colony on Bird island bathed by lightening and the beam of the lighthouse

17-. The hunt begins at dusk and continuous deep into the night

18-. A curious gray whale swins upside down beneath our boat in Mexico's San Ignacio Lagoon

19-. A venomous lionfish hunts baitfish in Mozambique's Ponta do Ouro marine reserve, by @thomaspeschak

20-. A salmon leaps high into the air to clear a raging waterfall

21-. A wild rocky point just out into the North Pacific Ocean

22-. A large potato grouper hunts amongst schools of baitfish that seasonally drape southern Mozambique's reefs

23-. Dolphins of Indo pacific

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Thank you greatly for this article! So cool that we learned something new about this shark, it shows you that we’re always learning more about fish! And that video was just a treat.. Little darlings snuggled so cozily in between those rocks <3 They look so huggable! Those divers must’ve had nerves of steel to restrain themselves from bothering them too much (as we of course should when dealing with wild animals! So props to them)

You might have heard that all sharks – if not all fish – must keep moving to maintain the constant flow of water and oxygen across their gills. While most fishes can actually stop for a break, opening and closing their mouth to keep the water flowing, a few species really do need to keep on keeping on. These are called obligate ram ventilators. Unlike their more sedentary cousins, they cannot use their mouth to pump water through their gills while at rest. Biologists thought the gray reef shark (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos) was one of them. But during routine surveys by divers from Save Our Seas, these sharks were caught napping on the seafloor in the shelter of the rocky, overhanging reef ledges that surround islands in the Seychelles.

Continue Reading.

[meowmeowriley]

@sergeantwoods Sorry for the long wait, but here's the mer!AU

Think I'll call it Fish Out of the Sea

Ghost x Soap, blacktip reef shark mer!Soap, human Ghost, fluff, getting together (kinda)

Ficlet after the cut 😘

"No."

John sighed, he didn't seem surprised by Shepherd's hard rejection, but he kept trying. Simon had to give props to the fishing boat Captain. "You have the best mer rehabilitation facility in the country. It'd be a shame not to use it."

"You said you had a mermaid. That's not a fucking mermaid, John."

"I said I had an injured mer." He repeated himself from their earlier conversation.

"I'm not taking that thing into my facility."

"He needs help-"

"He's hideous, and aggressive." Shepherd barked. "That thing keeps lashing out, it'll scare patrons, attack my staff, and if that *thing* touches my mermaids, tries to mate with them, I'll have it put down."

"Mers are actually matriarchal, sir." The mer expert, Kyle, finally spoke up. "I've never worked with a shark mer before, but I do know he won't mess with Kate or Rosa, because they won't want him. Since they're together."

"Kyle. For the last time, the mermaids aren't lesbians. They're just fish." Shepherd was one of those who thought of mers as lesser than humans. Obviously.

Simon was standing near the door. No one had noticed him sneak in, but when he'd overheard that the mer was a shark variant, he'd needed to see it. Now, seeing the poor thing huddled in the corner of it's transport tank, curled in on itself, he felt so bad for it. He watched, any time someone went near it it flared out it's dorsal and pectoral fins. It would gnash it's teeth and charge the glass. All signs of aggression in a shark but... as soon as it finished its display it was right back to the furthest corner from the humans. It kept peeking at them over it's own shoulder when it thought they weren't looking. He quietly crept closer.

He took in it's markings, gray on it's back, white on its belly, black tips to it's fins. Claspers on its pelvic fins. A male blacktip reef shark then. His inferior end was all shark, something Simon was very familiar with, as he took care of all of the sharks here at the aquarium, several of them blacktips. His superior end, or top half, he supposed a visitor would (incorrectly) consider it, was new and interesting to him. Though he was vaguely humanoid, his skin was all two tones white and gray, like his tail. He had a wedge shaped snout in place of a human nose, a wider mouth with jagged teeth. Slitted eyes, and a black tipped fin atop his head that reminded Simon of a mohawk. Webbed gray and white hands with black claws rubbed up and down it's own arms in a self soothing gesture. One forearm had an odd angle to it, probably the injury that landed him here.

He retreated from the tank quietly before speaking, interrupting the squabbling of the other men. "He looks like a reef shark to me." Everyone else jumped. "Blacktip reef sharks aren't aggressive. Sure they can get a little iffy during feeding, but they're more curious than anything."

"He's been charging the glass, Ghost." Simon managed to suppress his eye roll at Shepherd's nickname for him. They all called him that here. "Fuck you mean 'not aggressive', you don't know mers."

"No, but I know sharks. He's injured, and defensive. You ever think he doesn't like us because it was something shaped like us that broke his arm?" John winced, he obviously felt bad about it. Not like he could've know he'd caught the mer in his net, but it was nice to see some accountability from a fisherman for once.

"Well we can't communicate with him, so he'll stay scared and defensive." If Simon didn't love the sharks, he would've left this place a long time ago because Shepherd was an absolutely abrasive cunt.

"Kate and Rosa can. And their English is excellent." Kyle spoke up again. "We have them pass on the message of our intentions, and Ghost and I tag team his rehabilitation." Of course he uses the dumb nickname too. "It's the perfect plan! And an incredible opportunity to be one of two aquariums to actually work with a shark mer. The novelty of something so rare will bring in patrons." Kyle was really leaning into Shepherd's true interests here, bringing up money.

Shepherd was quiet for a moment and then, "If anything happens, you're both fired." He then stormed out of the room.

"Thanks, Gaz."

"Of course, Cap."

Now the three of them had to get the shark mer into an appropriate tank.

***

They had initially tried to put him in with the other mers, but he'd seen the sharks in the tank across the hall and told Kate he wanted to be with his own kind. That would make Simon's job easier, anyway. Kate had explained that they needed to put a cast on his arm, and Rosa had wrestled it onto him, since the humans couldn't get too close. They decided to name him John, after Captain Price, calling him Johnny affectionately. Gaz explained to Ghost that part of rehabbing Johnny would be gaining his trust, teach him to communicate. To release him without a way to communicate could lead to him attacking humans and being a problem down the road.

Simon had a plan: ignore him. He was a reef shark, his own curiosity would get him to open up. It took a week.

Simon would feed his sharks from a catwalk above their tank, for safety reasons, dropping their food in in the mornings before they opened their doors. No need to scare any children. For the first week, any time he passed by, Johnny would posture aggressively and gnash his teeth, before snatching up his food and swimming off. When Ghost would gear up and go in the water for his evening shows, Johnny stayed far away. At night, Gaz and his mers would move over and Ghost would mostly just observe as the girls tried to teach Johnny how to speak, and he petulantly ignored them, with a little pout on his face as he refused to even make eye contact with them. It was cute.

The first time he tried to speak was also the first time Simon saw him raise his head above the surface. He seemed frantic. "HAAAH!" He startled a bit at what was most likely the first time he ever used his lungs to breath air. "HAAAAH! AH! YAAH!" he was waving with his good arm. Stretching it out towards the platform between his tank and that of the other mers, thrashing his tail with his fins tucked in. Very distressed. Simon went to check, to see what could possibly be bothering him so much, when he found their elusive fourth mer. Simon had only seen Gary once. Gaz called him Roach, because he hid in the tiniest cracks in the reef in their enclosure, why on earth the isopod mer was on the platform, and not in the water, was beyond him, but he couldn't let the poor thing suffer. He had several of his little legs caught in a grate. Simon spent some time disentangle him. He tossed the infant sized mer into the nearest tank, which happened to be the shark tank, with Johnny. The larger mer immediately dove to catch him. He stroked Roach's antennae back like one would the hair of a small child, a soothing motion. Clearly not as much of a loner as he pretended to be. From then on the little isopod mer could be found clinging to Johnny's sides or fins with his many little periopods more often than not. After that, it seemed that Gary encouraged Johnny's more curious side. The mer's language was mostly outside of the human range of hearing, but Simon occasionally caught clicks, whistles or hums shared between the two.

Simon had left a bucket with soap close to the edge once, the two mers were clearly curious about it, but he didn't think anything would come of it. Which is why it was such a surprise when Johnny stuck a webbed hand in and scooped some out, popping it immediately into his mouth. Simon knew it wasn't enough to harm him, which is why he couldn't help but laugh at the poor creatures misfortune as it sputtered and writhed, making bubbles. While laughing he let his guard down, and was surprised when something struck him, knocking him off the catwalk and into the tank. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing only Roach, floating downward, listing side to side, tiny head in his tiny hands. He surfaced to see Johnny. "Did you just throw him at me?!" Johnny sunk down so only his eyes and cranial fin were above the water. The little shit. "Not cool, Soap!" He forced his palm out towards the mer, sending a spray of water its way. That seemed to really break down the mer's walls.

Johnny started approaching while Simon would try and clean the tank. At first, darting away if Simon caught sight of him. Eventually however, he would get closer and simply observe. He'd watch Simon work at cleaning the glass or vacuuming the sand at the bottom. It was fun to see shark behavior and mer behavior collide. If Simon sat something down, Johnny would pick it up, and without a doubt if he could get it in his hands, it would end up in his mouth.

There was a small crowd, a child's birthday party had been held over by Gaz's mer tank, the girls were always a hit with the kids, and the little show they put on with Gaz was actually pretty funny. They'd harass him as he pretended to try and do his chores. Slapstick comedy was good for all ages.

Simon had his own show with his sharks, but it wasn't for a few more hours. He was actually just trying to clean. Apparently his cleaning sponge had caught Johnny's attention, as the mer had swam up and was watching him intently. He kept inching forward, eventually crowding Simon against the glass while reaching for his sponge. "Oi!" He said into his respirator, not that anyone could hear him. He shoved Johnny away and kept trying to cleaning, but the persistent bastard just kept coming back. He could vaguely see the crowd observing them through the glass. They were probably laughing. When he'd had enough, he got an idea. He turned when Johnny got close again and placed one hand on his dorsal fin and the other on the underside of his snout. He began to rub at the sensitive underside of the mer's snout, and just like his sharks, the mer entered a state of tonic immobility. He repositioned Johnny, nose down tail to the surface, Johnny's arms hung limply down past his head. Simon quickly withdrew his hands and watched as the mer continued to float for a bit, before blinking vigorously. He shook his head before righting himself, and slapped his tail into Simon's chest as he practically fled to his little cave at the other end of the tank. When he surfaced later, Gaz informed him that the kids were raving about how cool the 'shark guys' were.

Simon had to admit that Johnny was growing on him. He looked forward to seeing him each day. Johnny began trying to get Simon to swim with him. He'd grab Simon's arms and try to pull him into the water when he was on land, or he'd push Simon away from the glass and his cleaning supplies, towards the open water. Sometimes Simon would indulge him, and the two of them would make laps around the tank.

Simon realized, when Johnny began posturing towards the sharks and getting territorial about him towards them, that Johnny was attempting to court him. Worse, he couldn't bring himself to try and put an end to the behavior either. Johnny was getting touchy, he'd run his hands along Simon's sides or chest, in much the same way Simon would to per his sharks, but it felt different. He would push Simon until he floated horizontally in the water, then drape himself across the man.

Simon knew he was getting himself into some deep shit, but he couldn't help the small voice in the back of his head that urged him to reach out, to cradle the mer's rubbery cheeks in his hands. He wanted to kiss him. He was fucked.

***

I hope you liked it! Ngl, I really liked this one. If you don't mind, I might expand on this and make it a multi-chapter fic over on AO3? I wanna explore more of society's reaction to mers, specifically interspersed relationships and where this could go. Let me know what you think, and thanks for the idea!