Is that a pastry? Nope, it's the purple-edged nudibranch (Goniobranchus albopustulosus)! Growing up to 1.2 in (30 mm) long, this tiny sea slug can be found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. This primarily nocturnal species spends its days resting under rocks and like many other sea slugs, scientists think it feeds on sea sponges. Did you know? Over 2,000 species of nudibranch are known to science, and new ones are constantly being discovered.
The four newts of the genus Taricha — the rough-skinned newt (Taricha granulosa), the red-bellied newt (Taricha rivularis), the Sierra newt (Taricha sierrae) and the California newt (Taricha torosa) — all found along the Pacific coast of North America, are small but deadly. Species in this genus contain tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin that blocks signals between nerve cells.
I'm not sure if this is a hot take or not but my favourite townie to boo up is Don Gooseman, in my game he loves to fish and take his kids out to the pacific west coast to live out their best 'gravity falls-esque' summer holiday when it's too hot in chestnut ridge! His wife is very chic though so a basic basegame cabin just wasn't enuf.
Thank you to all the CC creators whose content I have used here!!
An aerial view of the San Andreas Fault on the west coast of North America. The fault is the boundary between the Pacific and North American tectonic plates.
35° 7′ 0″ N, 119° 39′ 0″ W
Wikimedia Commons file page
Credit: San Andreas Fault in the Carrizo Plain, aerial view from 8500 feet altitude. ( roughly 2590 metres) by Ikluft; CC BY-SA 4.0
Eastern spinner dolphin "Stenella" longirostris orientalis
Observed by mothmaniac, CC BY
Features for recognizing the bridled dolphins, pt. 3: spinner dolphins of the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Like the pantropical spotted dolphin Stenella attenuata, the spinner dolphin has a global range in warm waters. There are several different forms of spinner dolphin, and those in the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) - essentially, off the west coast of Mexico to northern South America, in both inshore and offshore waters - are quite distinctive from those elsewhere. The only other bridled dolphin likely to present an opportunity for confusion within the range of these spinner dolphins is the pantropical spotted dolphin.
Useful features of pattern for ID:
These dolphins are entirely monotone gunmetal grey. Apart from perhaps a faintly-darker lipline and beak tip, and the occasional presence of a pale patch on the belly, the ETP spinner dolphins lack any patterning. Though they can also be dark grey overall, pantropical spotted dolphins always exhibit a dipping dorsal cape; in addition, the pantropical spotted dolphins in the ETP tend to be the most heavily-spotted specimens of all.
Useful features of body form for ID:
Rostrum is extremely long and slender.
Melon (forehead bulge) is relatively flat and sloping.
Dorsal fin is small, triangular, and often slightly forward-canted. Pectoral flippers are small.
Tailstock is thick and deep, and adult males often have a large bulge on the underside of it.
Incoming photodump! I took literally thousands of pictures, and I have gone through and found what I feel are the better ones, which I am sharing across all my socials.
Will title the different acts accordingly! Pictures below the cut!
Jeff Boerboon's Yak-110
Royal Australian Air Force's C-130 Hercules & C-17 Globemaster III
Two-ship display of Matt Hall in his MXS (Silver) and Emma McDonald in her Extra 300 (Blue)
The "Freedom Formation", comprised of 1 Yak-55 & 13 different "RV" kit airplanes
Two-ship Aero L39 display
Hayden Pullen in his Extra 330LT
MV-22 Osprey of the US Marine Corps, doing a teaser flypast
CC-150 Polaris MRTT of the Royal Canadian Air Force
A BAC Strikemaster solo display
Lifesaver One of the Westpac Surf Life Saving Rescue Helicopter service, an EC-135P2, performing a rescue demo
The "Red Star Roolettes" in a pair of Nanchang CJ6s and Yak 52s
The MV-22 again, this time for it's performance demo.
I went on vacation last month to the North Coast of California. It's a lovely area with scenic cliffs overlooking the Pacific, ancient redwood forests, and quaint sea-side towns. It doesn't boast the overloading excitement of, say, a Disneyland vacation, but if you want to relax to stunning views, it's a good place to go.
We stayed at this lovely lodge, where we were unexpectedly upgraded from a normal room to the "owner's suite," a two story, two bedroom suite attached to the main office and laundry. I've attempted to recreate it in broad strokes as a Vacation Rental in Windenburg, where I hope my sims will have as much fun as I did.
The front façade with carport and office. The suite is accessed through the gate to the side and through the sliding doors, inside of which is the keycard-access door.
The Office. The door in the background is another entrance to the suite. To the right is a door leading to the laundry.
The suite enters into the kitchen. There's a full-sized fridge and stove, and plenty of cookware and appliances. The picture to the left in the right-hand picture is the actual painting in the room: it's one of two pieces of cc I made for this build (otherwise I stuck to EA items or cc I already had, such as the stove from Hattie's Coastal collection and the rug from the Cottage Garden collection).
The first floor has a dining area and living area as well. The sims get only a tv stand, but the real hotel has an electric fireplace under the tv.
The porch on the first floor has some patio furniture and a barbeque. You can sit and watch the ocean for hours. Stairs lead off the porch and down into a small enclosed garden, and a gate lets out onto the coast-side trail.
The master bedroom. It's a little smaller in reality. Sliding glass doors lead onto the upstairs balcony, where two Adirondack chairs provide seating. By being upstairs and therefore higher, it provides a better view of the water than the porch below.
The second bedroom. The view is less than exciting: it overlooks a satellite dish and the parking lot. The chest of drawers, on the other hand, is fascinating: giant and with hidden compartments.
The bathroom, which connects to the two bedrooms. It features both a shower and a jacuzzi-style tub, the latter of which overlooks the ocean. I greatly appreciate Hamsterbellbelle for creating a sunken bathtub, as it made the bathroom that much more accurate.
so the other day i saw one of the western bluebirds! they’re back! I heard a woodpecker recently too. but the bluebirds are super pretty
[photo by Kevin Cole from Pacific Coast, USA from wikimedia commons, cc by 2.0 (en:User:Kevinlcole) - Male Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana)]
so i hung up a little birdfeeder with a few sunflower seeds in it.
it’s been less than a year since the raccoons climbed up the pole on my porch, across the rafter, and crashed an empty glass hummingbird feeder to the ground in the middle of a thunderstorm at night, and you would think i would know better
and yet, the lure of the pretty birds is strong
so a pair of raccoons showed up, one of them scaled the porch and shook the bird feeder to the ground, and then they feasted on sunflower seeds.
the next night they came back but there was nothing there for them, no cat food bowls or sunflower seeds to steal. but I do have a nice bit of footage showing that two of them were chilling up in the porch rafters for a little while.
it’s also pretty funny to watch them climb up and down the post.
today, my grocery box was delivered early enough that I could bring it inside before leaving for work, thankfully.
PAC10 Tier One - The PAC-10 (FBS):
Washington
Washington State
Oregon
Oregon State
Arizona
Arizona State
California
Stanford
Southern Cal
UCLA
PAC10 Tier Two - Mountain West (FBS):
Hawaii
Fresno State
San Diego State
San Jose State
Boise State
BYU
Utah
Wyoming
Air Force
Colorado State
PAC10 Tier Three - Western Athletic Conference (FBS):
Idaho
Idaho State
Montana
Montana State
Nevada
UNLV
Eastern Washington
Sacramento State
UC Davis
Northern Arizona
PAC10 Tier Four - Big Sky (FCS):
Southern Utah
Weber State
Northern Colorado
Colorado Mines
CSU-Pueblo
Western Colorado
Colorado Mesa
Fort Lewis
Adams State
PAC10 Tier Five - Pacific States Conference (D2):
Cal Poly SLO
San Diego
Portland State
Lewis & Clark
Southern Oregon
Eastern Oregon
Western Oregon
Central Washington
Puget Sound
Whitworth University
PAC10 Tier Six - Frontier Conference (D3):
Carroll College (MT.)
Montana State-Northern
Montana Tech
U of Montana-Western
Rocky Mountain College
College of Idaho
Snow College (UT.)
Pacific Lutheran (WA.)
PAC10 Tier Seven - Western Football Association (D3):
Everett CC (WA.)
George Fox
Linfield
Pacific (OR.)
Willamette U.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Pomona-Pitzer
California Lutheran
U. of Redlands
Whittier College
PAC10 Tier Eight - Western Colleges Conference (D3):
Arizona Christian
Ottawa U. (AZ.)
Chapman U.
U. of La Verne
Simpson U. (CA.)
Saddleback College
Feather River College
Orange Coast College
Moorpark Coll. (CA.)
Palomar Coll. (CA.)
PAC10 Tier Nine - California Metro Conference (D3):
Los Angeles Southwest College
West Los Angeles College
Los Angeles Harbor College
Los Angeles Pierce College
Los Angeles Valley College
East Los Angeles College
Sacramento City College
Fresno City College
San Diego Mesa
Modesto JC
PAc10 Tier Ten - California Football Alliance (D3):
Pasadena City College
Santa Monica College
San Bernardino Valley College
Santa Barbara City College
Santa Rosa Junior College
College of San Mateo
American River College
San Joaquin Delta College
College of the Siskiyous
West Hills College – Coalinga
PAC10 Tier Eleven - California Football Conference (D3):
City College of San Francisco
San Jose City College
Laney College
College of the Sequoias
Shasta College
Chabot College
Contra Costa College
Monterey Peninsula College
Mt. San Antonio College
Foothill College
PAc10 Tier Twelve - Golden State Conference (D3):
Long Beach City College
Riverside City College
Bakersfield College
Butte College
Chaffey College
De Anza College
Diablo Valley College
Victor Valley College
College Of The Canyons
El Camino College
PAc10 Tier Thirteen - California Colleges Conference (D3):
Cerritos College
Fullerton College
Gavilan College
Hartnell College
Grossmont College
College Of The Desert
Golden West College
Compton College
Glendale CC
Los Medanos College
PAC10 Tier Fourteen - Small Colleges Conference (D3):
Merced College
Antelope Valley College
Citrus College
Allan Hancock College
Community Christian College
Mt. San Jacinto College
Reedley College
Santa Ana College
Sierra College
Southwestern College
Ventura College
Yuba College
Snoot boopers, this one’s for you! Meet the duck-billed tree frog (Triprion spatulatus). Found on Mexico’s Pacific coast, this species inhabits altitudes of up to 1,640 ft (500 m). Arboreal and primarily nocturnal, it feeds on invertebrates including crickets, grasshoppers, and spiders. Scientists have observed this critter using its shovel-like head to plug the openings of its burrows, guarding itself while it rests inside, which is why it’s also known as the shovel-headed tree frog.
Photo: magazhu, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, iNaturalist
#science#natural history#animals#frog#amphibians#animal kingdom#cool animals#fact of the day#animal facts#weird animals
Five steps of Wikipedia for Saturday, 23rd September 2023
Welcome, 你好, Välkommen, Dzień dobry 🤗
Five steps of Wikipedia from "Fanny Uribe" to "1703 Genroku earthquake". 🪜👣
Start page 👣🏁: Fanny Uribe
"Fanny Esther Uribe López (born 1963) is an Ecuadorian biologist and politician who was the last person to be elected prefect of the Galápagos. ..."
Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by Edjoerv
Step 1️⃣ 👣: Ecuavisa
"Ecuavisa is an Ecuadorian free-to-air television network that was launched on March 1, 1967 on Quito's channel 8 and Guayaquil's channel 2. It is one of the leading TV networks in the country. The channel has an international feed named Ecuavisa Internacional...."
Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by Ecuavisa
Step 2️⃣ 👣: Digital terrestrial television
"Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' residences in a digital format. DTTV is a major..."
Step 3️⃣ 👣: 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
"On 11 March 2011, at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC), a Mw 9.0–9.1 undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approximately six minutes, causing a tsunami. It is sometimes known in Japan as the "Great East Japan..."
Image by U.S. Navy photo
Step 4️⃣ 👣: 1498 Meiō earthquake
"The 1498 Meiō earthquake (明応地震 Meiō Jishin) occurred off the coast of Nankaidō, Japan, at about 08:00 local time on 20 September 1498. It had a magnitude estimated at 8.6 Ms and triggered a large tsunami. The death toll associated with this event is uncertain, but between 5,000 and 41,000 casualties..."
Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by As6022014
Step 5️⃣ 👣: 1703 Genroku earthquake
"The 1703 Genroku earthquake (元禄大地震, Genroku Daijishin) occurred at 02:00 local time on December 31 (17:00 December 30 UTC). The epicenter was near Edo, the forerunner of present-day Tokyo, in the southern part of the Kantō region, Japan. An estimated 2,300 people were killed by the shaking and..."
Have you ever seen one of these critters at the beach? Also known as “sand crabs” or “sand fleas,” Pacific mole crabs (Emerita analoga) can be found across the western coasts of North and South America. East Coast residents might encounter their relatives, the Atlantic sand crabs (Emerita talpoida), during summertime beach trips. Mole crabs migrate with the tides, keeping up with breaking waves to filter feed on plankton brought in by the crashing waters. These critters use their back legs to get around, and they burrow backwards, too.
Brought to you by a marine biologist and her random whims...
CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!
I'm kind of just doing whatever fish I feel like during this "fish past" business. I actually have a whole list I cross off from in a notebook. Today we will cover a fish that I ought to cover in the fall, but meh, it's just as good to cover it now, like, why not? It's the Pacific Saury.
The Pacific Saury gets one of the rare honors of being a semi-regular staple in Animal Crossing Pocket Camp. It first appeared in May 2019, and has since reappeared every fall, starting in either August for September. This is another great example of art imitating life, in that the Pacific Saury is considered an autumn delicacy in Japan. In fact, saury slow-cooked over hot coals is a symbol of autumn.
The Pacific Saury is named to species - Cololabis saira. In fact, this fish's species name saira comes directly from one of Japan's common names for the fish (another being sanma). No matter what you call it, the saury is a part of Order Beloniformes, meaning it's close relatives with the Flying Fish we've covered a few months ago. This is an interesting group of fish that have elongated "beaks", something I will go into more detail when we cover the other member in Pocket Camp, the Halfbeak. Just know for now that, unlike quite a few members in the Beloniformes, the Flying fish and the Pacific Saury have no beaks or very tame beaks, respectively, in comparison. Within this order, the sauries belong to the Family Scomberesocidae, which has roots in Greek and Latin that translate to "mackerel pike" and I hate it, because this thing is no where near either of those fish.
By Miya, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1208299
This is a really small fish, often preyed upon by really anything, like tuna, marine mammals, etc. The fish themselves are planktivorous, meaning they eat plankton, usually zooplankton, like the eggs and larvae of other common fish, krill, copepods, and amphipods. Surprisingly this fish lacks a stomach - it just has one straight, short intestine, so it's constantly eating and following its food across the Pacific.
The Pacific saury is a highly migratory fish that follows the patterns of Pacific currents and eddies to a T. Like, look at this awesome map:
The paper -> https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248424351_Variations_in_the_abundance_of_Pacific_saury_Cololabis_saira_from_the_northwestern_Pacific_in_relation_to_oceanic-climate_changes
The saury's migration here is outlined as the dotted line, and it's very much correlated with seasonal shifts in temperature, which dictate plankton abundance. Adult saury hang out offshore and in high latitudes (basically subArctic waters) during the summer, but then move down the coast of Japan in the fall to reach their winter spawning grounds. The solid arrows represent two very prominent currents near Japan - the Oyashio coming from the Arctic, and the Kuroshio coming from the tropics. When these currents collide, they create eddies (or gyres) that trap and cultivate plankton production. Of course, the fish follow that and the fishermen follow the fish, making for an important industry and culture for the country. We have ocean currents to thank for a lot of aspects of our lives - the world is really connected by ocean currents!