Today marks the eighth day of the Marine Biology ourse here at Jesuit. Nick and Rob’s article discussed the evolution of the mimic octopus. This species has the unique ability to change color and mimic the shape and movement of fellow sea creatures ranging from crabs to sea snakes. This brought up a point about Darwin’s natural selection because we hypothesized that over time, the individual octopi who could more efficiently blend in with their surroundings as well as mimic other animals were the ones that survived to pass on these traits.
Harrison and David’s article discussed the interactions between humans and great white sharks. Prior to what we read, some people did not agree with feeding the sharks. I personally did not see a problem because not only is there an insufficient amount of food on the boats to sustain the sharks’ (let alone single great white) diet, but also because people are probably not going to be there on a daily basis to feed them. They’d have to resume regular feeding activities especially on the days where there are no free hand-outs.
We completed our perch dissection and began our dogfish dissection shortly after. I look forward to completing that dissection (especially because we had to stop at the dissection of its head!) as well as presenting my article to the class tomorrow. So until then, you guys can enjoy this marine biology picture of the day!
