How awesome is BBC Earth News? Today they have a feature on deep water jellyfish of the arctic. Pretty awesome, and the photos are amazing. From the captions it looks like they were down up to 2,400 meters in icy water.

In another link sent by Nadia, we get to see the photos of Dr. Mark Vermeij, scientific director of the Caribbean Institute for Research and Management of Biodiversity. It is probably time for a mission to Curaçao. You know, for scientific purposes. According to the web site of their research station, it is a “faunistically interesting region” with “insular fringing reef systems, biogeographically distinct from the rest of the Caribbean.” Plus, they’ve got reef balls.

A friend sent me a link to this story about how Damselfish may be destroying Caribbean reefs. In a nutshell, Damselfish farm algae, but their algae gardens kill the coral. Normally this is fine in moderation, but due to overfishing there aren’t enough big fish like groupers to eat the Damselfish. So, the Damselfish and their gardens spread, threatening already-fragile reefs.

Damselfish guarding the farm in Roatan.

Parrotfish and other creatures eat algae, allowing corals to grow back. Reduced numbers of these algae feeders may also contribute to the spread of algae. And do not underestimate the tiny Damselfish when it is defending its farm! Madam J saw a Damselfish repeatedly dive-bombing the head of a sea turtle who was trying to chow down on the farm. Eventually, I believe it succeeded in pestering the turtle into leaving!

Check out Angry Octopus Comics, the comic where the octopus always ends up angry! Watch where you park your submarine, Steve Zissou!