jtotheizzoe:

explore-blog:

How life begins in the deep ocean – another wonderful and illuminating video from TED-Ed.

“I became a rocket ship!”

The reproductive cycle of marine invertebrates is often an effort reliant on serendipity and chance. Two floating gametes must fuse, fertilize and feed, blindly drifting and defending, until perhaps being deposited and developed. It’s also one that occurs with the precision of a Swiss timepiece, with sperm and eggs often released in delicate time windows as small as hours after a full moon.

It can also be rather messy, what one observer termed “… a raucous orgy that will send a pink slick of coral sperm and eggs up from the bottom of the reef and onto the surface.” I know of a marine biologist who lost a dare, and slathered that slick on a piece of toast.

Either way, it’s some amazing biology.

Source: explore-blog

126 Notes/ Hide

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    I love the ocean and miss living within walking distance.
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    My mum will LOVE this
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    Gorgeous
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    Where do squid, jellyfish and other sea creatures begin life? The story of a sea urchin reveals a stunningly beautiful...
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    …I became a rocket ship.
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