The elusive golden weedfish is a cryptic fish rarely sighted due to their ability to mimic algae, specifically the golden kelp found all along the Great Southern Reef. The golden weedfish belongs to one of the six Blenny families, Clinidae. In contrast to the other 5, the Clinidae have a mainly temperate distribution. While some members of this family have a slender appearance and bear the name "snake blenny" and "eel blenny", the crested weedfish has a broader body and striking visual appearance. The majority of temperate blennies possess rich, highly variable colouration in shades of reddish-brown to olive, often with cryptic patterns; this suits their lifestyle, frequenting areas of dense weed or kelps. As a type of groundfish, these fish are often found in kelp beds or along the sand in pursuit of weed-dwelling crustaceans and small fish. Eggs are deposited on kelp for the male to guard.
The frilled shark and the southern African frilled shark are the two extant species of shark in the family Chlamydoselachidae. The frilled shark is considered a living fossil, because of its primitive, anguilliform (eel-like) physical traits, such as a dark-brown color, amphistyly (the articulation of the jaws to the cranium), and a 2.0 m (6.6 ft)–long body, which has dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins located towards the tail. The common name, frilled shark, derives from the fringed appearance of the six pairs of gill slits at the shark's throat.
The Spiny Lobster averages a length of about 12 inches, but specimens can get as long as 16 inches. Their coloration is usually a combination of horizontal bands consisting of white, pink, black and brown in a reticulated pattern. But they are famously characterized by their very distinctive markings of azure blue stripes on its body and legs and the bluish green tails. These lobsters have five pair of legs but do not have claws. Their antennae are long and white. They are considered to be semi-aggressive and usually do not tolerate each other, hence living solitary lives.
Seahenge, which is also known as Holme I, was a prehistoric monument located in the village of Holme-next-the-Sea, near Old Hunstanton in the English county of Norfolk. A timber circle with an upturned tree root in the centre, Seahenge, along with the nearby timber circle Holme II, was built in the spring-summer of 2049 BCE, during the early Bronze Age in Britain. Contemporary theory is that they were used for ritual purposes. In order to preserve the timber in the site from exposure to air, due to recent exposure of the remains by the sea, it was excavated in Spring 1999, and its remains taken to an archeological museum and then a maritime museum for preservation of the wood. In 1999, a reproduction was put up by some of the excavators, near the site. In 2008, after further study, a second reproduction was erected near the original's location. Due to controversy about the excavation of Seahenge, Holme II was left in place to be monitored as it is gradually destroyed by erosion.
The megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) is a species of deepwater shark. It is rarely seen by humans and is the smallest of the three extant filter-feeding sharks alongside the relatively larger whale shark and basking shark. Since its discovery in 1976, fewer than 100 specimens have been observed or caught. Like the other two planktivorous sharks, it swims with its mouth wide open, filtering water for plankton and jellyfish. It is recognizable from its large head with rubbery lips. The megamouth is so unlike any other type of shark that it is usually considered to be the sole extant species in the family Megachasmidae, though some scientists have suggested it may belong in the family Cetorhinidae, of which the basking shark is currently the sole extant member.
In most clams, two adductor muscles contract to close the shells. The clam has no head, and usually has no eyes, (scallops are a notable exception), but a clam does have kidneys, a heart, a mouth, and an anus. A clam does not have any of the five senses so they cannot smell, taste, feel, hear or see. The shell has 3 layers. The top one is called mother-of-pearl because it is a coating of pearl material. Clams have a burrowing foot that they use to dig down into the sand or mud to hide. If you go to the beach and see little holes that appear in the sand each times the waves go away, it is probable that clams made them. Scientists classify clams by how far down they dig and what kind of surface they dig into. Some burrow less than an inch under the sand, while others dig several inches below the surface.
The word beluga comes from the Russian word "bielo" meaning white. However, these white whales are born dark gray. It can take up to eight years before they turn completely white. The white colouration of the skin is an adaptation to life in the Arctic that allows belugas to camouflage themselves in the polar ice caps as protection against their main predators, polar bears and killer whales. Unlike other cetaceans, the belugas seasonally shed their skin.
The pancake tortoise is thought to be the fastest tortoise and the best climber, due to the lightness of its shell. Rather than ducking into its shell for protection, when threatened it will run for shelter in the rocks. The shell of the pancake tortoise is very flat, which makes it easier for the tortoise to right itself when overturned. They overturn frequently, due to their habit of climbing on and over rocks. These tortoises are surprisingly social, and get along well in a group as long as there is enough food for all. As many as ten tortoises have been found sharing the same crevice.
The epaulette shark doesn't swim, it walks by wiggling its body and pushing with its paired fins. They have adapted to severe night-time oxygen depletion or hypoxia in the tidal pools in which they are found.
While whaling is no longer considered as large a threat for fin whales these days (the species is still hunted in Iceland and Greenland, although with strict quotas managed by the International Whaling Commission), they're still vulnerable to other factors like vessel strikes, entanglement in fishing gear, noise pollution, and climate change. Fin whales require a large amount of small prey species to survive, which they strain from the water through baleen plates. A single whale can eat over 4,400 pounds of krill each day. For this reason, a threat to fin whale prey due to environmental changes and overfishing is also an indirect threat to fin whales themselves.