“Pyrosomes, genus Pyrosoma, are free-floating colonial tunicates that live usually in the upper layers of the open ocean in warm seas, although some may be found at greater depths. Pyrosomes are cylindrical- or conical-shaped colonies made up of hundreds to thousands of individuals, known as zooids. Colonies range in size from less than one centimeter to several metres in length.
Each zooid is only a few millimetres in size, but is embedded in a common gelatinous tunic that joins all of the individuals. Each zooid opens both to the inside and outside of the “tube”, drawing in ocean water from the outside to its internal filtering mesh called the branchial basket, extracting the microscopic plant cells on which it feeds, and then expelling the filtered water to the inside of the cylinder of the colony. The colony is bumpy on the outside, each bump representing a single zooid, but nearly smooth, though perforated with holes for each zooid, on the inside.
Pyrosomes are planktonic, which means their movements are largely controlled by currents, tides, and waves in the oceans. On a smaller scale, however, each colony can move itself slowly by the process of jet propulsion, created by the coordinated beating of cilia in the branchial baskets of all the zooids, which also create feeding currents.
Pyrosomes are brightly bioluminescent, flashing a pale blue-green light that can be seen for many tens of metres. The name Pyrosoma comes from the Greek (pyro = “fire”, soma = “body”). Pyrosomes are closely related to salps, and are sometimes called “fire salps”.
Sailors on the ocean are occasionally treated to calm seas containing many pyrosomes, all luminescing on a dark night.” (x)
so tonight im working super late at an adults-only event at the zoo where it’s basically endless beer and wine tasting and then wandering around the zoo at night. Keepers mainly sit around then we just take turns going up for a circuit through our areas and let me tell you as the night has gone on things have gotten more entertaining. So far I have seen:
-A group of drunk girls legit crying in front of the puffin exhibit because they’re Too Cute
-A dude pointed at a vacant eyed, open mouthed, coldwater fish and, completely deadpan, turned to his friend and went “it’s you”
-overheard a very serious debate on whether or not sea turtles sleep (”Ted you fucking moron everything fuckin sleeps jesus christ”
-A girl stroking her hand back and forth on the glass in front of a chillin Amazon cichlid (idk what part ok freshwater exhibits aint my thing) cooing “It’s just so pretty I want to be it’s friend”
-A man enthusiastically singing a ballad in front of the aquarium with some grand drunk improv like one standout line was “What we doin at the zoOOOoooOOooo? We drinkin a breeEWWWwwwwwwwww!”
-a very harried voice on the radio sighing “we need more captain morgan and vodka at concessions”
-five calls for medics
-three calls for broken glass
-A girl standing on her own in the middle of the shark reef tunnel, staring straight up with an open mouth and arms limp at her sides, oblivious to all the people around her
– “Ahaha. holy shit look at all of it’s legs” said in front of the octopus exhibit
-overheard a loud furious “DID YOU JUST FUCKING AS ME IF THE PENGUINS ARE FAKE?!”
-This exchange on the radio “Hi concessions to event management? What do we do with the used napkins?” Long pause, then a disgusted “You throw them away. Because they’re garbage.”
(honestly prayer circle for concessions)
– “holy shit it’s nemo what up dude” (I hear a million variations of “i found nemo!” but this is my favorite so far ok)
To Be Clear: Tiggy is my former biology teacher’s cat, not mine.
Tiggy was found on the street by her six-year-old son and they thought he was a teenager, except his teeth weren’t in great shape, and he never got any bigger. He’s lived with them for 15 years, and Mrs. A thinks he’s probably 17 now.
Tiggy is SUPPOSED to be an indoor cat, but he is Cunning and Apparently Feels No Pain, so he’s managed to get out may, many times by jimmying window locks open, working doorknobs knocking a hole in the roof from the attic, and straight-up running through single-pane glass once. So Mrs. A, attempting to mitigate his environmental impact, has him permanently wearing a neon yellow, reflective strip vest/harness, with bells, a flashing light and a beeper that goes off every 12 minutes, in case he gnaws the bells off. It also has a GPS tracker made from a modified Ankle bracelet, that tells her when he gets out.
IN SPITE OF THIS, he’s still murdery little shit.
The Loud Harness seems to have slowed down his genocide of the local small vertebrates, but had a curious backwards effect: The large carnivores come over and try to throw down with him.
If you’re wondering how 6lb kittykat takes down a 45 lb coyote: Stone-cold bastard kills them the same way a lion takes down a fucking zebra-He latches onto their windpipes and either asphyxiates them by clamping down or actually rips their throats out. The ruff does nothing.
We know this, and his estimated body count, because he likes to bring back particularly difficult kills to the porch to show off.
In 2012, Mrs. A’s son brought home a malamute/GSD puppy and Mrs. A was terrified that Tiggy was going to kill him too. Instead, Tiggy took Tobasco under his proverbial wing and went from “Mighty Hunter” to “Overprotective Parent”, staying in the yard and guarding Tobasco from any potential harm with the same murderous zeal as he’s always had.
…He also taught Tobasco how to stalk, chase, and corner the local wildlife and last year Mrs. A came home to find a six-point mule deer buck in her kitchen, attempting to hide on top of the stove.
So literally “Bear Bear Bear”. The most bear a bear can be.
So bear. Much roar. Wow.
Also! The Arctic Circle is named for the bears, not the other way ‘round. It’s the Circle With Bears In, and the Antarctic is the Circle (and continent) Away From Bears.
Are you telling us that the poles of our world are Bear Continent and Anti-Bear Continent
Steel Phoenix Studios 