Sea Pigs Rock!

Sea Pigs have been quite the topic of conversation everywhere I go with guesses from mutant rabbit to raw chicken. This sea cucumber—held by Sadie Mills of New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research—is known as a sea pig.

These creatures live on or just underneath the surface of the very bottom of the ocean, on the abyssal plain. Called “sea pigs”, they are a type of sea cucumber, which is a member of the same phylum as starfish and sea urchins (Echinoderms). They look and act kind of like slugs do up here on land. They feed on the mud of the sea floor, benefiting from the organic materials that settle to the ocean bottom. Sea cucumbers, starfish and sea urchins can be found in all depths of the ocean. For reasons scientists don’t yet understand, members of the phylum Echinodermata (like the sea pigs) are extremely successful down in the ocean depths. They are the most plentiful species of sea creature down there. The sea floor must be “hog heaven” for these sea pigs! This guy does look kinda like a pig, doesn’t he? Mills and colleagues collected the organism, among more than 30,000 animals, during a marine census of southern Antarctica in early 2008. Sea cucumbers are part of a group of marine animals that inhabit the seafloor, including sea squirts, sea stars (starfish), sea slugs, corals, clams, sponges, and urchins. Physical characteristics: Sea pigs are clear sea cucumbers 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) long. They have ten tentacles and a few large tube feet. The tube feet on the top side of sea pigs are two widely spaced antennalike pairs. The other tube feet are arranged in a row around the edge of the bottom side of the animal. The pieces of the body wall skeleton are smooth to spiny rods and smaller C-shaped rods. Sea pigs are also called sea cows because the tube feet on the top side of the body look like cattle horns. Geographic range: Sea pigs live all over the world except the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean near Central and South America. Habitat: Sea pigs live in the deep ocean. Diet: Sea pigs eat food particles they find in the sand. Behavior and reproduction: Sea pigs move above the bottom using long tube feet. These sea cucumbers form large groups. Sea pigs feed Sea pigs eat food particles they find in the sand. (Illustration by Emily Damstra. Reproduced by permission.) by using their tentacles to push sand or mud into their mouth. Scientists do not know how sea pigs reproduce. Sea pigs and people: Sea pigs have no known importance to people.

In case you were wondering - lol

oh, and msoyster is a real sea life expert and could answer any further questions anyone may have

I am in love with SusanFaye!

I recently received my custom watercolor portrait that I commissioned from her website SusanFaye.etsy.com  Her artwork is wonderful and I highly believe that everyone that has ever loved a cat should visit her sites.

Rumor has it, she will be posting my watercolor on her blog at http://www.365catladies.blogspot.com/ and I am very excited for that to happen!  She tells me she had not done angel cats before but I love having Red and CC represented. 

She also has 2 cafepress sites - www.cafepress.com/SusanFaye & www.cafepress.com/SusanFayeNature.  I will be able to order coffee cups, tote bags and t-shirts customized with this image from www.cafepress.com/SusanFaye within the next week or so.  Don't think I won't eventually own one of every item possible.

I didn't send her a picture - just a verbal description of me and the kitties.  I am amazed at the accuracy - aren't you?  I also am pleased that my favorite hobby, knitting is included and am even pleased that my sweater is my favorite purple color.

Don't forget to check out her sites!

Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Sweaters!!!

Vacation Squirrel

You might be a Floridian if...

"Down South" means Key West

"Panhandling" means going to Pensacola.

You think no-one over 70 should be allowed to drive.

Flip-flops are everyday wear.

Shoes are for business meetings and church.

No, wait, flip flops are good for church too

Socks are only for bowling

Orange juice from concentrate makes you vomit

Tap water makes you vomit

Sweet tea can be served at any meal.

An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.

You smirk when a game show's "Grand Prize" is a trip to Florida.

You measure distance in minutes.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in
five minutes

All the local festivals are named after a fruit.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store,
but everything to do with shade.

Your winter coat is made of denim

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites

You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65

You know the four seasons really are: almost summer, summer,
not summer but really hot, and Christmas.

It's not "pop." It's "soda" or "coke."

Anything under 70 is chilly.

You've hosted a hurricane party.

You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the
best rides.

You pass on the right and honk at the elderly.

You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee, Withlacoochee, Okahumpka and
Loxahatchee.

You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat than have a
boat yourself.

You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.

Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include various fish, the
NRA and a confederate flag.

You were 8 before you realized they made houses without pools.

You were 12 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.

You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.

You know what the "stingray shuffle" is and why it's important!

You could swim before you could read

You have to drive north to get to The South

New ifs...
You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

Every other house had blue roofs in 2004-2005

You’ve gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat before it got dark

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.

You dread lovebug season.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances...but Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.

You know what a snowbird is and you hate them.

You know why flamingos are pink.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

You were twelve before you ever saw snow or you still haven't.

Tornadoes/Tornado warnings don't scare you, and you laugh when your friends from outside of Florida get scared by lightning.