Mermaid McKenna

12/16/2022

Hello, Instagram! It's been a while.. I was so busy with finals and adopting a new cat, named Glitter! Because I got a new cat, I wanted to make today's about the cats of the sea... sea otters!! Sea otters are renowned for being adorable, just like cats. One of the many features that makes them so cute is their fluffy fur. This fluff is actually the most dense fur of any animal on Earth! Sea otters have an estimated 1 million hairs per square inch! Why? Because they have no blubber to keep them warm in those chilly waters of Alaska and California, where many sea otters reside. Sea otters are also special because they use tools, a trait once heralded as a sign of intelligence! (Side note: how do we define intelligence in animals? That's a hot topic in animal behaviors, with many scientists struggling to come to a consensus on the matter.) Another thing that makes sea otters adorable is their use of hand-holding to stay together when they sleep. Lastly, sea otters are considered keystone species (they're practically the epitome of the term). This means that they are the glue keeping their ecosystem together. Adorable and essential?! 🦦

12/02/2022

Oceanography is my passion. It is the study of marine biology, chemistry, geology and physics. Today's is about a topic of marine geology: hydrothermal vents. Found deep on the ocean floor, these vents are comparable to geysers that spew hot, hot water from the earth's crust. Hydrothermal vents are the result of seawater seeping down through fissures in the ocean crust. The cold seawater is heated by hot magma and comes back to the surface to form the vents. This water can reach 750°F and it often carries minerals, giving the plumes a black appearance. This hot water fails to boil under such extreme pressures. That's because the v***r pressure cannot exceed the atmospheric pressure, in chemistry terms. :) Many organisms are found living on and around hydrothermal vents, as their metabolic processes rely on the minerals that come out of the vents. Such organisms can be seen pictured above. It's bewildering to think that life can exist in such a harsh environment... 🗻💨

11/04/2022

Time for another !! Today's topic is bivalves. These are two-shelled creatures, from giant clams to beautiful scallops. Bivalves have gills to breathe and gather food. They are filter feeders. Many bivalves have a foot that they can use to move around and burrow in the sediment. Bivalves can also make their own shells using an organ called the mantle. The mantle secretes calcium carbonate, which is what shells are made of! Bivalves are great for sea life to have around because they filter the water and provide shelter. They are also found virtually everywhere underwater, including on hydrothermal vents!! Hydrothermal vents are an extreme pressure and heat environment, so this is... impressive! And magical :)

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween!! 🫧🪸🧜🏼‍♀️🐚

10/28/2022

For today's , let's take a moment to learn about ocean productivity. 🌊🦠⚛️ "Ocean productivity" refers to the production of molecules by organisms in the water. Many of these molecules are the driving forces of life. For example, let's look at what phytoplankton does to contribute to ocean productivity. Phytoplankton are mostly microscopic organisms that undergo photosynthesis, but don't let their size fool you! It's estimated that around half of the air we breathe comes from these creatures! That's because phytoplankton takes CO2, a form of carbon unusable to us, and convert it into breathable oxygen and crucial organic carbon. Organic carbon is useful to all life, as it can be used to build essential molecules such as lipids, fats, proteins, amino acids, and carbohydrates. These are the very molecules life relies on! So what do phytoplankton need to do this job? Just like a house plant would get light, CO2, water, and nutrients from its caretaker, phytoplankton gets all of these ingredients in the ocean. The nutrients it needs include nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen sometimes needs to be converted into a usable form for the phytoplankton to use. This is where bacteria come into play! Some bacteria take nitrogen in a form useless to phytoplankton, and convert it into a usable form so that the phytoplankton can go about its life, creating molecules for us to use. So, as you may have gathered, ocean productivity fuels life in the ocean and even on the land! And whenever we eat fish, we are reaping the benefits of ocean productivity, consuming the molecules that bacteria and phytoplankton worked so hard to build :) Pretty magical if you ask me!!

10/21/2022

Guess what time it is? Time for another !! 🦈 Did you know that sharks have been around for 455 million years?! That's right, even though sharks don't have bones (they instead have cartilage), they can still fossilize! As sharks age, they deposit calcium salts in their cartilage to strengthen it, and their teeth have enamel. Both calcium salts and enamel preserve quite nicely! Calcium salts are found in bones, so these give shark skeletons a more sturdy structure. That's why shark jaws look like bone! Sharks have a very unique anatomy. For one, they have special electroreceptor organs called the ampullae of Lorenzini. These electroreceptor organs can detect electromagnetic fields in the ocean, as well as temperature shifts. Electromagnetic fields, detected by the shark, are essentially just moving charge. Organisms, such as shark bait, produce electromagnetic fields when their body performs its usual functions, such as sending electricity through its muscles and neurons. Since this is considered moving charge, shark bait produces its own electromagnetic field, which the shark readily detects using its electroreceptor organs, the ampullae of Lorenzini. Despite having the ability to sense prey through electroreceptors, most sharks also have good vision! You wouldn't think they'd need it, but sharks can see well at night and they can see the ocean's colorful display during the day. No wonder they're considered apex predators! There's so much more to know about sharks, thanks to the outstanding research that has been done on them in recent years, but I'll leave you with this for now :) It's crazy to think of the amazing discoveries that can be made when we study the secrets beneath the waves.

10/18/2022

Making business cards! & I'm feeling crafty😌 Let's do this!

10/18/2022

Just signed up to be at the Trunk or Treat in East Fallowfield Park on Friday, October 28th from 4:30-7pm!! Can't wait😁

Bring your trunks full and your best decorations for a fun night of Halloween. If event is canceled due to weather the email you use on sign up will be where the message is sent. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Thank you!

10/14/2022

Happy ! Today, let's talk about tunicates :) Tunicates are invertebrates, meaning they lack a backbone. However, despite their appearance, they are animals! Tunicates are commonly known as sea squirts because, when removed from the water, they contract and shoot out the water that was circulating throughout their body! Their digestive system is "U-shaped," (although I think it looks more like a J), carrying water in, filtering it, and pushing it back out. They are also filter feeders, which means that they feed on mainly plankton. Tunicates actually have a well-developed heart and circulatory system, and they do have blood. Their nervous system, however, is primitive. Sometimes, amphipods (mostly small shrimp-like creatures), can be found living inside of tunicates, like the one in the picture! I love amphipods, just a side note :) They're so adorable. And magical!

10/07/2022

For today's let's talk about why the ocean is blue! 🌊 The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of light. It ranges from radio waves to gamma rays, and includes visible light. The sun shines down on the ocean with "white light." That is, every color in the visible spectrum gets sent down to the ocean! Water, because of its chemistry, ABSORBS reddish light. That leaves bluish colors to become reflected. This reflection of blue light is what we see as a blue ocean. So, why is the ocean sometimes green? Microscopic algae has a different way of reflecting light. It can reflect green and absorb the other colors for use in photosynthesis! Finally, you may be wondering, then what is light? Einstein pondered the same question after the seeing the work of other famous chemists and physicists. Finally, it was concluded that light is a wave (called electromagnetic radiation) and a particle (called a photon). How can it be both? Become a quantum scientist to find out :) ⚛️

09/30/2022

Happy !! Let's talk about sea stars🤩 Did you know that starfish have no brain or blood? Instead of blood, seawater is pumped throughout their body. Seawater provides key nutrients that allow the starfish's organs to function properly. Sea stars move with hundreds of hydraulic feet, which fill with water at random and empty out to move the starfish forward. You may have also heard that starfish can regenerate arms... this is true!! The lost limb can actually grow into a full starfish, genetically identical to the original! Sounds like magic to me :)