Brittlestar City

i-26567ef8600a4153998c4fb2e642ca37-tan0803_064_180.sm.jpgOn a seamount near Macquarie Ridge lies a city several kilometers down. No mermaids, merman, or Snorkels reside here. Rather millions of brittlestars, living arm tip to arm tip, extend there tiny arms toward the surface to capture food. Much like a large city arises near a river, sheltered harbor, or gambling, Brittlestar City thrives because the Antarctic Circumpolar Current passes over the seamount at a brisk 2 knots. This makes it prime habitat for organisms who make a living filtering particles out the water. You can see more photos and video here.

More like this

Look at this map, of a small part of the state of Minnesota: See the wide channel that runs from left to right with the windy river in it? You are looking at one of the most amazing stories in geological history ever. I'd like to tell you about it. When not in flood, the meandering river is…
Our second day at sea was brought to close on much calmer seas. We again dove on Pioneer Seamount, the northernmost station during our cruise and approximately parallel with San Fran Cheezy. We continued to explore the volcanic cones. In contrast to the deeper habitats on day 1 where corals…
I have a childhood memory of a troop of baboons, waiting among nearby rocks on a sun baked kopje, taking notice of nearby humans and watching and waiting until they saw a weakness and finally moving in for the kill, barking, grabbing, ripping livid flesh with long sharp canines, howling like wolves…
Over at Correlations, Cifford predicts I'll 'love' his post on these inhabitants of the Macquarie Ridge near New Zealand, adding: I really hope the scientists said that* when they found this. Really. It's a mountain, underwater, colonized by millions of starfish. Amazing. [*Pop quiz: Without…