This is not new, but it is cool: The NORFANZ sea sampling project. What is a little new is that many of these species are claimed on some crazy web site to have washed ashore during the Christmas Tsunami three years ago. That is not true….

Jewel Squid (Histioteuthis sp.)The jewel squids are one of the strangest occupants of open-ocean waters. Firstly they have wonky eyes, the left eye is always much larger than the right. In some species the left eye is telescopic while the smaller right eye is normal. These squids have a funny slant on life, literally. They hang at a 45° angle and use the huge eye to look up for passing prey. Meanwhile the normal eye looks below for any signs of attackers. The common name comes from the scattering of small iridescent spots over the undersides of the body, head and arms. These are tiny directional light organs like tiny car headlights. When the squid is hanging at a 45° angle, all the light organs aim down and produce just enough light to cancel out the silhouette of the squid against the weak light from the surface above. They can even adjust the lights for different depths or time of day. Jewel squids are able to float mid-water by filling their soft flesh with pockets of ammonia solution that is less dense than seawater and cancels out the weight of their muscles. They make these solutions out of their body wastes: urine is turned into buoyancy.[source]

From the project web site:

NORFANZ was a joint Australian-New Zealand research voyage carrying leading Australian, New Zealand and other international scientists to explore deep sea habitats and biodiversity in the Tasman Sea. The scientists explored deep sea habitats around seamounts and abyssal plains around Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands through to northern New Zealand.

Have you read the breakthrough novel of the year? When you are done with that, try:

In Search of Sungudogo by Greg Laden, now in Kindle or Paperback
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