06.05.2022 – A special, little star

Published by Fatima Kutzschbach on May 14, 2022

If you go to the ocean, then you can experience many interesting things. But sometimes you have to look very closely. Daniel, our skipper from our speedboat Stenella, discovered something new in our Blue Office today. Paula, our biologist, figured out what it was. Today’s star is not easy to spot, as this particular creature could easily be mistaken for simple air bubbles floating on the sea’s surface. But on this bubble formation sits a beautiful white-blue seashell that floats beneath the surface. In it sits a small shell dweller, which left its safe place and showed up. This little blue creature looks interesting. What is this special little star all about? It is a bubble rafting snail (Janthina janthina). Floating headfirst through the sea, this extraordinary creature feeds on cnidarians, including the highly feared Portuguese man-o-war. The slimy sea snails have been known since the 16th century. Like most snails, they have a clockwise rotating shell. There is also an incredible peculiarity to note about this life form, because although they start life as males, they later change their sex and become females. Such interesting little creatures with a lot to tell about. On YouTube I found an interesting video about this fascinating life form.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOc5goA-Aq4

In addition to this interesting new discovery of the day (thanks to Daniel and Paula), we had beautiful encounters with Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), which were in an active mood in the morning and showed many leaps and in the afternoon there were also Short-beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and a Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta). Of course, today we spotted many Portuguese galleys (Physalia physalis) floating gracefully on the sea surface.