Ten awesome reasons to LOVE the ocean!
1. A whole lotta heart
Octopuses havethree hearts.Thats good news when youre a sucker for tangling your tentacles. They have lots of heart and arms to share.
2. Totally devoted
Manyseabirdsmate for life, returning faithfully to nests andpartners,sometimes halfway around the globe. Other ocean critters are so devoted to their offspring that they give up their life to give them a good start, like the awesomeGiant Pacific Octopuswhich guards its brood with its last breath.
3. Fatherly love
The ocean is an equal opportunities environment, and traditional parenting roles are turned upside down by those curly tailed cuties, theseahorses.Not content with sharing the baby-sitting duties, it is the male seahorses who brood the eggs andgive birthto the small fry too.
4. Sharing is caring
Symbiosis is when opposites attract. Different creatures have amutually beneficial arrangementthat involves them sticking together. Perhaps the cutest and most colourful of these are anemone / crab bromances that not only benefit both animals, but also make it look like the crab has somefunky fashion sense.
5. Heart shaped reminders
Not only are some islands and coral reefsshaped like hearts,but some less ostentatious ocean dwellers are too.Heart urchinsare spiky seabed dwellers. Confusingly they are often also called sea potatoes not quite so romantic!
6. Big Bang
Many ocean critters take procreation very seriously, and make it into a big, messy group affair. Whencoral get amorous,or shoals of fish spawn all at once the sea becomes cloudy with er, passion, and in turn provides a feast for filter-feeders likemanta raysand whale sharks.
7. Love chain
Underwater love doesnt always seem so straightforward. Hermaphroditic sea hares, a type of sea slug,form long chains to share the love,acting as both males and females to different partners at the same time. In Facebook terms, that would probably fall under the its complicated relationship status.
8. Stoned love
Adelie penguins in Antarctica dont go in for fancy schmancy presents, instead they show their adoration by presentinggifts of pebblesto their mate. Worth knowing if youve been caught short and the shops are shut.
9. Deep sea serenade
Whale songs travel enormous distances, if they dont get drowned out by man made noises. Sometimes these salty serenades can be heard half wayacross ocean basins,and inhumpbacksthey have been found to be constantly evolving, and very intricate songs.
10. Kiss of life
Every second breathwe take originates in the oceans. Take a big, deep breath and be grateful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdb3YBansQM
This post originally appeared in the blog of Greenpeace International
