Marine Life with Brenda

The clownfish The clown fish is among the few animals that can survive the sea anemone's fatal sting. This is done by the tiny orange-and-white fish by slathering themselves in anemone mucus so that the anemone embraces the fish as part of itself and allows the clown fish to live in their tentacles. The clown fish needs the defence of the toxins of the sea anemone as they are unable to swim very fast and are often eaten by predatory fish including barracudas and groupers. In their host anemone the clown fish is hardly ever seen. The clownfish and the anemone live in a mutualistic relationship. Through driving away butterfly fish and other anemone-eating fish, they get bits of food dropped by the clown fish and the aggressive and territorial clown fish defend their host. Author: Brenda Moita 

Giant Pacific octopus  The giant Pacific octopus grows bigger and lives longer than any other species of poultry. A specimen which was 30 feet long and weighed more than 600 pounds holds the size record. Averages more than 16 feet and 110 lbs. Giant Pacific octopuses have large, bulbous heads, and are typically coloured reddish-brown. Nevertheless, like the other members of the octopus family, they use different pigment cells in their skin to change colours and textures, so they can blend in with even the most intricately patterned corals, plants, so rocks. They live to be about four years old, with males and females soon dying after birth. Females live long enough to tend their eggs fastidiously, but during this month-long time of brooding they do not feed, and typically die soon after.  Giant Pacific octopuses, highly intelligent creatures have learned to open bottles, imitate other octopuses and solve labyrinths in laboratory experiments. Its population figur...

Orcas  Did you known that killer whales are not whales? They are actually dolphins. If you look well at them you will notice that they definitely look like dolphins. The orca ( Orcinus orca ) is a dented whale belonging to the family of oceanic dolphins, of which it is the largest member. Killer whales have a varied diet but different types of prey are also selected by individual populations. Many feed solely on fish, while others chase marine animals such as seals and other dolphin species. They were notorious for attacking calves of baleen whales, and even adult whales. Killer whales are apex predators, since they are not preyed upon by mammals.