Marine Life with Brenda

Nurse Shark   The Ginglymostoma cirratum  a.k.a the nurse shark is an elasmobranch species within the Ginglymostomatidae family. The nurse shark's conservation status is evaluated internationally as data deficient in the IUCN Threatened Species List. In the warm, shallow waters of the western Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans you will find them. P.S. you might be able to find me as well. They break and eat shellfish and even coral with their strong jaws, but tend to dine on fish, shrimp, and squid. These are grey-brown marine creatures have characteristic tail fins which can have a total length of up to one-fourth. Nurses are smooth to the touch contrary to most other sharks.They are really cool, just don't try to pose with them for likes on Instagram, it upsets them and they might bite you like the that model.  Author: Brenda Moita 

Southern stingrays  The sharks and skates are related to the southern stingrays. This stingray belongs to the Dasyatidae Family which includes 70 stingray species. Also nine other species, including the red stingray and roughtail stingray, are in the same genus. Southern rays can be found in the west Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico's tropical and subtropical seas, down the coast of southeastern Brazil. They make their home up to a depth of 180 feet in shallow coastal waters, and favour lagoon or coral reef environments where sandy bottoms and seagrass beds are located.  Author: Brenda Moita 

Spotted eagle ray  The spotted eagle ray ( Aetobatus narinari ) is an eagle ray from a family of cartilaginous fish, Myliobatidae. Spotted eagle rays enjoy swimming in seas at a temperature of 24 to 27 ° C, and are more active in high tides. They are timid creatures who usually avoid humans, but they were seen jumping on boats and falling on people from the sea. Searching for their food, they dig their snouts into the sand on the seabeds. Groups of them consist of about 6 participants swimming at exactly the same speed in the same direction. Author: Brenda Moita 

Blue tang  Famous for Finding Dory, this super star took the spot of Nemo and grabbed all the attention to herself, what a Narcissist!  The blue tang ( Paracanthurus hepatus ) is a genus of Surgeonfish from Indo-Pacific. It is the only member of the genus Paracanthurus, and a very common fish in marine aquariums all over the world. One can find the regal blue tang throughout the Indo-Pacific. The blue tang is seen in the coasts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, New Caledonia, Fiji, East Africa, and Sri Lanka.  The aim of both movies was to make people aware of the damaging effects to the ocean and its creatures that keeping fish as pets have. However, it just got the wrong effect on the public and sales for both the clownfish and the blue tang skyrocketed  after the films were released.  Author: Brenda Moita 

Jellyfish  Jellyfish live mainly in the seas, although I've seen them swimming in the river Tejo in Lisbon several times. They aren't technically fish, they are suprise, suprise...PLANKTON! Yeah, sorry. Such creatures either float in water or possess such restricted swimming forces that their horizontal motions are guided by currents. Some plankton are single-celled, small species while others are enormous. Jellyfish, with tentacles up to 100 feet long, can range in size from less than an inch to nearly 7 feet long. Jellyfish also belong to the phylum Cnidaria, (from the Greek word for "stinging nettle") and the class Scyphozoa (from the Greek word for "cup," referring to the body shape of the jellyfish). Both cnidarians are surrounded by tentacles and have a mouth in the middle of their bodies. Cnidarian relatives of the jellyfish include corals, sea anemones and the man-o'-war from Portugal. Jellyfish are approximately 98% water.    Autho...

The Humpback whale  The humpback whale ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) is a baleen-whale species. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range 12–16 metres in length and weigh between 25–30 metric tonnes. The body shape of the humpback is unique, with long pectoral fins and a knobbly nose. It is known for breaching and other signature surface activities that make this common with whale watchers. Humpback whales are present in rivers and seas around the world and usually migrate up to 25,000 km each year (just like myself when I backpacking in the summer). These creatures feed in polar waters and migrate to tropical or subtropical waters so they can mate and give birth. Their diet mainly consists of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse feeding system repertoire including the bubble net technique. Author: Brenda Moita 

Seagrass  Seagrass is a wonder-plant that lives along our shore in sandy, flooded areas. It is important to our sea's safety, and can help address environmental issues. Seagrass traps carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforests, and although it occupies just 0.2% of the seabed, it consumes 10% of the ocean's carbon every year, making it an important resource in the fight against climate change. Seagrass is essential to marine life which depends on food and shelter meadows.Seagrass is an important nursery for endangered species including seahorses and many of the fish that we eat, including cod, plaice and pollock.