fyrstormer,
I uploaded a high resolution version,
HERE.
... Do you have amazing experiences like that on a weekly basis? .....
Don
This question stuck in my mind and I figured I would respond further. The notion of amazing experiences is subjective and what is amazing to one is a cure for insomnia for another. The more I observe the diverse life under water and consider some of the symbiotic relationships between some of the critters, the more amazed I become. In terms of both creation and evolution, a look at what is there and how it all fits together and interrelates is simply mind boggling and I suspect our perceptions and understanding just scratch the surface of something really deep and perhaps even beyond dimension.
I would suggest that I now see amazing stuff on a daily basis and I am grateful that I am in a position to get to view this as well as try to fathom what might be going on.
A few days ago, after showing my marine biologist friend a coral colony that seemed to be doomed to algae invasion, we headed back to shore. In the shallows, I spied some green object under a ledge that was unusual and on closer inspection, it proved to be what I suspected it might be. It was a sponge crab.
I prodded it out of its little cave with a simple little titanium/NiTinol probe I made and have taken to carrying with. She and another person both had cameras and were stoked at the chance to take some shots of the crab in clear shallow water. I dove down for a shot myself (above). I went to the beach and joined my wife. A bit later, some friends of ours showed up and after mentioning the sponge crab to them we decided to all go out and see if it as still there. It was and this time when I prodded it out, it left its sponge in the hole and came out naked.
In the pic above, you can see the underside of the sponge which doesn't see daylight and is brighter in yellow. I believe I have previously posted about these crabs and how they pick up a sponge out of a nook somewhere and they keep this sponge on their back using some specifically developed legs that serve only to hold and move the sponge around as a shield and disguise. The sponge grows as does the crab and the crab trims the sponge to suit its needs!?!?
Well this guy stayed outside his hole and would attack small fish that were coming in to see what the commotion was about and hoping for some free meal. I felt bad about this guy being naked so I dove down, grabbed the sponge and then dropped it down on the crab. Initially it attacked the sponge in defense but almost immediately, it recognized what it was and went about wrestling with it and getting situated with its cover. This involved ultimately rolling upside down and twisting the sponge around.
The four of us on the surface were entranced watching this. Shortly after getting properly dressed, the crab returned to its hole but it went in face first with its back exposed to the outside. That struck me as curious so I dove down and looked into the dark hole. I spied a second and smaller sponge crab in there! Oops! I had been interrupting a procreation act! No wonder the crab was so pissy with me and the fish that came around.
The next day, for the heck of it, I returned to the spot to see if by chance they had remained there. What I found was a different sponge than his and only the sponge. Later on and about 20' away, I spotted a small sponge crab, sans sponge, down on the reef in a small sand area between the coral. I figured this was the female and owner of the sponge. I swam over and grabbed the sponge and brought it over to the crab. It didn't respond and in no time I realized it was dead. No idea what happened to it but when I looked at one image I had taken, I could see damage to one of its legs and perhaps this was an indication of its demise.
Look at the break in the rear left leg in the image above. (Its shell had broken loose and lifted up in the process of handling it.) I took a shot of its sponge:
Was this initial encounter and subsequent discoveries amazing? Well I think so but had the question not been posed, I probably wouldn't have brought it up or bored you guys with it.
I am blown away with man's advances in technology, the accomplishments man has made and so much of stuff "we" have come up with yet I can't began to understand let alone appreciate for all its intricacies and complexity. However, viewing and observing the creatures in nature and asking myself simple questions of how and why blows me away so much more when I consider that in addition to the simple complexities easy to observe, these things are alive and growing, competing for survival and reproducing!!! Amazing!!