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The Elephant seal is back.

While passing the seal colony on our boat trips this week, we spotted the Elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) on the rocks. During this time of the year he is molting his fur. He clearly stands out on the rocks and in the water with his light brown fur and larger body size then the Cape READ MORE

What is animal migration?

“What is animal migration?” Animal migration is when individuals (usually on a seasonal basis) travel long-distances. Migration is found in all major animals groups e.g. birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects and crustaceans. To be called a true migration the movement of the animals should happen annual or seasonal e.g. birds migrating south during winter or READ MORE

What is baleen?

  There are two types of whales in the world’s oceans, Toothed whales (Odontoceti) and Baleen whales (Mysticeti). As the name says toothed whales have teeth and baleen whales have baleen. The word baleen comes from the Latin word Bālaena, which is related to the Greek word Phalaina and means whale. There are four families READ MORE

What is mutualism?

Mutualism is when two organisms of different species exist in a relationship where both individuals benefit from each other and is a type of symbiotic relationship. One well-known mutualistic relationship in the ocean is the one between Corals and their zooxanthellae. Corals form their calcium skeleton and the zooxanthellae lives in the skeleton. The benefit READ MORE

What is commensalism?

In earlier posts we discussed different relationships between animals (mutualism and parasitism). The last type of relationship between organisms is commensalism. Commensalism means “eating at the same table” and is when one organism benefits from another organism without affecting it. Compared to mutualism and parasitism, commensalism is hard to give examples of since it’s hard READ MORE

What is Bio-mimicry?

Bio-mimicry comes from the Greek words bios (life) and mimesis (imitation). This happens when humans get inspired by animals or plants for inventions. Humans have used a lot of designs from nature. Birds and bats wings have inspired people to create airplanes. The wings of turbines are formed after the long flippers of Humpback Whales, READ MORE

What is Bioaccumulation?

Bioaccumulation is when a harmful substance (pesticides or organic chemicals) gets absorbed by an organism at a higher rate than it can be excreted. “What is the problem with bioaccumulation?” When toxins gets absorbed at a higher rate than the body can get rid of it, the organism is at risk of chronic poisoning. Even READ MORE

What is Parthenogenesis?

Parthenogenesis comes from two Greek words Parthenos meaning “virgin” and Genesis meaning “birth”. Parthenogenesis species are often mistaken for hermaphroditic (species that can reproduce by themselves) species, the difference is that hermaphrodites have reproductive organs from both sexes while the parthenogenesis only has the female reproductive organs. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction where READ MORE

What is a parasite?

A parasite is an organism that benefits at the expense of another organism. Most parasites are small and cannot be seen, while others are bigger and will be seen as soon as they attach. “How come parasites are not considered predators?” It’s because parasites do not kill their host for an extended period of time READ MORE

What is kleptoparasitism?

Kleptoparasitism means parasitism by theft. What is parasitism? Parasitism is when an organism benefits at another organism expense. Kleptoparasitism is used in different ways e.g. bullying other organisms to give up their food they just caught, and steal collected or stored food. This way of obtaining food normally saves the kleptoparasite hunting time and also READ MORE