The Ocean Deep

Amongst the continuous adventures that I go on inside the store, I have most recently been traveling to the deep oceans of Imaginationland. Our stuffed animal collection alone encompasses 7 species of shark, 2 species of turtle, 3 species of octopus, 5 species of ocean mammal, and the Giant Squid. Constantly looking at these creatures of the deep leaves my mind to wander to the marvels of the natural world that live in the least accessible portions of our planet.

Take for instance the Blue Whale. Here is an animal of such large proportions, that it is entirely possible to drive '68 Volkswagen beetle through its aorta. It's not like this is something you are likely to do, but if you happened to have an old beetle and a spare blue whale aorta lying around, it's an option for you. Its heart beats at approximately one beat per minute (assuming there is no car in it's aorta) and it's tale fin is about as wide as the wingspan of a small cesna airplane. That is amazing! And the beauty of it all is: it survives on eating krill, one the ocean's smallest creatures.

More strange friends of the deep are the Giant squid and its slightly larger cousin the Colossal squid. Here is an amazing creature. The largest known specimen of a colossal squid caught to date weighed almost 1,100 pounds and was approximately 33 feet long. Colossal squid have claws on their extended tentacles as opposed to suckers and have the largest eye of any known creature on the planet. The eye is approximately 16in. across. Imagine having that guy wink at you! And estimates based on evidence gathered from the stomachs of sperm whales suggest that they get much bigger than that.

The deepest parts of the ocean have remained untouched by humanity since the dawning of the earth and have remained, on the whole, undisturbed by the happenings of the surface due to the extreme nature of the environment. Each voyage down to the ocean floor (of which only a small fraction has been explored) reveals a new species. There are even a number of species that have been seen once and never seen again. The ocean is a wonderland of scientific discovery and in this wonderland, works of the imagination seem to take form.

I could prattle on and on about the mysteries and oddities of the deep, but at the risk of boring you the reader, I will leave you with the two of the biggest mysteries (pun intended). We live in a remarkable world and the ocean is perfect evidence of that.