Octave Denis Victor Guillonnet / Gordon Mortensen / Santiago Rusiñol / Raoul Dufy / Albert Marquet /

Fossil diatoms retain their intricately patterned glassy silica shell cases. Called frustules, these may be either rounded or elongated. Living diatoms are single-celled, algae-like protists. They make up much of the plankton in the marine and freshwater food chains. Their shells accumulate by the millions on the seafloor, eventually fossilizing to form a siliceous sedimentary rock called diatomite.

Cyanea capillata feeds on Aurelia aurita by Alexander Semenov

Ripples from a passing boat on a calm day at Lake Michigan.

Gennady Sergeevich Mironov (Russian, born 1961)

Stars, 1989

Oil on cardboard, 14.2 × 9.5 cm

Alva Gallagher - Lucent Pearl (bronze & solid crystal)

Listening in on Earth’s largest animal 🐋 🎶

With the blue whale’s massive size comes a massive appetite. But isn’t always easy finding their primary food source—krill—in the vast and dynamic waters of the ocean. How do these gentle giants find food and survive?

The Blue Whale Observatory is a network of acoustic instruments in Monterey Bay that aims to answer this question. The observatory records whale calls, krill swarm activity, and ocean conditions for four months straight every summer and fall when blue whales are most acoustically active in the area. These detailed recordings reveal more about the predator, prey, and environmental dynamics that drive blue whales’ behavior.

Findings from the Blue Whale Observatory can inform efforts to protect these endangered mammals. They also open up possibilities for studying other marine species in a similar way. Learning more about the dynamics of ocean life—from the tiniest krill to the largest whale — can help us become better stewards of our blue planet. 🌎 🐳

Learn more about the Blue Whale Observatory at: https://www.mbari.org/project/blue-whale-observatory/

lake superior tube agate [x] [x]

A Series of Seaside Mishaps.