Today I went to a lecture on Manta Rays, hosted by the Seymour Discovery Center, and presented by Don Croll, a researcher at UCSC. I wasn't particularly excited, but it was something to do and my housemate had invited me, so I thought I'd go. It ended up being totally fascinating and just the right length. I say this because had it been ten minutes longer I would report that it was the worst lecture ever.
Cool Things I Learned About Manta Rays
-They jump out of the water for no apparent reason. Watch here.
-They feed on krill, just like whales, but do so at night, so the two don't coincide
-Manta Rays are descendents of sharks
Something Not So Cool That I Learned
-You know how certain tuna fish cans claim to be "dolphin-safe?" Turns out they're killing tons of sharks instead. There are three ways fisherman catch tuna fish: one is to cast the net on the fish themselves, the other on a dolphin (with the assumption that there are fish nearby), and the third on a floating object, such as a log (with the aforementioned assumption). The first and third method keep dolphins safe, but have a huge incidence of shark bycatch, much larger than the dolphins caught in the second method. This is interesting, because if there is (and hopefully there will be) a campaign to protect sharks, I think it will be much harder to sell than the dolphin-safe campaign. Because dolphins are cuter. But sharks are sweet too.
It felt good to learn stuff today. Then I went home and undid it all by dousing my shower in bleach and inhaling the deliciously toxic fumes.
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