February 27, 2007: Psychedelic octopus
 

http://cellar.org/2007/antarcticoctopus.jpg

You haven't seen this beast before -- it's new, or at least, new to us.

LiveScience has the full story and several other images. To sum up:

The Larsen Ice Shelf in Antarctica is breaking up, a result of global warming. Two years ago, a sector of it the size of Rhode Island collapsed. Ocean that had been covered with ice 220 metres thick, for 12000 years... was suddenly open sea.

This gave researchers the chance to investigate a huge area of the earth that they couldn't really look at before. First, they found crabs attached to methane gas vents... something you figure I must have made up, but no, there they are.

See, even if it's mind-boggling, nobody is going to drill through 220M of ice just to study methane-eating clams.

But now, without all that ice to contend with, they've found 1000 species there, 30 of which are previously unknown to us. This freaky octopus is one of the new creatures.

They figure most of the species had been there all along, with a few beasts moving in to take advantage of the new conditions.

Suggested by Jacquelita

I guess this will at least give us a more complete list of all the animals we will be killing off thanks to global warming.

I waited too long to be punny on the last few IOtDs...I won't make that mistake again.

This octopus has the right to bear arms. He's blind, and his octomologist has been unable to help, except to prescribe some medicinal coral reefer to help ease the pain. But don't let his disabilities fool you, he's a genus, that Octopus.

Aw crap, forget it...Sheldon? Help me out! :D

I would but psychiatry is not my forte. hehehe

Aw man, ya hurt me, Shel...after all those nice things I said about you.
:sniff: ;)

I'm Jewish and I grew up in NJ. I'm immune to guilt. :-D

I'm with Sheldonrs. Sad and troubling that it took the destruction of something in order for us to discover something new that might just die because we discovered it.

I was raised Catholic...chock full of guilt with a smidgen of alcohol.

Welcome to the Cellar Snapple! :)

lash it down with some seaweed on a lump of sticky rice and sell it for large amounts of Yen in Tokyo.

Really? It's very possible I'm in love with you then.

Oh,yeah. That octopus is gross.

:D Marry me! It's difficult to find a woman who can love a gay man unless her name is Liza. :-)

Looks like a Protoss, no?

Maybe I'm just a StarCraft geek.

no jokes about the fart eating crabs!? i'm outta here!

Cthulhu we worship you.
www.callofcthulhu.com