This is pretty cool. Dolphins have been observed hitching rides on the back of humpback whales in Hawaii, and sliding down their backs, for what seems to be, fun! Playful activity between species like this is something of rarity, which makes this story pretty special.
The video is from the American Museum of Natural History, and this behaviour was documented in the journal Aquatic Mammals by Deakos et al. (2010). Animal Wise has a review of the paper here.
Yesterday I went to my favourite place in London - Kew Gardens. It’s a wonderland of plants, trees and other wonderful species from all over the world. It also does vital conservation research.
Favourite spots are the Madagascan palm tree - that was about to outgrow the palm house but instead started producing a beautiful chandelier-like flower last year, which also signals it is at the end of it’s life before dying. The incredible orchid displays are also a favourite and last year I remember, in particular, the Madagascar Star Orchid, which Darwin took great interest in, proposing that a pollinator must exist somewhere which would have a very long-tongue to pollinate it. This moth did indeed exist, although it wasn’t discovered for another 40 years! Finally the trees are just stunning and if you can’t make it to Kew, you can get a tiny flavour of what’s there on Google Street View.
I was reminded yesterday of the critically endangered Wollemi Pine that sits in a cage under lock-and-key. It was odd to see a tree surrounded by a cage and after visiting the People and Plants exhibition, I was really struck again at our complete dependence on nature, and how even our everyday choices of what we buy influence the natural world. If you’ve never been to Kew, do try to go. My top tip is to make use of the daily free tours. They show you lots of stuff you would otherwise miss.
A very well lit Cuban Tree Frog! http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/cuban-tree-frog-pod/?ref=nf @NatGeoSociety
These frogs have a big appetite and are a bit of nuisance apparently. An invasive species in places like Florida. They can apparently cause short-circuits of utility switches, causing costly power outages, perhaps by swallowing fairy lights like this?
I’m loving these natural synths that are coming out of the Weddell Sea, off the West coast of Antarctica. Big up the Leptonychotes weddellii.
The frequency range of the Weddell Seal’s vocalisations are apparently 80 Hz - 24 kHz. Us humans typically have ranges of 85 Hz - 155 Hz for blokes, and 165 Hz - 255 Hz for woman. It makes me think, we are just so restricted in our range, I wonder why?
