Giants of the Sea
One of the best things about a visit to the beach is that you never know what the sea is hiding. For example, one day in 2002, some beachcombers stumbled upon a squid that measured 60 feet long! That’s longer than a school bus. You can read the news coverage at http://archives.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/07/22/australia.squid/. For this issue of LittleClickers, we answer some common questions about the wonders of the sea using the Internet. Have a look!
What are the world’s largest fish?
Visit http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/faq/fishfaq1.html and http://www.elbert.k12.ga.us/showcase/sreid/home/fish.html.
Answer: The whale shark — which is a fish and not a mammel like a whale — can grow to be moe than 50 feet long. Coming second place is another member of the shark family, called the Basking Shark, which feeds on plankton by straining water through large comb-like structures in the gills. Both fish are harmless to humans.
What animal has the largest eyes?
A) an elephant
B) the giant squid
C) a horse
Visit http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/giant-squid.html where you’ll learn that the giant squid is a meat-eating mollusk that is actually related to a snail. It has a beak-like mouth that is strong enough to cut through a steel cable, and because it lives in very deep, dark water, it needs large eyes that can grow up to 10 inches in diameter. That’s the size of a plate!
How tall is the world’s largest standing sand structure?
A) 5 feet
B) 10 feet
C) over 20 feet
See the photos at http://www.harrisand.org/guinness_world_records.htm where you can learn about a sand-building contest where the winners sculpted a 21-foot-tall Christmas Tree is 86 hours.
How long is the world’s largest ship?
Visit http://www.ayrshirescotland.com/ships/jahre.html and http://www.vincelewis.net/viking.html. The oil tanker Nock Nevis (also called the Jahre Viking and Seawise Guant) is really big. It was built in 1981 in Japan, and it is 1,504 feet long with one giant propeller that is 30 feet wide! By comparison, the Titanic was only 882 feet long.
T/F: Do fish talk?
It turns out that they do, if you count snaps, clicks and grunts as talking. Fish also use chemical odors (or pheromones) and electrical signals. Have a listen for yourself, at http://www.fishecology.org/soniferous/sound_demo.htm (click on “sample” under each drawing for the sound that fish makes)
