Haeckel Squid Oil

Working to finish up a deep sea PSA that will hopefully one day be seen by the wider public, so not much time for invert love, but there have been some good online distractions today...

If you haven't been to the Catalogue of Organisms yet today, you might not know that you too can Get Kunstformen! and have Haeckel on you hard drive, an absolute must for any bio-bibliophile (thanks Christopher!). It's hosted at BioLib where they have scanned some 474 biology books gook back to 1545, most from 1800's and early 1900's. Personal favorites include p.237 and 247 (among others) Yours?


Meanwhile in squid news, yesterday Peter brought us some jerky but beautiful video from an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. A Magnapinna spp. squid hangin out 7800' (2.3km) down. Yeah, turns out oil platforms can be a great source of science exploration too. When they send their ROV's down, they are working all the way down, inspecting the platform and the well head etc. Often though, they have no mission on the return trip and they have to do periodic missions just for training and proficiency. These non-oil-rig oriented mission hours can be used with the vehicle turned outward to watch for squid, whales and greenland sharks.


Of course that doesn't mean I support irresponsible expansion of our offshore drilling program. Miriam takes on the propaganda coming from certain quarters to play on the public gas-price pains and fears with a push for increased offshore oil-drilling. After tearing up the main points of McBush Sen. McCain and the GOP's arguments, Miriam adds a compelling new twist - she doesn't want us to give jellies the keys to the liquor cabinet.