OceanMar Project

🌊 In the sea... does size matter? 🐧
When it comes to Puffins, the answer is a definitive YES. But maybe not for the reasons you’re thinking...

In the world of these “clowns of the sea,” size is the ultimate flex. It’s the difference between being a lonely bachelor or the ultimate “Puffin Dad.”

🐟 The size (and quantity) of the catch
While other seabirds carry one fish at a time, the Puffin is the king of “bulk buying.” Thanks to their sandpaper-like tongue and specialized beak, they can stack 30 to 40 small fish in a single trip!

Viral Fact: The world record is 62 fish at once. Talk about extreme efficiency!

🧡 The size of the... beak?
During breeding season, their beaks grow and turn a vibrant, neon orange. To a female puffin, a large, bright beak says: “I’m a pro fisherman with top-tier genetics.”

Plot twist: Once the mating season ends, they actually “shed” the outer layer of their beak, making it smaller and grey. It’s basically a seasonal accessory for flirting!

🏠 A mansion underground
Don’t let their small size (about 10 inches) fool you. These guys are elite engineers. They don’t build flimsy nests; they dig burrows up to 6 feet deep. In Puffin society, if your tunnel isn’t deep and secure, you aren’t raising a puffling.

🌟 Facts:
Mini-Missiles: They may look chunky, but they fly at 55 mph, flapping their wings up to 400 times per minute!

Crash Landings: They are Olympic-level divers but “amateur” landers. They often just belly-flop or crash into each other on the grass.

Loyalty Goals: They return to the same partner and the exact same burrow every single year after spending months alone at sea.

💬 Question for you:
Tag that one friend who, just like a Puffin, tries to carry all the groceries (or snacks) in one single trip! 🍟🐧

🐳Sperm whales, highly social animals 💙

A very curious behaviour has been observed in s***m whales 🧐. They look after one another at a very special time: birth. 💙

They are mammals, so they are born just like us, through birth. During this time, the adults surround the mother and help the calf to come to the surface to breathe. 🐳

This cooperative behaviour has also been observed in other species:

- African elephants 🐘: Birth is a communal event; the other females help the calf to stand up and suckle.

- Langur monkeys 🐒: They assist with the birth and clean the baby at birth.

What do we learn from this behaviour? It shows us that there is more to it than mere survival; it is not just cooperation: a sense of care develops 💞. Animals not only feel pain, they also experience stress, comfort, connection and other feelings that we are unaware of. ✨

Reflection:
1️⃣ We know very little about animals’ feelings.
2️⃣ We need to rethink and oppose practices such as whaling.
3️⃣ We need to place greater emphasis on animal welfare.

What do you think? What implications do you think it might have that animals exhibit these caring behaviours? 💭

Share the post to reach more people or save it to view later. 🙌

📸Photographer unknown — happy to update credit upon request.

Reference: https://orca.org.uk/news-blog/giants-in-gentle-company-s***m-whales-and-the-quiet-science-of-care

***mwhale didyouknow

🤡 Have you ever wondered how clownfish live? 🐟

Clownfish live in sea anemones and organise themselves in a very interesting way within them, based on their size 📏 and s*x ♂️♀️. As a result, they organise themselves according to a hierarchy 🔺.

Who makes up this hierarchy in each anemone?

1️⃣ Alpha female ♀️👑: she is the largest and most aggressive; there is only one per anemone and she is responsible for defending the territory 🥊.

2️⃣ Beta male ♂️: there is only one per anemone. He is the one who mates with the alpha female and, together with her, defends the territory 🥊.

3️⃣ Juveniles 🐟: there are several per anemone. These are smaller in size and do not reproduce, as their growth is paused.

But what happens if the female dies 👑? In this case, the alpha female would be replaced by the beta male. The beta male changes s*x and becomes the new alpha female. 🤯

And who then succeeds the beta male? As the beta male becomes the new alpha female, a new beta male is needed. The juveniles will take care of this; the largest of them will resume its growth 📈 and become the new beta male.

Did you know this? Share other examples of organisation in the marine world that are just as fascinating as this one. ✨
Share the post to reach more people or save it to view later. 🙌

📸Photographer unknown — happy to update credit upon request.

didyouknow

🐋 Old Tom and the Gladises: Not killers. Partners.

The story of Old Tom, the killer whale that allied with humans to hunt whales. A sad story, but fascinating in terms of behavior.

Orcas always impress us with facts that show intelligence far beyond what we imagine. 🧠✨

📍 Where?
Eden, Australia, 1860. A pod led by Old Tom began doing something amazing.

🛶 The background
Indigenous Australians saw orcas (beowas) as reincarnated ancestors who actively cooperated in marine hunting. They would herd giant whales toward human boats.

🤝 Fun fact: They never attacked the men. They just wanted to collaborate.

👨‍👦 The Davidson family
The whalers respected the pact. They used rowboats and hand harpoons to avoid stressing the orcas.

👅 The reward: The “Law of the Tongue”
Humans left the whale’s tongue and lips for the orcas.

💔 The end
This alliance lasted almost 100 years. But in 1930, with Old Tom’s death and the end of whaling, the cooperation disappeared.

😢 Sad fact: DNA evidence indicates this specific pod went locally extinct.

🇪🇸 Today, in the Mediterranean Sea…
Something similar is happening right now. Meet Gladys, an Iberian orca famous for interacting with boats. She’s not alone: Hércules, Gladys Negra…

⚠️ Important: It is not aggression. Scientists see it as play, imitation, or social curiosity.

🔄 Old Tom pulled ropes. The Gladises touch rudders. The reason? Orcas learn behaviors and pass them down through their group.

🌍 Humans don’t hunt whales anymore. Now it’s our turn to learn how to coexist.

💬 Comment 🐋 if you want a post about this.

🌊 ¡Bienvenidos a la semana favorita de cada mes: la semana de competencia! 🐋💙

Este mes hablamos de Animales Sociales 🗣️🐾

¿Sabías que muchos de estos increíbles viven en familias muy unidas, tienen su propio idioma, cuidan de sus crías durante años e incluso hacen duelo por sus mu***os? 😢

Hoy te presentamos a 8 candidatos que son expertos en trabajo en equipo, liderazgo femenino y vida en comunidad. ¡Vota por tu favorito o por el que quieras que investiguemos a fondo!

🧬 Los competidores de esta semana:

🐋 Orca – Las matriarcas lideran los pods. ¡Hasta 3 generaciones viven juntas!
🐬 Delfín mular – El ruidoso. Tiene un silbato único que usa como nombre 🗣️
🐳 Cachalote – El de clics y ecos. Los clans hablan dialectos diferentes 🗺️
🐋 Ballena jorobada – El que canta. Sus canciones duran horas y cambian cada año 🎶
🦦 Nutrias marinas – Las que nunca se sueltan. Duermen agarradas de las patas para no perderse 👐
🐋 Calderón (ballena piloto) – El de la familia gigante. Pueden formar grupos de más de 1.000 individuos 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
🦁 León marino de California – El de California. Viven en colonias enormes y ladran sin parar 📢
🦣 Morsa – La de los colmillos. Descansan juntas en el hielo en grupos de cientos 🧊

🗳️ ¿Cómo participar?

✅ Vota cada día en nuestras historias (encuestas diarias)
🏆 El ganador recibe un post profundo el domingo con todos los datos científicos
📢 Comparte con alguien que ame los animales marinos
💾 Guárdalo para después y no olvides votar mañana

¿Cuál es tu favorito? 👇
¡Vota ahora en historias! 🗳️🌊

The schooling behavior of sardines is one of the most extreme examples of collective coordination in nature.

Thousands of individuals move as a single, cohesive unit without any leader or central control.

Each fish follows simple local rules: maintain distance, align direction, and respond to neighbors.

But when these rules are applied simultaneously across the group, a highly synchronized system emerges.

The result is millisecond-scale collective responses to predators and rapid propagation of movement through the entire school.

This is not randomness.
It is self-organization driven by simple interaction rules and physical constraints. 🌊

Drones, AI, sonar and eDNA. This is how science is reading the ocean today. 🤖🌊

Here are 4 real examples happening now:

1️⃣ Finding ghost nets – Redes Fantasma Project (Germany/Portugal). A buoy system tracks lost fishing nets in real time, while sonar maps the seafloor so divers know exactly what they’ll find before entering the water. 🕸️

2️⃣ Watching dolphins from above – AIMM (Portugal). Drones fly over the Algarve coast, and AI detects dolphins in aerial images with 83.9% accuracy. No boats. No disturbance! 🐬

3️⃣ Listening to the seafloor – IAPETUS Project (UK). Underwater microphones record for months, and AI identifies dolphins, porpoises and whales just from the sounds they make. All of it non-invasive. 🎧

4️⃣ Reading water DNA – ANERIS Project (Iberian Peninsula). Citizens collect seawater samples with a simple kit. The DNA animals leave behind helps map who lives there. In Barcelona, 12 species were recorded in the city’s waters for the first time. 🧬

Technology won’t save the ocean alone. But it is becoming one powerful ally in helping us understand, and protect it. 💙

Know another example? Tell us in the comments! 🙌

📸 Photographer unknown – credit on request.
🤖 AI-generated image – cover.

References:
1) Redes Fantasma: https://www.redes-fantasma.org/
2) AIMM article: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41060-024-00704-93) IAPETUS: https://iapetus.ac.uk/
4) ANERIS: https://aneris.eu/

Sharks… with best friends?! 🦈💙

A new study just revealed that bull sharks aren’t the lone predators we once thought. After 6 years of research in Fiji, scientists found that these sharks form long-term social bonds, choosing who they swim with—and who they avoid.

They swim together, follow each other, and build structured social networks… just like many social animals (including us 👀).

This changes how we see sharks: not just as predators, but as complex, social beings. And it also means that losing individuals could disrupt entire social networks we’re only beginning to understand.

Maybe protecting sharks isn’t just about saving species… but also their relationships. 🌊

🌊✨ The mysterious **Glass Octopus** (*Vitreledonella richardi*) looks like something from another planet.

Its body is almost completely transparent, allowing it to camouflage in the deep ocean. Only its eyes, optic nerve, and some internal organs can be clearly seen.

It lives in tropical and subtropical open-ocean waters, where light is scarce and survival depends on staying unseen. This incredible transparency is a perfect adaptation against predators.

We still know very little about this species, reminding us how much of the deep sea remains undiscovered. 🌌🐙