WHAT IS SOLENT GREEN?

So, I think I’ve found the most paranoid animal in the world, poor bastard that he is. It’s the glassfish, a tiny little thing no longer than a bride’s ring finger, with opaque flesh, so you can faintly see the outline of its skeleton and the tiny little pulsating organs within. They mass in enormous shoals around a specific variety of coral, their movements synchronised with one another. They drift gently in formation, moving as one, and then, without warning, they will rapidly change direction, all at the same time, sending a dazzling flash of silver pulsating across the reef. And then it’s back to the whole opaque drifting malarkey for a few more tranquil minutes. It’s a defence mechanism; camouflage and a warning all in one. A kind of; “you can’t quite work out what we are but we’re big and ready to take names”, which serves to protect them from marauding mackerel, for whom, when isolated from the gang, these little fish represent a tasty snack. The only flaw to this effective little defence system is that in order to stay safe they have to stay with the group. And the group never leaves the safety of its coral fortress, a spindly bit of aquatic life that looks something like a defoliated thorn bush and apparently provides excellent protection from hit and run predators. What this means is that there are no opportunities to head off to forage for food, which in turn means they have to make use of the only food source that’s readily available to them. Each other.

Like I said earlier, poor paranoid bastards.

“Holy crap, look out, a mackerel. Quick, lets all do that impressive flicker thing we’ve been practicing. Everyone hard left on my signal. And GO!”

“Nice work fellers, neat lines. Well synchronised; a super display of strength in unity. Some of our best work don’t you think Dave? Dave? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

The Coolest Thing I Saw Today!

The coolest thing I saw today was the glassfish. Animals you can see through? Awesome cool.

That is all,

Dale Atkinson