I’m feeling a little hipster resentment here — all these nouveau poulpe crashing into my internet turf. But oh, OK, this new blog on SciAm called Octopus Chronicles looks good, and you know I’m never going to abandon the molluscs in a snit over all the other people fascinated by them. There’s room for all of us.
While we’re relishing the expanding cephalopodian nature of the internet, check out the octopus having dinner on the move — it’s wonderfully amoeboid and slithery.
(Also on FtB)
Somebody thought they could stump the squid by giving it a background it could never imitate — but look! It wins the unwinnable scenario by going transparent!
There’s more on cephalopod camouflage at the BBC.
(Also on FtB)
I don’t have a link for this, but it was created by Kara Treibergs and Laurel Hiebert for the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology. And it is so true!
(Also on FtB)
There’s something really notable about this image. Most cartoons feature the octopus as the villain; this one has the cephalopod representing the good guys, the 99%, strangling the villainous mammal. It breaks the stereotype!
Is it weird that I identified with the mollusc and felt a little happy uplift when I saw that?
(Also on FtB)
Watch the cuttlefish stalking shrimp, cautiously advancing by walking on a couple of arms — it almost looks like a tetrapod for a few moments. And then, finally, the lightning-fast strike. Oh, man, I wish I had a retractable spear built into my face. There are so many occasions when that would come in handy.
(Also on Ftb)
This collection of cephalopod-themed political cartoons reveals a tragic bigotry: anything with lots of tentacles always gets characterized as the villain.
Can’t they see? More arms just means a greater ability to give hugs!
(Also on FtB)
