...the abyss also looks into you.
April 16, 2005 4:57 PM   Subscribe

Explore the Abyss... where the Vulcanoctopus shares its garden with the unsung stars of Alien vs. Predator and those glowing worms you dream about after drinking tequila, and the pressure, my god, the pressure!
posted by naomi (26 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Okay, I was going to refrain from pointing out that many undersea critters also resemble penises, but then davebug just had to go there... so, yes, that certainly is a big barnacle you've got there, little buddy. Or maybe you'd rather check out the booby?
posted by naomi at 4:57 PM on April 16, 2005


Ooo...I love sea croitures!
These deep fellas are the weirdest. If I ever actually see a viperfish I will immediately die of fright, even though I understand they are like 8 inches long.
Ugh!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 5:37 PM on April 16, 2005


That octopus is incredible! Thanks naomi.
posted by Eekacat at 5:54 PM on April 16, 2005



for blf
posted by Pretty_Generic at 6:51 PM on April 16, 2005


Um, naomi, what sorts of men have you slept with?

On preview: Pretty_Generic, that (and for some reason, photos of deep space) is why I was always scared to read the encyclopedia as a kid!
posted by kimota at 6:58 PM on April 16, 2005


Hey, that viperfish looks like a dick.
posted by mediareport at 7:05 PM on April 16, 2005


oh man
posted by puke & cry at 7:42 PM on April 16, 2005


Anything longer than it is wide looks like a dick to you people.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:00 PM on April 16, 2005


Regarding "oh man" -- the only scientific name they could come up with was "lizard?"
posted by QuietDesperation at 8:19 PM on April 16, 2005


I love deep sea life. More importantly, I love the promise of all the undiscovered life it holds yet. My biggest hope for deep sea exploration is that we find a giant octopus to match the giant squid. After all, we thought the giant squid was a myth not too long ago. And octopuses, being most species being benthic, would explain why they've eluded discovery from us land lubers thus far.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:23 PM on April 16, 2005


Regarding "oh man" -- the only scientific name they could come up with was "lizard?"

I don't know if this is the case with the "lizard" picture, but many of the deep sea animals are undescribed.

It looks like he's smiling. Even more scary.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:24 PM on April 16, 2005


Considering the intelligence of octopi, a giant species would be far smarter than we are, and would have commited suicide long ago.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:25 PM on April 16, 2005 [1 favorite]


Regarding "oh man"- they probably haven't filled it out yet, since no fields are filled, even the reference number.
posted by puke & cry at 8:50 PM on April 16, 2005




Crap and double crap. There go my plans for a deep-sea vessel made from styrofoam.
posted by ToasT at 8:58 PM on April 16, 2005


Wow. That's no Alien, that's Art.

Thanks, naomi.
posted by Shane at 9:43 PM on April 16, 2005


P.S. Funny thread, heh.
posted by Shane at 9:44 PM on April 16, 2005


An amazing nature documentary.
posted by AlexReynolds at 9:50 PM on April 16, 2005


Wait, this looks like part of a penis to you?



I'm thinking of a sex organ, but not that one...
posted by rkent at 10:38 PM on April 16, 2005


well, as much as I like saying Octopode, but webster disagrees:

Main Entry: oc·to·pus
Pronunciation: 'äk-t&-p&s, -"pus
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -pus·es or oc·to·pi /-"pI/
Etymology: New Latin Octopod-, Octopus, from Greek oktOpous

Anyone know what the OED says?
posted by gambit at 12:59 AM on April 17, 2005


thanks PG. I really needed that son of a bitch to be haunting my dreams tonight. You owe me new sheets in the morning
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:41 AM on April 17, 2005


from OED:

octopus

• noun (pl. octopuses) a mollusc with eight sucker-bearing arms, a soft body, beak-like jaws, and no internal shell.

— DERIVATIVES octopoid adjective.

— USAGE The standard plural in English of octopus is octopuses. However, since the word comes from Greek, the Greek plural form octopodes is still occasionally used. The plural form octopi, formed according to rules for Latin plurals, is incorrect.

— ORIGIN Greek, from okto ‘eight’ + pous ‘foot’.
posted by zerokey at 2:20 AM on April 17, 2005


I find the pic of slime interesting, as well as the description:

Vast quantities of deep-sea slime, such as this, have been recorded near hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. It is probably bacterial in origin, although this has yet to be confirmed.

IANADSMB, but, I reckon that if Senor Chompy gets caught in a high pressure plume and is rapidly depressurized, he's gonna be a lil bit like a soup that eats like a meal.
posted by zerokey at 2:26 AM on April 17, 2005


LMAO ToasT...
posted by Radio7 at 2:33 AM on April 17, 2005


well, as much as I like saying Octopode, but webster disagrees:


Webster also considers ain't valid, but I ain't buying into the bastardization of the english language. Its not like we don't have bad enough spelling/grammar/language (myself included) skills to start accepting all the errors as valid. Sheesh, us Lazy Americans would rather change the dictionary than learn how to speak/write correctly. Next then you know, we'll be changing the pronunciation of ask to "aks" and accepting irregardless as a real word and not a goofy ass bumpkin slang. My farm living relatives say "perd ner" instead of "Pretty near". Perd ner everyone in their small town does, yet I'd slap every last one of them silly if they somehow managed to get that excepted as standard. And don't tell me how the english language is fluid, least I put my fluid foot up your arse.
[/rant]
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:05 AM on April 17, 2005


You guys broke the internet... again...
"Due to excessive Web traffic our stock image library is offline for the next two weeks."
How often does metafilter (or any popular blog) do this to unsuspecting websites?
posted by dubious at 9:27 AM on May 15, 2005


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