Everyone needs a sea dragon
January 20, 2017 5:08 AM   Subscribe

Ruby Sea Dragon filmed in the wild for the first time (film of sea dragon itself starts at 1:11)

The ruby sea dragon, a native of Western Australia, was discovered as a new species in 2015.

There are two other known species of sea dragon, the weedy sea dragon and leafy sea dragon. A more distantly related species, Haliichthys taeniophorus, is sometimes known as the ribboned sea dragon.

Bonus baby sea dragons: these were born to a (male) weedy sea dragon at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2012.
posted by Catseye (17 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
 
At the two minute mark, it looks like it's in a blizzard.
posted by NoMich at 5:17 AM on January 20, 2017


Why is the ocean so freaking great
posted by saturday_morning at 6:30 AM on January 20, 2017 [6 favorites]


(male) weedy sea dragon

Hey, give him a break, he's a stay-at-home-dad, he doesn't have time for the gym!
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:35 AM on January 20, 2017 [3 favorites]


Can't believe we are body-shaming seahorses here, on Metafilter. SMH.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 7:35 AM on January 20, 2017 [10 favorites]


My mom is absolutely obsessed with sea dragons ever since she worked as a volunteer docent at the Academy of Science in San Francisco, where they have the most BEAUTIFUL leafy sea dragons swimming around in the basement aquarium. HIGHLY recommend if you haven't been.

I'm sending this to everyone I know today; we need less inauguration and more sea dragon.
posted by Mooseli at 7:49 AM on January 20, 2017 [8 favorites]


Why is the ocean so freaking great

It is mostly free of humans.
posted by HumanComplex at 9:07 AM on January 20, 2017 [8 favorites]


It is mostly free of humans
Eponysomething

HumanComplex, while I disagree with your statement, I'm not going to post any downer links in this lovely post. Let's just all dream of galloping around on sea horses today.
posted by BlueHorse at 10:28 AM on January 20, 2017


I had an actual "ooh!" moment when it appeared onscreen, even though I knew it was coming.
posted by jb at 10:39 AM on January 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


Sorry, the negativity is strong today.
posted by HumanComplex at 10:54 AM on January 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


(((HumanComplex)))
Indeed, hugs to all of us on this day of sucky days.

Now, pick up your fronds. TO THE SEA HORSES!
posted by BlueHorse at 11:36 AM on January 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


Metafilter: less inauguration and more sea dragon.

i don't know if that's a tagline or a hope.
posted by ZaphodB at 12:26 PM on January 20, 2017 [4 favorites]


Years ago, a friend and I saw leafy sea dragons for the first time at the Long Beach aquarium and for some reason - in unison - burst out un uncontrollable laughter for many long minutes. I think it was simply the experience of sheer delight that hit us simultaneously.
posted by memewit at 3:24 PM on January 20, 2017 [4 favorites]


They don't exactly look like creatures keenly honed to compete by evolutionary pressure, do they?
posted by tavella at 5:06 PM on January 20, 2017


I dunno. That's some pretty great camouflage in the right environment.
posted by kyrademon at 5:09 PM on January 20, 2017


I don't understand. Doesn't the sea water keep putting their fiery breath out? Or have they evolved like whales, losing many of their original dragon features - like wings and gnashy teeth - to adapt to their new maritime environment?

Science, you have questions to answer.
posted by Devonian at 7:37 AM on January 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


This is great. Thanks for posting it.

I'm thinking conversations at home for some of these researchers go like this:

"How was work today?"

"Discovered a new species. You?"

"Uh. Decidedly less interesting than that."

Why is the ocean so freaking great

Thanks to this post a while back, I follow the EV Nautilus on Twitter, so I get surprise bursts of ocean awesomeness when I'm least expecting them.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:00 PM on January 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


The very first time I took my oldest son out snorkelling (he was five), we had a great encounter with a weedy sea dragon. It was happy enough to tolerate us having a good look.

Now, I'd been snorkelling for 30-odd years, and never seen one in the wild. Unfortunately, I suspect that Henry's expectations have been spoiled, as every snorkel since he shrugs his shoulders and tells me, "Pffft, no sea dragon".
posted by Tasmanian_Kris at 1:15 PM on January 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


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