30 fun facts about marine life

30 fun facts about marine life you won’t even believe!

The vastness of the ocean is still in great part a mystery to us.
Even the species that we know, continue to surprise us with their behavior. Check out these shocking facts about marine critters that you won’t believe...

1. Angelfish mate for life:
​When angelfish choose a partner, it’s for life! If one of them dies, the other one won’t breed with any other mate in their entire lifetime.

2. Lobsters pee out of their face and they pee on each other to communicate: The urine nozzles located under their eyes allow lobster to communicate. Peeing on another lobster sends messages necessary for survival.

3. Spider crabs are the masters of disguise:To survive, spider crabs use sponges, seaweed, and anything that will let them blend in, as camouflage that they stick to their carapace.

 ​4. Flatfish are born like normal fish:
All flatfish babies are born upright like other fishes. As they grow, however, they begin to gradually flatten.

5. The digestive system of sea cucumbers cleans the ocean:
Sea cucumbers’ diet consists of anything that sticks to sand at the bottom of the ocean. After they have gotten food out, they poop the sand out clean and tidy.

6. Mating leaves male octopi confused for life:
When a male octopus mates with a female he experiences chronic memory loss known as dementia, so he forever after swims around with no ability to remember.

7. You enjoy walking on parrotfish poop:
You know that soft, white sand in tropical islands that you dream about whenever you’re planning your winter vacation? It’s what parrotfish poop after eating coral.

8. Seahorse males carry babies and give birth:
Seahorses are the only animals on earth that aren’t birthed by the mothers. In this unique species it is males who get pregnant.

9. A blue whale’s tongue is heavier than an elephant:
As the largest animal on earth, the full-grown blue whale is so heavy, just its tongue can weigh more than an entire elephant- that means that it can be heavier than 7,000 kilograms!

 10. Shark teeth can grow back for their entire life:
Shark teeth are not really teeth, but scales. Because of this, if they ever lose a tooth, it will just grow back

 12. Scorpionfish eggs only take two days to hatch:
Most animals endure painfully long pregnancies but female scorpionfish don’t waste time. They simply release the eggs into the water to be fertilized by the males, and hatched within two days.

 11. Frogfish can walk:
Their pectoral fins are unique and can work as legs that these fishes sometimes use to walk along the sand. When you’re scuba diving, don’t be surprised to see these critters strolling along casually!

 13. A ghost pipefish’s head makes up almost half of its body:
This unique fish is incredibly difficult to spot. Once you see it, however, its huge head will surprise you, as it makes up 44% of its entire body!

 14. Eating puffer fish can kill you
Poison only resides in part of the puffer fish’ body, which means that it is not only edible, but also delicious. Be careful, though! If the chef doesn’t cut the fish in exactly the right way, this delicacy will be lethal.

 16. Stonefish are one of the most dangerous sea animals:
Though not on the list of fearsome predators, the poison stonefish carry is the most lethal one in the entire ocean. Combine this with their incredible ability to camouflage and you understand why they are to be feared.

15. Dolphins enjoy getting high:
Like many animals, dolphins find natural ways to get high. They  use pufferfish to get this effect, and sometimes even do it in groups.

17. Crab’s have tastebuds on their feet:
Forget about putting food in your mouth! Crab don’t waste time on formalities and just use their feet to taste food.

 18. Blennies are one of the few aquatic species that can survive on land:
These slimy fishes have been blessed by evolution, as they can survive outside the water as long as they are damp.

19. Shrimp are the nice guys of the ocean:
Some species of shrimp have symbiotic relationships with fish and corals. They clean parasites off fish’s mouth, and protect corals in exchange for food.
(can you see the shrimp on this spanish dancer?)

20. Lobster can re-grow an eye or an arm: Just like the lizards or sea-stars, a lobster can regrow an eye or a claw it lost in the mouth of a predator! But the new one will be smaller than the first. 

​21. Octopuses are the most caring mums in the world!  Once mummy octopus has laid its eggs, it cares for it until they hatch never living their sight, not even to feed! It is believed that mummy octopuses reach their limit as die as soon as their babies are swimming off. When they hatch, baby octopuses are smaller than your fingertip and fully functional.

22. Prisoners used to eat lobsters
In the past lobsters were considered at the bottom of the food chain as cockroaches of the sea and were used as bait or fed to prisoners.

George Karbus Photography/Mix: Subjects/Getty Images

23. Seahorses are quite special        
Seahorse have no teeth and no stomach, still they are one of the most vicious predators existing, their sneaky hunting technics give them a 90% killing rate. They are the only fish with a neck and a prehensile tail they can use to grab on the anything, grass, coral, or mating partners… they are performing courtship dance for a week before mating. They are master of disguise and can change the shape and color of their skin to blend in their environment

24. Dolphins are sleepwalkers
Dolphins only sleep with half their brain and one eye closed at a time!

25. Parrot fish use snort pillows
During night dive it is common to see a parrot fish sleeping in a crack but have you ever seen the bubble they create around their head made out of their own snort?

26. You would rather lose a leg than be stung by a Stone fish
While less poisonous than king cobra, stone fish can still be deadly and is apparently the most painful sting human can ever feel. People stung by stonefish usually as doctors to amputate the limb that have been stung in order to stop the pain.

27. Sharks aren’t as bad as they seem
on average, Sharks kills less than 20 people per year. People kill 11,500 sharks per hour. Who's to fear?

28. Mantis shrimps are super heroes
If your arms could be as fast as those of a mantis shrimp, you could send a ball to the moon in a throw. Easy! It is believed that the blow from a smashing mantis shrimp is as fast as a 22-caliber bullet. So fast the water is boiling at contact creating a shockwave able to kill its prey even if it manages to avoid the impact.

29. When they hatch, baby octopuses are smaller their your pinky finger- and they are that cute!

30. Harlequin shrimps feed on sea stars, once they found one (which can be 100 times their size), they turn it over so it cannot run away and eat it slowly. They have even seen feeding their hostage to keep them alive longer!!! 

Wanna know where we took all these gorgeous pictures?

Beside the dolphins, baby octopus and whale. All pictures above were taken by Franck Fogarolo while cruising the Andaman Sea in Burma or Thailand with The Smiling Seahorse.
Check out  our dive cruises!