THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM - UNITED KINGDOM : WHAT CREATURE INSPIRED THE KRAKEN? THE JENNY HANIVERS? THE MERFOLK

NHM- UK : DISCOVER SEA MONSTERS AND THEIR INSPIRATIONS

Excerpt: Originating in Scandinavian folklore, the kraken is usually depicted as an aggressive cephalopod-like creature capable of destroying entire ships and dragging sailors to their doom. .... 'Many cultures around the world have a myth or legend about a tentacled beast bothering seamen or generally getting up to no good,' Jon says. .... 'Squid and octopus really are unusual animals. Their body plan isn't similar to anything else that we know of in the sea. They move quickly and the way that their bodies, arms and tentacles move seem to stimulate something in our fear of the unknown.

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Siren here!  This website has a great collection of art depicting the merfolk and other species!

SEA MONSTERS THAT ACTUALLY EXIST : FORREST GALANTE

Forrest Galante is a world renowned wildlife biologist.

MERMAIDS and SEA MONSTERS HAVE LONG CAPTURED OUR IMAGINATIONS

Siren here!  When I started this blog many years ago, I decided to put two tags or labels under posts.  One was and is Science Facts and the other was and is DELICIOUS FICTIONS.  Although this blog has been more devoted to the Science Facts, no doubt about it, I've been inspired by the mysteries of the oceans that cover most of our planet and the idea that MERMAIDS and SEA MONSTERS EXISTED or EXIST is still very exciting to me.

So I thought I would start this New Year, 2026 by posting a but abut those mysteries and the real creatures that have existed or still do exits!

Remember that if you have a link or a book you would like me to look at or post about to leave me a comment!

Siren

WORLD TRAVELER

 

ANTARCTIC MELTING??? CHECK THE NATIONAL SNOW AN ICE DATA CENTER!

NSDIC - ICE SHEETS TODAY   NATIONAL SNOW AN ICE DATA CENTER   MAPS, CHARTS, REPORTS!

Excerpts: After setting records in December and January for melt extent in the 47-year satellite record, melt extents dropped abruptly by early February when conditions over the Antarctic Peninsula cooled. Overall, the number of melt days exceeded the 1991 to 2020 long-term average by approximately 10 days in the Larsen C Ice Shelf area, 15 days in the Fimbul Ice Shelf area, and over 30 days along the eastern side of the Amery Ice Shelf. Also notable were above average melt days in the West, Shackleton, and Totten Ice Shelf areas. The Sulzberger and Ross Ice Shelves were among the few areas with below average melt days for the austral summer season. Extensive ponding apparent in January in satellite images on the Larsen B remnant, known as Scar Inlet Ice Shelf, and northern Larsen C, all refroze in February; however, ponding and some surface melt flow were still visible on the Amery and Roi Baudouin Ice Shelves into March, although with a frozen surface at that point.

STARFISH

 

ONE TWO THREE

 

SUNDALAND LANDMASS ON INDONESIAN SEAFLOOR - 140,000 YEAR OLD HUMAN BONES!

ARCHEOLOGY ORG : 160,000 CITY AT BOTTOM OF SEA - HUMAN BONES! 

Wow!

Excerpt:  Dredging operations in the Madura Strait recovered two fragments of 140,000-year-old H. erectus skull among the fossilized remains of 36 vertebrate species. This now-submerged region was once part of a landmass called Sundaland, which connected the Indonesian archipelago to the Asian mainland during the last Ice Age. These fossils—the first that have ever been retrieved from the seafloor—have provided researchers with important new information about H. erectus’ behavior. 

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DAILY MAIL SCIENCE - HIDDEN CITY BUILT 140,000 YEARS AGO

This one has pictures of the human bones!

OCEAN PLASTIC CLEAN UP! OCEAN GYRES : IT'S NOT JUST THE PACIFIC : HERE IS A PROPOSED PROJECT

OCEAN PLASTIC CLEAN UP - OCEAN GYRES IN ALL OCEANS  

Excerpt:

There are 5 swirling ocean garbage patches called gyres. Garbage patches generally accumulate far from any country’s coastline, and it is nearly impossible to track the origin of marine debris. The tiny plastic particles that make up most of the patches are also very difficult and expensive to detect and remove.

1. NORTH ATLANTIC GYRE 

2. SOUTH ATLANTIC GYRE 

3. INDIAN OCEAN GYRE 

4. NORTH PACIFIC GYRE 

5. SOUTH PACIFIC GYRE 

To date no nation has accepted responsibility for cleaning up the ocean’s garbage patches to the extent that they will agree to fund ocean cleaning up operations. Such Agreement could allow a commercial approach to venture capitalists. .....

Keep Reading - Go to the Link!

ATLANTIC TRASH PATCH : NOT AS BIG AS THE ONE IN THE PACIFIC BUT AS TRAGIC

ATLAS OBSURA : ATLANTIC GARBAGE PATCH

Excerpt: 

As four major currents in the North Atlantic Ocean between Virginia and Cuba push rubbish through the sea, it gets absorbed into a giant marine trash island we now call the North Atlantic Garbage Patch. ...

Using this data, scientists estimate that the North Atlantic Garbage Patch is hundreds of kilometers in size and has a density of 200,000 pieces of trash per square kilometer in some places. Despite its enormous size and density, the patch is, more often than not, invisible to the naked eye and even satellite imaging. The photodegradable plastic that makes up the vast majority of the mass shrinks to smaller than .01 of an inch and is pushed under the surface of the water by deep waves. Unfortunately, this attribute makes it all the more likely that the plastic - and all of its pollutants - will be swallowed by aquatic creatures.

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH ? WHERE IS IT? WHAT IS IT? (THE SIZE OF TEXAS!)

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EDU : GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans, seas, and other large bodies of water.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific trash vortex, spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is actually comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between the U.S. states of Hawai'i and California.

These areas of spinning debris are linked together by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone, located a few hundred kilometers north of Hawai'i. This convergence zone is where warm water from the South Pacific meets up with cooler water from the Arctic. The zone acts like a highway that moves debris from one patch to another....

Keep reading! Go to that link above! 

HOW TO DEFINE? LET'S ASK NOAA and USCS WHAT ENDANGERED, THREATENED, IMPERILED, and AT-RISK MEAN

First let's see what NOAA has to say...

OCEAN SERVICE : NOAA GOV THREATENED and ENDANGERED SPECIES

Excerpt: The ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA) defines an endangered species as "any species which is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range." Endangered species are automatically protected by prohibitions of several types of "take," including harming, harassing, collecting, or killing, under Section 9 of the ESA. There are some limited exceptions to these rules listed in Section 10 of the ESA. The Kemp's ridley turtle, considered the smallest marine turtle in the world, is listed as an endangered species throughout its range of the Gulf of America and entire U.S. Atlantic seaboard.

The ESA defines a threatened species as "any species which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range." Threatened species receive protections through separate regulations issued under Section 4(d) of the ESA. These regulations occur separately from the listing and detail what take prohibitions are in effect. Also called 4(d) rules, they can include the same prohibitions under Section 9. 

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USGS : ENDANGERED, THREATENED, AT RISK SPECIES

Excerpt: Under the ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA), plant and animal species may be listed as either endangered or threatened. “Endangered” means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. “Threatened” means a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.

States have their own ESA-type laws, so species can have different Threatened/Endangered statuses at the federal and state levels. The USGS typically refers to the federal status unless otherwise noted.

"Imperiled" or "at risk" are not legal terms under ESA, but more biological terms. Generally speaking, they are animals and plants that are in decline and may be in danger of extinction. Those terms can include species that are at low populations and near extinction but still not legally protected under ESA.