The Wild Underwater Zoo

Edible Sea Cucumbers?

The Living FossilHorseshoe Crabs

Deep Ocean Danger

The Big Mouth

Unicorn + Whale

Gallopers of the Sea

In this issue, check out The Underwater Reptiles

The camouflage master of the Oceans

Editor in Chief- Fredrick PaytonGeneral Editor- Antwynette Ellison Layout and Design- David Nguyen, Rebecca Perro, Antonio Castaneda Art Director- Jessica Holmes, Adrian Sandoval

2- The Underwater Reptile

3- The Wonderful World of Sea Cucumbers

4- The Horseshoe crab-The Living Fossil

5- The Electrifying Umbrella Mouth

6- Deep Ocean Danger

7- Gallopers of the Sea

8- The Narwhals

Dear Readers, Your editor in chief here. This month`s weekly issue contains the latest exotic sea creatures, you have ever seen. It will blow your mind.

Sincerely,

Fredrick Payton, Editor in Chief

Logo design by the amazing Adrian Sandoval

The Underwater Reptile

by Fredrick Payton

What do you get when you cross the sea and a snake? “A sea snake.” Snakes underwater are sea snakes. They can also be called gigantic sea serpents or pelagic sea snake. But they usually go by the nickname stick because they act like one.

Sea snakes are usually found in every region of the world except the North and South Pole. They are found in Northern Australia, Southern Asia, and they are also seen all across the Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Sea snakes are born underwater. Sea snakes most likely live in warm, calm coastal waters and also enter rivers and swim upstream to fresh water.

Sea snakes don’t have many enemies because they are not really aggressive and they give lots of warnings. Sea snakes camouflage to catch and hunt their food.

Did you know that sea snakes are the best snakes that swim? Also their skin lets them breathe in oxygen. There are 50 types of sea snakes in the world.

Sea snakes have colored bodies with dark rings or bands. They are traveling champs of the reptile world. Sea snakes almost never leave the ocean.

Lots of people think that like regular snakes, sea snakes bite but they barely do. Sea snakes have been misunderstood. Just like humans, sea snakes are just living their life.

Fun Facts! • Sea snakes give rides to barnacles • They have tricks to get them off like twisting and twirling

The Wonderful World of Sea Cucumbers

by Antwynette Ellison

Ew……look at that cucumber. It’s mushy, gushy and has these ugly, pointy warts in them. It’s not just a cucumber it’s a sea cucumber. A sea cucumber is a sea creature that lives in the depths of the ocean.

Sea Cucumbers are endangered.Mostly because of the humans inChina that eat them. The mostendangered sea cucumber is the“Tiger Tail” sea cucumber. It is alsothe biggest sea cucumber there is.

The sea cucumber is shaped like asausage. Their feet have hundredsof tiny suction-cups. The seacucumber can be many colors. Twoof the main colors chestnut brown, reddish-brown and even lightorange to white.

Sea cucumbers can live 65 to 70 days. Mostly sea cucumbers have babies before they die. If they do have babies before they die their babies look like gummy worms. When the sea cucumber is pregnant they look as fat as polish sausage.

Did you know that the sea cucumber has enemies on Earth? You might not believe this but, we are their enemies. Some more of their enemies are sea turtles, crustaceans, and fish. When a sea cucumber sees a predator they expel most of their organs to confuse their predators. Think about this, their organs grow back. Isn’t that disgusting? Also when they see their predators they hide under the sand and don’t come out until their instincts tell them to.To me this is one of the most interesting creature of the sea.

Horseshoe Crab-The Living Fossil

by David NguyenWhile its ancestors, the trilobite and the myriapod died out, the horseshoe crab (Limulus Polyphemus) still lives on. These creatures have not changed over the past 400 million years. Even though its name has the word “crab” in it, the horseshoe crab is not a crab at all! The horseshoe crab is mainly related to spiders.

The horseshoe crab can grow to the maximum of about 20 inches, nearly two feet! The horseshoe crab eats mollusks, annelid worms, dead fish algae, and other invertebrates. Amazingly, the horseshoe crab’s mouth is on the underside of the horseshoe crab right in the center. The horseshoe crab has no mandible or jaw.

The horseshoe crabs’ main predator is not an animal, it is humans. Other threats to horseshoe crabs are shorebirds that eat crab eggs and sea turtles that the crabs.

Horseshoe crabs are very amazing for their kind. They have the rare ability to regrow lost or torn body parts almost like starfish. The horseshoe crab weirdly has ten eyes!

The horseshoe crab is very unusual because it has never changed of the past 400 million years and amazingly did not die out like its ancestors. Even though it still thrives today, the populations of horseshoe crabs are dropping. Horseshoe crabs do deserve the name “The Living Fossil”.

The Electrifying

Umbrella Mouth

by Rebecca Perro

Buzz! Buzz! Here comes a Gulper Eel! The Gulper Eel is an electrifying large mouthed creature. It’s nicknames are pelican eel and umbrella mouth. The gulper has a long neck. The gulper also has a long tail that starts out thick and ends up to be as thin as a ribbon. It has a black body and is bioluminescent.This surprising sea creature is found worldwide. They live in the depths from about 500 to 6,000 feet.

Gulper Eel eats tiny creatures such as: plankton, crustacean, and creatures without backbones. The eel eats it’s prey by opening it’s mouth. The eel’s mouth is like a net to catch underwater creatures.

This eel’s species is not endangered. Fisherman cannot catch deep sea creatures because they live so deep in the ocean. There are still a good amount of Gulper Eels in the world.

This animal has many interesting facts. Some are that it’s mouth is bigger than it’s body, it has a flattened head, it has teeth as tiny as kernels, and it has eyes as small as peas. It attracts prey by using rare red flashes and it glows pink light as soon as it’s prey gets close to it.The Gulper Eels is unique in so many ways; one reason is that it is bioluminescent.

Wouldn’t it be so amazing if we got to see this outrageous creature up close and personal? I mean just think, getting to see that gigantic mouth and micro eyes in their natural habitat. 

Check it out! http://web.ebscohost.com

Deep Ocean Danger by Adrian Sandoval

Have you ever seen a Blue-Ringed octopus? It got its name from its blue rings. It lives in the Pacific Ocean anywhere through Australia and Japan.Its grown-up size is as big as a golf ball. Its baby size is the size of a pea. It weighs 28 grams. Its legs are 10 cm long. Its body is 5 cm long. 50-60 rings cover its body.

The mother makes 50-60 eggs. She dies after three-six months. They grow very fast. Then the female takes care of the babies. The babies’ skin is very soft. It lives for 2 years. They avoid danger by hiding. The Octopus likes to hide. They hide in sand and corrals.

The Blue-Ringed octopus eats invertebrates and wounded fish. It hunts during the day. If you get bitten you get nauseous, your vision will get blurry, in seconds you will be blind, your sense of feel will disappear, you cannot talk or swallow. There is no antidote.

I doubt you will want to get bitten by it. Did you know that the Blue-Ring octopus do not really bite humans unless you pick them or get in their space. The Blue-Ring octopus is very dangerous but very beautiful.

If you see a Blue-Ringed octopus, do not pick it up. Get away as fast as you can.

Gallopers of the Sea

by Jessica HolmesSea horses have camouflage to protect themselves from predators. For example if a sea horse is in a red coral reef and a tuna or big fish swims by, the sea horse will camouflage by turning the same color as the coral.

Seahorses are endangered. People are using many seahorses to make different medicines. They are also used as souvenirs, pets, and to eat. People are putting together organizations to increase the sea horse population.

This armored fish is such an amazing creature. With its awesome body features and eye –popping camouflage. I think that these little fish can be saved by stopping people from killing them.

It’s some coral, it’s some sea weed, it’s a sea horse! The horse of myth. This amazing creature can grow up to one to twelve inches. It has skin that looks like armor and has a curly tail that allows it to wrap around blades of grass.

Sea horses live in the shallows or in coral forests. They live there so they can hide themselves from predators. Sea horses can live all over the world except for Antarctica and Greenland. They usually stay in one place for most of their lives. They eat tiny animals like shrimp.

The Narwhals

by Antonio Castaneda

The Narwhal is a mammal that lives underwater. It also lives in the Arctic waters. Narwhals have two front teeth that is seven to ten feet tall. Even though it’s teeth looks like a weapon it really isn’t. A male Narwhal weighs about 1.8tons and is two to three meters high. A female Narwhal weighs about one ton and is and is 13 feet long. A Narwhal’s color is blue gray with white blotches, but baby Narwhals are brown. They have cylinder type bodies and a round head with a little mouth. A Narwhal also has a layer of blubber that keeps them warm from the freezing waters.

Fun Fact! Narwhals have only two teeth.

Narwhals go underwater in about seven to twenty minutes. Narwhals use clicks, squeals, and whistles to talk to each other. A Narwhal lives for about 50 years. There are 4 to 20 Narwhals in a group. A Narwhal eats fish, squids, shrimp, and other animals. There are about 10,000 to 45,000 Narwhals. Narwhals are eaten by people, polar bears, Orcas, sharks, and walruses.

1. How do sea snakes get barnacles off of them?A. By rubbing them on a rockB. By squeezing themC. By twisting and twirling

 2. How do sea cucumbers scare their predators off?

A. By squeezing their organs outB. By circling around themC. By chasing them

3. How many eyes does a horseshoe crab have?A. twoB. ten C. none at all

 4. Where do gulper eels live?

A. bioluminescent B. The Great LakesC. every ocean of the world

 5. What does a seahorse eat?

A. shrimpB. chicken C. sharks

 6. How many Narwhals are there in the world?

A. 4 to 20B. 10,000 to 45,000 C. 1 to 10

7. About how many eggs does a blue-ringed octopus lay in its life?

A. 50-60B. 35-45C. 20-30

Answers 1,c ;2,a ;3,b ;4,c ;5,a ;6,b ;7,a

Help Haiti!

On January 12, 2010 Haiti had a natural disaster. A horrible earthquake hit them, and it left thousands of people without food, clothing, and water. Port-Au-Prince was destroyed. We need your help to help Haiti. Please participate in helping Haiti.

Many Haitians were crushed;grown ups and children.

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