Ancient Deep Sea Bird
I was thinking about what the earth might have been like millions of years ago. So here is my Ancient Deep Sea Bird that could have been wandering around these parts. It has armoured head because back then these ancient birds never new what dangers they might run into.
Lots of fossils have been found on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Time for more seashore exploring.
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Star Acamar Creature
I was thinking that a dinosaur type creature would live on Star Acamar because it is in a ‘river’ constellation.
The star Acamar is in the constellation of Eridanus which is just like a river that wanders through the night sky. Acamar is a bright star and marks the end section of the mythical river, Eridanus.
The story of the river Eridanos is where Phaeton fell when slain by Jupiter for having set the world on fire by misguiding the chariot of his father Phoebus.
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passing the torch
watching from his post
a wise old man made no notes
burning a light every night
reading one more line
everything
committed
to
memory
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Pacific Seahorse
The Pacific Seahorse just might live off the west coast of Canada.
The water could be a little cold for the seahorses but I thought it would be fun to imagine.
Seahorses feed on bottom-swarming organisms such as mysids and other plankton. Mysids are shrimp-like crustaceans and are about 25mm in length.
So, here is my fantasy Pacific Seahorse that lives in Canadian waters.
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Fantasy Space Creature – Mirfak Star
Far away in the Milky Way there are some interesting creatures living on stars. Here is my fantasy creature Mirfak, who lives on Mirfak star.
Mirfak is the brightest star in constellation Perseus, the Warrior. If you draw a line between the stars, it looks like a person with a pointed hat. Mirfak lies near the north celestial pole, a point in the sky about which the stars in the northern hemisphere appear to rotate.
North of latitude 40° you can see Mirfak all night long throughout the year, circling the north celestial pole. For this reason, Mirfak is called a north circumpolar star and Mirfak is about 630 light-years from earth.
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Ocean Day Poetry
Mysteries lurk in
Ocean dark depths
Nocturnal creatures
Seeing in the dark
Tails
Everywhere
Rolling in waves
Safe under water
creatures live
thrive
for millenniums
Ocean Day
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Sandhopper – the amphipod found on Vancouver Island is the Traskorchestia traskiana
Walking along the beach you often come across clumps of seaweed where you can see little flea-like creatures hopping around. These are commonly called sandhoppers or beach-fleas. They are of the amphipod family which is any of the small, largely marine, shrimp-like crustaceans.
The proper latin name for this amphipod is Traskorchestia traskiana which is found on our west coast beaches. A sandhopper is very small and reaches 2cm full grown and is typically a dark gray colour. Food is grasped with the front two pairs of legs which are armed with large claws. During the night the amphipod leaves it burrow to feed on seaweed and any dead animal matter that washes up on the beaches. Birds and fish like to eat them.
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Shaula Star – fantasy space creature
Summer time is just around the corner and I was thinking about the constellation Scorpius. Here is my drawing of a fantasy space cat creature that might live on Shaula star.
To find the constellation Scorpius, look south in the night sky for a fishhook shaped pattern of stars and you will see the Scorpion.
The stars make a pattern of a scorpion’s tail which curves up and then back on itself with two stars marking its poisonous stinger. Their Arabic names from left to right are Shaula and Lesath, which mean “the sting”.
These two stars were once considered to be the eyes of a celestial cat, which can be seen every single summer night.
Shaula is almost twice as wide and hotter than our sun, appearing blue-white. It looks dimmer because it is 280 light years away, which means that we see Shaula as it existed 280 years ago in the early 1700′s.
I look forward to seeing these two magical cat’s eyes peering through clear summer nights. Have a great week looking into space.
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June pop up poetry
first of June
sun sleeps
under grey clouds
waiting
words
drop
buckets
fill
street
tempo
new cat hat
pops up
poetry
panache
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Sitka Periwinkle
My drawing of a Sitka Periwinkle makes it look large but actually these sea creatures are only about 2cm in length and width.
The opening is very large in comparison to the size of the shell and tends to be circular. Typically their shell is brown or dull grey with light banding around the top. They can be found on rocks and seaweed where they eat algae and lichen.
Sitka periwinkle have 200 to 300 rows of tiny rasping teeth and they can replace up to seven rows of teeth a day!
Most Sitka Periwinkles only eat every 2 to 3 weeks and they can travel about a metre a month. They are one of the few sea creatures that can breathe air, and when the tide is low, they close themselves up into their shells to prevent themselves from drying out. Next time you are at the beach have a look around for these shells!
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