Jun 15, 2010

Trawling Too Deeply

Thirty-eight fish species were recently hauled up from the ocean floor by scientists working off the coast of Greenland. Ten are new to science, and the others have never been seen in these waters.


Why? Two theories have been put forward: 1) warming of the oceans, and 2) over-fishing of the ocean floor.

Regardless, have these scientists learned nothing from the cautionary tale of the Dwarves of Moria. Those dwarves delved too deeply and were struck down by the Balrog. These scientists trawled too deeply, and found all sorts of ugly. Notice: not one ethereal, angelic creature was dredged up. Only ugly. Some things were never meant to see the light of day.

Thanks for the link, Coralie.







10 comments:

Arachnophile said...

It is interesting how much extra UGLY gets passed out in the deeps. ;)

I LOVE the LOTR reference. If we end up with a fish made of darkness and fire - we're going to need a wizard pronto. ;)

♥Bunny♥ said...

the second to the last fish is a very delicious fish to eat in the winter in Japan!
It scared me how ugly it looks like.

Jessica Olin said...

*blinkblink* What were they doing trawling in my nightmares? J/K, but they do look like the product of a sick imagination and not like actual animals. Was God high that day?

Danielle said...

Don't you love spam? *glares at the dumb comment above me*

Good post!

biobabbler said...

"WOAAAAH" was my 1st reaction to these amazing creature. Then: "NO Wayyyyy" when I saw, as Dolce Bunny pointed out, the 2nd to last--a monkfish, 'cause I JUST included them (randomly) in a post I put up TODAY. Awesome creatures and apparently their tail is SO tasty it's called "poor man's lobster" tho' can be even MORE expensive than actual lobster. Thanks SO much for these fascinating photographs.

jenjen said...

Weeeeird. That last one looks like the bag of a bagpipe. With sharp pointy teeth.

Katie Kleber said...

the monk fish is also known as the "sewer lid with teeth" (lots of them) yummy.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know what animal the third from the bottom is? It is so fascinating.

Arachnophile said...

It's amazing how an animal looks really has nothing to do with what it might taste like. ;)

The third from last is definitely a kind of shark/dogfish. I'd have to look it up I'll try to find an answer for you Anon. :)

Nicole said...

I enjoy monkfish now and then. It is usually $10-$15 per pound, so not as expensive as lobster, but has the same buttery taste. If you can find it in at your local fish monger's stand, try it. You will not be disappointed. As far as the rest of the motley crew, yuck. There is a reason those creatures stick to the deep! They don't want to scare anyone.