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Amazing ocean

The oceans are an incredible place!

Life began in the ocean 3.1 billion years ago, so after all those millions of years it wouldn’t be a surprise that now an estimated 75% of all life from on earth belongs to the sea. Having only explo

red 10% of the total of the sea, we have found to date around 200,000 marine species; however if we take into consideration the remnant 90% still to be explored, it is estimated that there are possibly as many as 25,000.000 marine species that haven’t been discovered or classified. This is because 85% of the area and 90% of the volume of the sea that hasn’t been explored constitutes the dark, cold environment we call the deep sea.

The sea is actually so rich and diverse in life that it has been revealed that around 900 species from around 100 families and a dozen phyla have been found in an area of half the size of a tennis court. Moreover, after all those millions of years of evolution and the little we actually know about the ocean it really makes you wonder on the eccentricity of the life forms that inhabit the oceans.

From what we know, this diverse fascinating group of organisms range from relatively motionless invertebrates to large whales and sharks that roam across the world’s oceans.

Some of the most fascinating well known creatures have really odd features; octopuses for instance have three hearts and blue blood but sea stars have no brains and not a single drop of blood in their bodies. Crabs have teeth in their stomachs and a jellyfish is 95% water. Turtles “cry” the absorbed salt in the water and sea horses utter musical sounds while mating.

The sea is a source of endless inspiration for design, architecture and all kinds of inventions from robotics to biomedical breakthroughs. In fact, scientists are increasingly turning to animals like octopuses and lobsters for help in designing the robots of the future. The reason is simple. Nature did it first and did it best, so we ought to be able to learn a lot by looking at biological systems that do some things a lot better than we can.

That is what architects like Calatrava are doing with models like the Chicago Spire building and Callebaut with his Coral Village.

 

Volkswagen is also designing a car inspired on the ocean’s waves and a new line of superyachts have a streamlined superstructure and hull design inspired by killer whale and sperm whale’s body forms.

The shape and texture of the sharp scales of sharks has already been used to create extremely aerodynamic swimsuits for Olympic teams and seaweeds contain compounds used in ice cream, instant puddings, salad dressings, printers ink, cosmetics and pills

coatings! Isn´t this incredible!!!

And well, what can we say about the alien looking organism that live deep in the bottom of the oceans.

There is a lot we have to learn from the ocean but I’m sure we will continue to be amazed from it and its lifeforms. At the end we still have to discover the rest 24 million 800 thousand species speculated to be out there! You cant say the sea is not an amazing place, because its breathtaking!!!

 

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