Starfish Runs from Seagull

04/10/2012

The title of this post is a misnomer.  Technically speaking, there are no such things as "starfish" and "seagulls."  

The real name for these animals are sea stars and gulls and there are dozens of species of each. In the case of the former, these animals are not fish but belong to a group of invertebrates called echinoderms, which means "spiny skin."  Sea urchins and sand dollars are also echinoderms.  In the case of the bird, we tend to lump all of the gull species (such as laughing gulls, herring gulls, ivory gulls, etc.) together and just call them seagulls, even though there is no one species of bird that goes by that name.

Now that we have that bit of nature nerdery out of the way, on to the main purpose of this post.  National Wildlife Federation has launched a fun new feature called Photo of the Day.  Usually the photos are beautiful or inspirational, but today's photo is odd and funny, so I thought I'd share it here.

The sea star totally looks like a cartoon starfish running away from the ring-billed gull. I can almost hear Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants screaming when I look at this picture!

This Photo of the Day was donated to the National Wildlife Federation by a participant in the annual National Wildlife Photo Contest. See more photos or sign up for the 42nd AnnualNational Wildlife Photo Contest.

 

 

Comments

[Thiru]

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[Thiru]

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[ZaCloud]

Sooo.... you talk down to us on technicalities, then pretend that the starfish (yes, it's an informal name but it is acceptable) is really running from the sea gull (yes, it's ok to call them that because they are gulls that live by the sea, and it rolls off the tongue better than just "gull" by itself), without getting all nitpicky about how it's a freeze-frame of the bird dropping the echinoderm.

Riiiight... Way to leave a sour taste in our mouths.

[winter_rogue]

I say you should keep the tecnical terms to your self.. dont ruin someones photo but thinking your smart.

[Jap Erfe]

Is that starfish really running away from the seagull? I think starfish can't go to land, they only go underwater.

[David Mizejewski]

Sorry folks if it seemed I was talking down by sharing info about sea stars and gulls. As a Naturalist, I'm an educator first and foremost and part of my job is to dispel myths and misconceptions about wildlife, and I recognized my own "nature-nerdiness." But this is a fun, light-hearted blog that focuses on odd things in the animal world, so I try not to take it too seriously. You shouldn't either.

[jessica D]

Very fun photo! I think part of the irony of the blog was being super-technical about the names and NOT the fact that sea stars can't run :)

[deepak]

nice

[Azelex]

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[Melissa]

I liked your bit of nature nerdery. What a great photo, it's almost as cute as you!

[Melissa]

It looks more so as if the starfish is gonna pull some fancy ninja moves on the seagull. lol

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[Hannah]

Nice data collection

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[jack sprat]

MYSTERY OF THE DAY

No Photoshop.
Sea stars cannot run on land.

What gives? (Roll over for answer.)

Answer: This ring-billed gull dropped it. Our intrepid shutterbug snapped!

FYI Sea stars are one of many species popularly styled "starfish". Just as ring-billed gulls are one of many so-called "sea gulls". Some scientists fussily insist that there are no such things as "sea gulls" or "starfish", but we know better, don't we?

Thereby, things are taught and NO ONE comes off badly. FYI (LOL)

Question: First rule of writing?

Answer: Consider your audience.

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