Better than Bullshit

To stay true to my motto of “draw them in with juvenile humor, teach them science when you got them”, here I present my collection of videos with vertebrates and invertebrates farting or taking a dump underwater. On the way to these videos, we’ll learn something about the animals which showcase their digestion.

Sea Cucumber

This was a very unusual piece of natural history, which I filmed in Apo Island in the Philippines. It’s well-known that sea cucumbers can defend themselves by extruding sticky threats from their rectums. But this one seemed to knock another sea cucumber away from itself by letting out a massive water-fart. I don’t know if the event was a coincidence of one sea cucumber climbing on another, or if this was a goal directed defensive behavior – it was a curious piece of underwater action to capture in any case.

 

Turtle and Sea Cucumber

I actually won a video compost with this one: during the later part of a dive, in a shallow seagrass area, a sea turtle relieved itself and left a huge poop on the seafloor. These animals are grazers, and can consume significant quantities of seagrass. In areas where tiger sharks prey on green sea turtles, the seagrass growth is reduced. The overfishing of tiger sharks (I have never seen one in person!) can have indirect negative effects on seagrass, which grows too heavily and causes detriment to the sediment below the seagrass.

 

Sea Slug

I hope you enjoyed these,

Best Fishes,

Klaus