Nudies!

Despite that it's just really one room, the science center has some amazing animals and great diversity. An animal that I've come to love are our nudibranchs, which I adoringly call nudies. I did my first public program on them over the weekend. It's great how work comes easier when you are so excited and enthused by the topic. Nudibranchs are also called sea slugs, which gives you a better idea of what they look like, feel like, etc. The Pacific NW has about 200 species, worldwide there are around 6,000. Some books that I studied said they were some of the most colorful animals in the world. The ones we have are pretty awesome but there are some that are so beautiful it is hard to believe they're real - google the image to see some. They also have funny names too like shaggy mouse, sea lemon, hooded, clown, the list goes on. The hooded nudibrach, which I've pictured here, smells like watermelon even. They have awesome defense mechanisms where they can eat their prey, such as a sponge and take the spicules from the spones (like spikes) and use them to defend itself. I've taken pictures of the hooded and the red gilled and then a seagull on the pier next to my "office." Hope you enjoyed the science lesson!