Dive Into Your Imagination

Fish think that School is Cool, do you know why? Many fish school for protection, they continually work their ways into the center of the school as they swim round and round and round because they do not want to be on the outside where they are the most vulnerable. You can get dizzy as you watch them. Schools of fish can be made up of fish that just hang out together, or they can be highly organized schools of fish. They barely swim a "fins" length away from one another. They seem to move at the same speed and in unison. Watch the video to check out this school of jacks!

Skinny fish about six inches long, they look like a school of knives as they school and have been nicknamed razorfish or shrimpfish. They can hide amongst coral or seagrass. They are in the pipefish family and have bony plates. At night the color of their skin reflects light and they shine like metal. On the following page you can see a school of these fish hiding in blades of turtle grass.

Ask a child what they love about the ocean and some will say dolphins, or "Nemo", yet overwhelming everyone screams SHARKS! We are fascinated by sharks! To the right you see a grey reef shark up close and personal. Sharks have existed for more than 450 million years! But because they are made of cartilage...do you know what cartilage is? Touch your ears. Touch your nose. Touch your ears...that is cartilage! Cartilage does not fossilize so how do you think we know they lived for so long?

Barracudas. Nicknamed 'Tigers of the Sea' they fascinate us! Living in schools or alone on the reef, these fish have the greatest smiles! You can learn alot by the shapes of a fishes mouth and the type of teeth they have. Carnivorous Barracudas have razor sharp teeth they use to slash their prey. Check out the video of schooling barracuda...

What has five pairs of legs, wears their skeleton on the outside of their body, has lived on earth for 110 million years, has spines all over their body, use antennae for feeling and like to eat things off the bottom of the ocean? Oh my gosh, did you guess lobsters? You are right. Not all lobsters have claws, spiny lobsters off the west coast do not have claws at all. Check out the video on the next page to learn more!

Spiny lobsters have an exoskeleton for protection. These lobsters are crustaceans, related to crabs and shrimp. You can find out more about these animals in the Dive Into Diversity DVD.

Ghost Pipefish? Can their be such a thing? The ocean is full of whacky and wild critters. Look closesly at the fish to the right. Can you see the eye? What about the gill plate? I will give you a hint, it is the scale looking plate to the left of the eye. And check out this fishes skin, what is that growing all over its body?

Can you find the ornate ghost pipefish in the video? Click play to watch!