Tuna crabs are back—tell a friend! Once again, swarms of pelagic red crabs—aka tuna crabs, Pleuroncodes planipes—beached themselves In Monterey yesterday.
First seen in October of last year, there have been a handful of these mass strandings of juvenile crabs—a normal part of the lifecycle of this species—during our 2015-2016 El Niño.
Pushed northward by currents and pleasant climes, tuna crabs are one of the most prominent indicators of these changed seas at the hands of El Niño. They were last seen in Monterey during the 1982-1983 ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation).
Hot on the tails of these tasty treats are hordes of blue whales—twenty individuals were spotted recently near Moss Landing! We even saw a blue whale lunge feeding on the surface from the back deck of the Aquarium, perhaps drawn in by fresh and delicious Mexican food.
As the ocean continues to warm due to climate change, these events may become more commonplace in our area, as southern seas slowly slink north.
The return of the tuna crabs is a reminder that slight changes in temperature can drastically affect the community of animals living in the ocean—and bring a trip to Mexico to our backyard.
You can learn more about tuna crabs in our blog posts:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back—pelagic red crab beach bisques that is! The lobster krill/tuna crabs/bloop lords have once again flowed into Monterey Bay and are washing up on local beaches.
These southern squat lobsters typically make their appearance around here during El Niño conditions—which @noaasanctuaries has at ~70% chance for this winter.
So ¡Bienvenidos otra vez Pleuroncodes planipes! It certainly seems like, at least locally, the ocean is betting on a winter visit from El Niño!
Are… do people just walk up to them and grab a few for dinner? Please say no.
“
Linsey Sala, a Scripps scientist, said the tuna crab appear to have established a longer-term population of the crustaceans that may linger in the waters off Southern California for a number of years. Scientists say the crabs are not edible for humans because they may have eaten toxin-producing plankton.”
On the 23rd of August 2018, this memorial was officially opened. As you can tell by the name, it was built to commemorate those 22,000+ civilians (as well as serving officers) who died in an unknown place/time after the Soviet Union (SU) occupied our country.
Whether they were arrested and killed for being a threat to the new regime, deported to various prison camps across the SU territory or they didn’t make it through the long, treacherous journey in a cramped up train wagon (meant for animals), which took them away from their homeland, they never came back and their relatives have no idea when or where they died…
Well, now the victims’ friends and family have a place to go and commemorate them. I visited this memorial 2 days after it was opened to the public and will now share some photos I took to show you what it looks like.
This is the entrance from the outside, which is surrounded by two tall black walls. On the inside of these walls are the 22,000+ victims’ names, inscribed on plaques. If you enter it, you are going on the Journey.
The Journey through these walls symbolises the merciless power of the totalitarian system. It’s supposed to make you feel.. how should I say this?.. Oppressed. You’re surrounded, but you sort of want to break free from this tight space, right? Well, the thing is you can’t, because your freedom has been taken away from you. You can’t break free, not until you come to the end of the Journey. The names on either side of you remind you that not everyone survived this ordeal.
Once you finish the Journey, you reach the Home Garden. I quote: “The Home Garden is a place where dreams, memories and the yearning for home are intertwined. Apple trees and honeybees are the symbols of the Home Garden.” (X)
When you move closer to the wall, you can see the honeybees spread across it in bigger or smaller bunches, trying to protect each other. This idea came from a poem entitled “Ta lendab mesipuu poole”, written by an Estonian poet, Juhan Liiv. It’s also been made into a song, which is usually sung during our annual Song Festivals.
The lyrics have a very deep meaning behind them (which is why a lot of the singers cry when they sing this). In a literal meaning, it talks about how a family of bees works hard and some of the workers may die while on duty. But when their home (the honeycomb) is in danger, they hurry back to protect it without hesitation, not caring whether they die in the process or not.
As I interpret/see it, this actually represents Estonians and our love for our country. How we work together through better or worse so we could all live in peace. And when our homeland is being attacked, we come together and defend it with our lives.
Once you walk past the honeybees and up the stairs, you reach a long row of information texts and location stones (these reminded me of coffins) running along the wall. They contain detailed facts about what happened during those 50 years of communist terror, the stones name the locations where deportees/prisoners were taken/died (along with a map of the SU, showing the locations). I took pictures of every board, but you can all read the texts here.
At the beginning, I mentioned that there’s a part of the memorial that commemorates the serving officers who were murdered. Now we reach the final part, and this is what it looks like: bullet holes on the side of the wall. If you peek inside, you will see that most of them contain an old photograph of an officer, who was among the victims.
To me, this memorial also stands as a reminder of why Estonians are on their toes when it concerns our eastern neighbour, Russia, whose “public secret” is that they wish to restore their former glory (i.e. they wish to reconquer Eastern Europe and regain more power in this region). Have you heard what happened to Georgia in 2008? Do you know what’s been going in Eastern Ukraine since 2014?
This is why I hope to live long enough to see the day when Russia apologizes and takes responsibility for its war crimes. These are the reasons why we must never forget – for if we do, we will let history repeat itself.
In conclusion, I’ve read many more historical posts about how/why nazism is bad on this site, but rarely (if at all) have I come across a similar post about communism. The stories that smaller cultures/people/nations have to share about their history aren’t as “popular” or don’t get the attention they deserve. Yet it’s the minorities who we should stand up for and protect.
Please, if you think that others should know more about the history of my people, of my country, then I urge you to reblog this. This will not look ugly on your blog. Thank you for reading (and sharing)!
Mark: I know EXACTLY how to make you all cry, HA! I’ve spent months arranging plot lines, writing dialogue, creating setting, and – most importantly – perfecting characters new and old. I know them each like pieces of my own soul and when I present them to you in times of trouble, you will know, love, and desire the best for each one of them. BUT ALAS A HEINOUS PLAN WILL UNRAVEL AND EACH ONE WILL SUFFER – AND WITH THEM, YOU!! EACH ONE OF YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU – oh, hey, Jack. You have plans to make your subscribers cry this Halloween?
Jack, applying fake blood like an aftershave: all i have to do is mention Chase and they all start crying but just to be sure i’ll probably let Anti loose for a couple nights and figure out something really cool as we go
Mark: Let him loose?
Jack: yeah i don’t really control any of this:)))))
Mark:
Jack: i might not get out alive
Mark:
Jack: but it’s gonna be fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!pma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D!!!
Tuna crabs are back—tell a friend! Once again, swarms of pelagic red crabs—aka tuna crabs, Pleuroncodes planipes—beached themselves In Monterey yesterday.
First seen in October of last year, there have been a handful of these mass strandings of juvenile crabs—a normal part of the lifecycle of this species—during our 2015-2016 El Niño.
Pushed northward by currents and pleasant climes, tuna crabs are one of the most prominent indicators of these changed seas at the hands of El Niño. They were last seen in Monterey during the 1982-1983 ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation).
Hot on the tails of these tasty treats are hordes of blue whales—twenty individuals were spotted recently near Moss Landing! We even saw a blue whale lunge feeding on the surface from the back deck of the Aquarium, perhaps drawn in by fresh and delicious Mexican food.
As the ocean continues to warm due to climate change, these events may become more commonplace in our area, as southern seas slowly slink north.
The return of the tuna crabs is a reminder that slight changes in temperature can drastically affect the community of animals living in the ocean—and bring a trip to Mexico to our backyard.
You can learn more about tuna crabs in our blog posts:
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand we’re back—pelagic red crab beach bisques that is! The lobster krill/tuna crabs/bloop lords have once again flowed into Monterey Bay and are washing up on local beaches.
These southern squat lobsters typically make their appearance around here during El Niño conditions—which @noaasanctuaries has at ~70% chance for this winter.
So ¡Bienvenidos otra vez Pleuroncodes planipes! It certainly seems like, at least locally, the ocean is betting on a winter visit from El Niño!
I went on a spontaneous road trip and spent the day in Galway today!! One of my favourite cities ever, it feels so special and beautiful- so good to be back! 💕 I thought you guys might like to see some photos I took!
A beautiful day in a beautiful city! 💚☺️
Whenever people tell me they’re going to Ireland and where to visit I always tell them to go to Galway 🙂 Love that place
If you want cute names for your partner just use ones on candles they’re so beautiful like pumpkin spice or Passion flower or midnight rose or vanilla bean
A Glitch Named Anti 