Remoras, Pilots and Copepods

It's good to be back. I've always enjoyed cartoons that help you put your tiny problems in perspective while also teaching you wonderful lessons about life and the world. For those of you don't know the companions to the sharks, we have:
Pilot Fish:
While these fish do prefer Oceanic whitetip sharks, I had to choose between a sucker fish on The Shark vs being followed by a striped fish and I think the latter appealed more. Here's a bit more information on pilot fish.
Remora:
These unique fish have a suction cup on top of their heads which helps them to attach themselves to sharks and other creatures. This way they can eat scraps around their host and clean their host's skin too.
 Which brings us to why the Greenland shark is annoyed. There's a tiny little parasite, a copepod (Ommatokoita elongata) that attaches itself to the EYE of these sharks!
So, when one considers all that they have to complain about for the day, do remember that at least you don't have a copepod hanging from your eye. If you do, I suggest you try and make friends since you're going to be together for a long time.

World Oceans Day 2018

The theme for this year's World Oceans Day is 'Preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean'.
It's quite heartbreaking to see the effect of plastics on our world. For the sake of our conveniences, we ignored the consequences. So much of marine life is affected by this. I hope we start making small changes in our own way - perhaps carry reusable cutlery, bags, straws etc. It only takes a little effort to make something good a habit.

No touchy

This was an idea for India's first dive expo - Most divers are extremely respectful towards marine life and that is why one of the first things they insist is for all snorkelers and divers to not touch fish, coral or anything in the water. It's not a petting zoo, people.