In anticipation of being able to clean a dolphin skull I’ve been thinking a lot about how completely FUCKY dolphins and other cetaceans are anatomy wise… Like they are some of the strangest, most alien mammals out there. Specifically their skulls and heads.
So this is your typical dolphin, a smooth round head with a cute smiling beak. You would think their skulls would be shaped like their heads, that’s usually how skulls work. Something like this….
But In reality their skulls actually look like THIS flat alligator thing…
I’m sure you are thinking… “Where is the forehead”??? What if I told you that entire big lumpy forehead isn’t actually its “forehead” but rather something called a “melon” which is actually part of the NOSE or nasal apparatus.
Its essentially just a big gross fluid/jelly blob masquerading as a decent forehead. The melon has evolved as a way of amplifying and detecting vocalizations used in echolocation.
Other terrifying facts:
They have no ear holes, most sound is picked up by a combination of the melon and vibrations through the jaw bone.
They can’t breathe through their mouths. There is something called a
laryngeal plug completely separates the respiratory and digestive tracts. Cetaceans have been known to drown if their blowhole is obstructed.
Their breathing is not automatic. They must constantly think and chose when to take breaths.
Sperm whales (Also cetaceans) are the loudest animals on earth. If you were to swim right next to their giant heads as they released a sonar pulse the shockwave could cause internal bleeding and nerve damage. Partially thanks to their giant “melon” amplifying and directing the pulse.
New goddess idea: She’s an earth goddess of the new age who’s domain is spinning and weaving, but specifically spinning and weaving gigantic structural steel cables for construction and other industrial purposes. Her skin is steel grey and hard to the touch and her hair is like long dredlocks of woven steel. She laughs at shitty architecture deigns that will fall apart if actually built and protects well-made bridges and buildings she likes. She might warn you of unforseen danger if you always wear your proper PPE.
Okay now what do I name her
O’sha.
Obviously
THAT’S PERFECT
I AM ALWAYS HERE FOR QUALITY WORKPLACE SAFETY REGULATION PUNS
That’s my goddess. 👍🏻
May O’sha bless you with earplugs that are comfortable and respirators that fit perfectly.
And good steel. Always good steel.
May your steel deliveries be always on time and your rebar strong
“it’s that time of the year when I get colds for no apparent reason again” have some Clairitin hon
But also we’re not becoming allergic to everything nowadays like certain white moms fear. Allergies have always existed. They were just talked about differently
Like “oh clams always ~turn my stomach~”. Or “what a pity he was taken from us at age 5”
“Well we didn’t have all this fancy chronic illness stuff in the Olden Days, what did people do then??”
They died, Ashleigh.
This is a picture tracking bullet holes on Allied planes that encountered Nazi anti-aircraft fire in WW2.
At first, the military wanted to reinforce those areas, because obviously that’s where the ground crews observed the most damage on returning planes. Until Hungarian-born Jewish mathematician Abraham Wald pointed out that this was the damage on the planes that made it home, and the Allies should armor the areas where there are no dots at all, because those are the places where the planes won’t survive when hit. This phenomenon is called survivorship bias, a logic error where you focus on things that survived when you should really be looking at things that didn’t.
We have higher rates of mental illness now? Maybe that’s because we’ve stopped killing people for being “possessed” or “witches.” Higher rate of allergies? Anaphylaxis kills, and does so really fast if you don’t know what’s happening. Higher claims of rape? Maybe victims are less afraid of coming forward. These problems were all happening before, but now we’ve reinforced the medical and social structures needed to help these people survive. And we still have a long way to go.
Memorial graffiti for Will Van Spronsen, a 69-year-old anarchist who was
killed by police while firebombing ICE transit vehicles at a migrant
detention facility in Tacoma on the 13th of July 2019.
Aiden, He/ Him, 20 years on this Earth. I really enjoy music. Im learning to love myself and have more self confidence while I get my body to how I want it. I am working on growing myself and being a better person. Dont be afraid to say hey!
