"Wow man that is definitely kinda creepy lol. I wonder does it only attach to fish, and if so is it only specific fish or just any it can get inside?"
-
Mike Westfall
- 22, Male
- St. Joseph, MO
- United States
- Blog Posts (14)
- Discussions (4)
- Events
- Groups (1)
- Photos (2)
- Photo Albums
- Videos
Mike Westfall's Page
Latest Activity
ricky maddox commented on Mike Westfall's blog post Bite Your Tongue, It'll Bite Back (If you're a fish)
Sean Nash commented on Mike Westfall's blog post Bite Your Tongue, It'll Bite Back (If you're a fish)"Thanks a ton for posting this........ yes, yes... parasites certainly incite the "ick" factor embedded within us, don't they?
Wow. That is certainly one sick little example of a creature very adapted to a particular situation.
Funny…"
Mike Westfall posted a blog postAwesome Andros Adventure
Matt and I woke up around 7:30 and headed to breakfast, which consisted of what most hotel breakfasts do – bagels generic bran flake cereal, various fruit, do-it-yourself waffles – you get the idea. Following breakfast, the entire group took a shuttle to the airport where we departed after about half an hour.In the plane with me were Dakota, Chris, Nick, Mr. Nash, Shelby, Terra, and Jayse. [picture from in the plane] I sat in the back of the plane by myself. When I sat down, the seat made a…See More
Profile Information
- High School:
- Benton
- The last three CD's I purchased/downloaded were:
- The Cool Kids - Bake Sale
Jose Gonzales - Veneer
Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas
- My favorite subject during the regular school day is:
- Most things except math
- Extracurricular activities I am involved in at school:
- principal's kid
- My interests (other than school) are:
- longboarding (9000+)
slackline
team squeeky bearings
Mike Westfall's Photos
Mike Westfall's Blog
Bite Your Tongue, It'll Bite Back (If you're a fish)
I stumbled upon this today while browsing the good ol' intertubes.
Apparently, there's a parasitic isopod out there that's burrowing into fish, eating their tongues, and replacing the tongues with themselves. After doing a little more research, I found that the parasites don't actually eat the tongue. The creature latches on to the fish-tongue's base and leeches blood from it. As the creature grows, less blood makes is able to enter the tongue, and the tongue atrophies. The isopod… Continue
Apparently, there's a parasitic isopod out there that's burrowing into fish, eating their tongues, and replacing the tongues with themselves. After doing a little more research, I found that the parasites don't actually eat the tongue. The creature latches on to the fish-tongue's base and leeches blood from it. As the creature grows, less blood makes is able to enter the tongue, and the tongue atrophies. The isopod… Continue
Posted on September 12, 2009 at 2:32pm — 3 Comments
Awesome Andros Adventure
Matt and I woke up around 7:30 and headed to breakfast, which consisted of what most hotel breakfasts do – bagels generic bran flake cereal, various fruit, do-it-yourself waffles – you get the idea. Following breakfast, the entire group took a shuttle to the airport where we departed after about half an hour.
In the plane with me were Dakota, Chris, Nick, Mr. Nash, Shelby, Terra, and Jayse. [picture from in the plane] I sat in the back of the plane by myself. When I sat down, the seat made… Continue
In the plane with me were Dakota, Chris, Nick, Mr. Nash, Shelby, Terra, and Jayse. [picture from in the plane] I sat in the back of the plane by myself. When I sat down, the seat made… Continue
Posted on May 11, 2009 at 6:00pm — 1 Comment
Macroliteral Assesment
My post is basically based on Terra's post, and a little of what I remember from last class. So, here we go...
I chose an article on Microbes in the thermal vents. I have always been interested in microbiology since middle school, when my seventh grade biology teacher, Nate Arnold, briefly touched on various single celled organisms. One organism in particular,… Continue
I chose an article on Microbes in the thermal vents. I have always been interested in microbiology since middle school, when my seventh grade biology teacher, Nate Arnold, briefly touched on various single celled organisms. One organism in particular,… Continue
Posted on December 1, 2008 at 7:30pm
More Fierce Fishing
Chapter twelve continues with the destructive fishing techniques by introducing muro-ami. Muro-ami was pretty interesting, if you ask me. Little kids scaring fish into a net with ropes and stuff. Sounds like fun. That is, until you realize the destruction caused by the weights at the bottom of the scary ropes. The weighted ropes would smash into coral and other sessile organisms at the sea floor and basically kill it all off. The poor things didn't stand a chance. It's really very… Continue
Posted on November 17, 2008 at 6:41pm — 10 Comments
Fresh From the Reef
Chapter eleven has gained a place in my top three favorite chapters in The Enchanted Braid. My interest in this chapter comes more from the sociological aspects of the chapter than the more relative coral destruction parts. The dive to survive idea blew me away after reading it. It's very similar to a sort of primitive struggle for life; the people are having to put their very lives at risk in order to barely get by. I suppose the divers are better of than I am leading myself to believe.… Continue
Posted on October 15, 2008 at 8:30pm — 1 Comment
Comment Wall (5 comments)
- At 10:30pm on January 20, 2009,
Taylor Braby said… - um well, torin started a group thing for our group its called "Something's fishy" so you should join. :)
- At 10:04pm on June 16, 2008,
Nicole Rohr said… - On your interests, it says that you like longboarding. Out here in RI that means surfing but I'm going to guess in MO that it means something different? Skateboarding, perhaps? Please enlighten me! :)
- At 6:33pm on June 16, 2008, Nicole Rohr said…
- Spin class is stationary bike riding at the gym. Sounds boring but GREAT exercise for those of us who have an aversion to riding thin metal objects on tiny roads with big cars...
- At 5:12pm on June 11, 2008,
Chris Puett said… - did you no going in you tell me do things and i dont run and...
- At 7:38pm on May 31, 2008, Sean Nash said…
- "principal's kid".... ok, i'll bite.
do tell how what seems like basic fact
becomes an "extracurricular activity"/
;-)
WATER...
warm
tropical
water
flowing
ever
so slowly
...northward
tropical
water
flowing
ever
so slowly
...northward
About
Latest Activity
McCabe Davis posted a blog postA New Experience
I woke up early and went to meet everyone at the library. Once we got our passports and tickets we all headed to the airport. We took a flight to Ft. Lauderdale. Once there we all we out to eat and I had a Mahi-Mahi sandwich and tried some oyster, steamed clam, and calamari. I think out of those 3 I will only have the calamari again. Then we got our rooms and got the information for the plane trip to Andros. We had the rest of the night to ourselves and I went swimming and hung out in some…See More
Loving the Bahamas!
I have known that I wanted to this program for a long time now. My brother did it back in 2003. I saw how much fun he was having learning the fish and then going out on the sail boats and seeing them in person. I saw what he brought back from the trip and it all sounded like so much fun i just had to try and go. So here I am! I took the class and went on the trip.Day 1 I couldn't sleep, I had to be up at 4:30 in the morning so we could meet at the library and and be at the air port around 6:20…See More
Time of my life!
Plane ride to Andros My group got here 2nd and right once we got to Forefar we ate lunch and then got in the water. I was ready to get right in and I saw so many fish. Shelby Mills and I went snorkeling together. The first fish we saw was a Beaugregory Juvenile. Then we saw a sea slug. It had orange and blue stripes going down its back. Then we also saw an adult Beaugregory. The next fish was a cocoa Damselfish. This fish has a blue color on top ends and a dark spot on the upper…See More
MacKinzie Lillian Conard posted a blog postAye, Mon! (a.k.a. My Bahamian Experience/Greatest Week of 2013)
Where do I even begin? Or better rephrased, how do I start telling the tale of the most intriguing adventure I've ever gone on in my short 17 years of life? The most obvious answer would be to start with Day 1, which is only logical, but once you've started reading my account, I think you'll understand why I didn't know where to begin. Day 1- Friday, March 21st, Saint Joseph to Ft. Lauderdale Boy, I definitely wished I was a morning person that day. We met at a parking lot at East Hill's mall…See More
Shelby Glenn posted a blog postThe Bahamian Experience
Everything about the Bahamas was pretty much perfect. The weather, the people, the lifestyle, the water, the air, the night sky, and the people. Did I say people twice? Heck yes I did because the people truly were some of the coolest people ever.They were some of the most down to earth and friendly people I have ever met. There was even a statue of a pair of hands shaking to really reinforce the fact that they were very friendly people.The first day that we spent on the island I played some…See More
Shelby Mills posted a discussionUnder the Sun-2013
Saturday, March 23rd, 2013Yesterday we arrived at Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to begin our adventure miles from home. Around 12:30 PM, 7 of us loaded a small plane with a pilot named Eddie (I got to be co-pilot!) and we set flight over the ocean. The ocean is simply breathtaking and magnificent. Looking the 5,000 feet down to the shades of blue wasn't full of much to look at but I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I was looking for something to strike my eye, to jump out of the water...SOMETHING!…See More
Rylee Hanlan replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"Although this chapter wasn't my favorite that I've read so far, I did learn some new and interesting things.. Like what Christmas tree worms are! And just how important sea grass is to the ocean. The reflection strategy that I used for…"
Jaycen LeeAnn Wilson replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"I made my key note about how everything is part of one. It's kind of like the lion king to me. Everything has to do with something. Or it's some disney movie like that. I loved this chapter, I think it was my favorite so far. I love how he…"
MacKinzie Lillian Conard replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"This book never fails to amaze me! I have always thought of a coral reef as being its own "island" because it is so diverse and strong by itself. However, Davidson very quickly points out that coral reefs are a small strand in a large…"
Rylee Hanlan replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"I thought the same thing when I was reading, and came across the term " Christmas tree worms" I google imaged it and thought they were pretty neat as well!"
Shelby Mills replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"Yet again, the seas continue to amaze me in their ability to support each other even when they get no appreciation. One thing in particular that I thought was simply spectacular about this chapter were the Thalassia and their development of mature…"
"Everything you write about in these discussion's are so creative and I really enjoy reading them. They are usually the first thing I read because it opens my mind about what I want to base mine off of. Great job! Also your Sci-poe last time was…"
"Okay, mine might seem boring because it is only talking about one thing. The Thalassia Testudinum a sea grass, but i found this story or part of this chapter really interesting. I thought it was beautiful how the 'parent' "bathes the…"
McCabe Davis replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Rise of Corals & The Heart of Lightness"I think Shelby did a great job on his sypo. It explains how important the tropics are and how much the sun affects the life of diversity there."
McCabe Davis replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"Mangroves, sea grass, and coral reefs. I never would have thought that these things would be interconnected so deeply. A braid within a braid. This chapter talks about how these three components are all connected and what roles they play.
The only…"
Megan Makena Zimbelman commented on Kelly Drinnen's photo
Coral Patchwork
"I truly enjoy the intricacy of this shot. I love how when one looks closely many colors can be found within this single image. One of my all time favorite quotes is "Life is a great big canvas and you should throw all the paint you…"
Megan Makena Zimbelman replied to Sean Nash's discussion The Outer Strands"'The Outer Strands' http://www.haikudeck.com/p/XzKNNCzUTA
My haiku deck is trying to represent how the ecosystems of a coral reef can be like a color wheel. Both are filled with diversity meaning that the types of colors and…"
Social thoughts from an ecologist
In the past, I would have categorized myself pretty much as a hard-core-Darwin-loving-Greenpeace ecologist...let's save the environment by creating marine reserves, no-take zones, and sanctuaries. We'll limit fishing in most areas and give the living marine resources a chance to recover even if it takes decades. Why can't people see what they are doing to the environment and do something to stop it? A lot of my views have gotten a rude awakening recently...I think it's hard for many of us to…See More
Photos
Recent visitors:
from ScienceDaily:
Researchers search for best feed for the 'king' of the rivers
The red mahseer is highly sought after by anglers and high end restaurants. Breeding them may be a bit easier now that researchers in Malaysia have found the best feed combination.Vast methane-based ecosystem uncovered
A marine research expedition has led to the discovery of perhaps the world's largest methane cold seep. The seep lies deep in the western North Atlantic Ocean, far from the life-sustaining energy of the sun. Mussels blanketing the the seep rely on bacteria that use the methane to make energy. The process, known as chemosynthesis, forms the basis for life in the harsh environment and could help scientists better understand how organisms can survive under these types of extreme conditions.Study reveals how fishing gear can cause slow death of whales
Using a "patient monitoring" device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale's diving and swimming behavior. The monitoring revealed how fishing gear hinders whales' ability to eat and migrate, depletes their energy as they drag gear for months or years, and can result in a slow death.Abundance and distribution of Hawaiian coral species predicted by model
Researchers have developed species distribution models of the six dominant Hawaiian coral species around the main Hawaiian Islands, including two species currently under consideration as threatened or endangered.Why we need to put the fish back into fisheries
Overfishing has reduced fish populations and biodiversity across much of the world’s oceans. In response, fisheries are increasingly reliant on a handful of highly valuable shellfish. However, new research shows this approach to be extremely risky.© 2013 Created by Sean Nash.
