Today I want to bring something different to the table and show you some underwater images These were taken in Brindisi marina. Bear with me as I get a bit accustomed and gain some gopro skills, and scroll to the bottom for video ;) I always found very fascinating the community of species that can grow on pretty much any hard substrate added in the sea. Yes, also the bottom of any boat, even if it has "antifouling" paint on it. But that's another story. Theoretically in "simple", featureless substrates, species struggle to attach. This may be true in the beginning, but then some biofilm develops (biofilm = a slime made of a mixture of micro-organisms, a little bit like the biofilm that forms on your teeth), and with that maybe some microalgae, that then prompt some other "pioneering" species to attach, let's say mussels or oysters, they start to grow and form a complex habitat onto which other species attach, using the little matrix to hide from predators, or taking advantages of the feeding currents created by the other organisms, or maybe eat the food the others wouldn't. In a way, they may be stuck in the same place together, but they make it work. It makes me think. Nature is wonderful and has developed so many mechanisms Remember when i talked about mussels cooperation? Well, I think as a society we have so much to learn even from these little critters, that so often we just ignore and treat as unwanted pests. Wanna learn more about biodiversity and these species? Then stay tuned! There will be more and more of this, and planning some itinerant lectures in the coming year(s)..
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