Dead pufferfish washes up on Thai beach.
Beach combing is both fun and relaxing. It's always interesting finding weird and wonderful things, but the question- where did it come from' can never be completely answered.
During my last trip to the beach, a few hours south of Bangkok, this pufferfish stood out. I had seen them in shops before- the dried ones with fake eyes that you hang up somewhere! But this simple discovery got me wondering- why did it die?
With only basic knowledge of marine life and ecosystems, I began thinking and hoping it wasn't due to polluted waters.
Pufferfish can inflate into a round shape to evade predators. They are also known as blowfish, these clumsy swimmers fill their elastic stomachs with huge amounts of water (and sometimes air) and blow themselves up to several times their normal size.
Some species also have spines on their skin to ward off predators. Even if a predator gobbles up a puffer before it inflates, it won't enjoy the snack. Most pufferfish contain a toxic substance that makes them foul tasting and potentially deadly to other fish. The toxin is deadly to humans. There is enough poison in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.
Map Source: www.kids.nationalgeographic.com/content/dam/kids/photos/animals/Fish/H-P/pufferfish-map.ngsversion.1396530884902.gif
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What a well written article with an inviting title!
Honestly I had no prior knowledge about marine life prior to reading this article! Thanks for taking the time to write this rn lighting piece. It blows my mind to think that puffer fish carry enough poison to kill 20 humans. Before reading this, I thought their only defense mechanism was expanding to scare away predators.
Anyway, what are your thoughts... was it the pollution or something else?
Cheers!
Thanks for your reply. I have no idea- lets hope it was old age lol. There was a fair bit of rubbish that had been washed up further up the beach, water seemed ok, but the rubbish came from somewhere.
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Of course! The amount of trash in the ocean makes me sick to my stomach.
Just saw this reply and gave you a follow back!
Have a nice day, @thinkit
~Kevin
Wow it looks really cool, special fish that is! I'm almost saying that it looks like a stinging hamster...oops, did I just say that? :-D
Haha well maybe! just followed you, please follow back :)