For Valentine’s Day this year I decided to get a little creative. Here are 3 of my own marine science related valentine creations! Below each drawing is a short explanation of the Valentine!

Explanation: There is huge sexual dimorphism between male and female anglerfish. When the male is searching for his one true love (a mate), he uses his amazing sense of smell and follows a species-specific pheromone until he finds a to a female. Once the male finds a suitable partner, he bites into her and latches his body completely fuses with the females. The male anglerfish literally cannot live with out the female.

Explanation: After a female emperor penguin lays her egg, she immediately returns to the ocean/sea to feed for two months. During that time the male is responsible for incubation of the egg. The male literally starves for two months straight unable to leave the egg  to go to sea to forage.

Explanation: In some species of octopus the male is much smaller than the female. The male has a detachable tentacle. Once the male mates with the female he will detach the tentacle and rapidly swim away. If he does not escape the female will devour the male to gain the extra energy reserves to assist with the laying of her eggs.

Hope you all enjoyed these as much as I do!

Happy Valentine’s Day!