Hares of the Sea - Happy Easter from the Maiden crew!
By April Armstrong
It may seem that there would rarely be hares near Maiden, but in fact we are sharing space with them in seas all over the world!
Sea hares (lepus marinus) are a type of marine mollusk in the class gastropod. They are called sea hares because they have two round shapes coming from their heads that look something like rabbit ears. These parts are called rhinophores and are used for detecting scents. Sea hares do not hunt for eggs, rather they follow scents to find mates or food.
Instead of munching on carrots, sea hares dine on sea weed, eel grass, or algea. Some sea hares can swim using a form of jet propulsion, their underwater bunny hops. Reaching up to 16 inches (40.6cm) the largest sea hares can even reach the size of a small bunny.
Various types of sea hares can be found all over the world sharing many of the seas Maiden visits. Maiden is currently underway heading towards Florida where some sea hares reside. Happy Easter from Maiden and the hares of the sea.
If you want to learn more about these interesting hares of the sea, check out the work of Scripps PhD student Danielle McHaskell on Instagram @seaweedsista - https://www.instagram.com/seaweedsista/
Danielle McHaskell on Sea hares: https://www.instagram.com/p/CHn_FHcB3Ge/
