Purple Blob of the Sea

So you can’t always travel to Colorado for your cannabis tour, right? While we would love to see you here in Denver, in the meantime we’ve come up with some “tours” you can take all by yourself. Turns out you can get high and explore the deep ocean from the comfort of your living room couch.

This amazing possibility came to our attention through a video that made the rounds online. Scientists discovered a mysterious purple orb off the coast of California that they couldn’t immediately identify.

The discovery was shown on a NautilusLive.org. Nautilus Live provides live-streaming deep ocean exploration through their website. The Nautilus E/V is a research vessel that deploys remotely operated vehicles to the bottom of the ocean. The ROV’s send back audio, video and data to scientists. The Nautilus is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust. Dr. Robert Ballard founded the OET and also discovered the Titanic.

The video of the blob discovery is rather hilarious. The scientists making the discovery are chatting with each other, and obviously have fun exploring together. When they spot it and pull in, they try to hazard guesses about what it might be. When challenged to guess the phylum, one woman says “purple!”. They are all completely stumped about what type of creature this thing is.

They decide to collect it. And almost as if it hears them, a nearby crab starts to scramble up the rock face toward the purple blob. It becomes a race to use the “slurp” to get the purple blob before the crab can eat it for dinner. (Watch the video to see if the blob survives the crab ambush).

The Nautilus E/V has several missions. The purple blob was discovered when the vessel was off the California. The Nautilus will stay there until August 12. Then it will head north along the coast to the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. There are several shipwrecks that the ship will explore, along with deep sea coral and sponge habitats.

The website is a goldmine for videos from the deep sea. My favorite is the sperm whale. He swims up out of the depths are starts to investigate the ROV they are working with. It’s hard not to get as excited as the scientists clearly are, as he circles around. In another video, check out a dumbo octopus.

So while you’re planing your next trip to Denver, get high and add some science to your life. Expand your mind through a scientific and entertaining resource right at your fingertips.