Foolish sea cucumbers
As you know, I am a real water rat! Every chance I get, I'm in the water. Under the surface live fat special animals. The sea floor is like another planet full of unusual shapes, colors and sea dwellers. And the most unusual of all are sea cucumbers!
No vegetables
At the bottom of the Indian Ocean, I come across a very special thing. Well, thing ... It looks a bit like a plant, but it is really an animal! A sea cucumber to be exact. And sea cucumbers are real survivors. Despite not having eyes and brains, they have been on our planet for 430 million years. What an achievement! These clumsy lobsters just survived the dino age!
"Sea cucumbers are closely related to sea urchins and starfish! Together, they belong to the echinoderms."
Master self-defender
HolyMoly! How fat sea cucumbers are. They may seem like defenseless quacks at the bottom of the ocean, but they are not! In fact, they have developed all sorts of vicious tricks to defend themselves from attackers. Some sea cucumbers have hard armor, others are poisonous, and still others protect themselves by emitting sticky threads. And then there is one last resort that some sea cucumbers use when in dire need. If they are really in danger, they vomit or defecate all their intestines! No problem for sea cucumbers, because it just grows back within a few weeks. Sick!
