WEBVTT

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I believe this is a deep sea
dandelion which is a type of

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siphonophore. The more common
one that people might relate to

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is the Portuguese man of war
and so that's something we see

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up on the surface ocean. This
is a deep-sea alternative. So

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there's often a gas-filled
float somewhere up there that

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helps to keep these dandelions
suspended and then they have

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all of these threads, these
strings that are sticking them

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onto the the rock beside them.

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Those threads that you're
referring to, those are

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basically the tentacles and
they use those tentacles kinda

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like uh anchors to the
substrate that periodically

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they can uh release them and
then move to a different

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I'm not quite sure what it is
that's being uh spread out by

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this uh this dandelion here but
it could well be gametes or larvae.

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They're absolutely shedding.

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But they're very, very
difficult to study as well.

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When we collect these deep-sea
dandelions, they actually break

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up all into their individual
pieces. It's very, very

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difficult to get one of these
to the surface intact to be

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able to study. Absolutely
spectacular. What a great

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observation.