Black Sea Hare - Animal of the Week

This week we're looking at a big chunky slug.

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[kpc_]

"they are bottom feeders and can't handle a lot of pressure"
sounds like me damn

[Never_heart]

I love the resignation and acceptance when he said "produces this toxin" and you just know he wasn't even going to attempt to pronounce chemical name

[brece]

I like how he said “this isn’t recommended” when it came to self reproduction. Like I was a Sea Hare thinking about it...

[thoughtfuldevil]

Fun fact: a guy named Ted Holiday wrote a book called "The Great Orm of Loch Ness" in which he suggested the eponymous monsters were, in fact, gigantic invertebrates. I always pictured them looking like Hippopotamus-sized sea hares, which is actually a very uncomfortable image in and of itself.

[squeezlebub]

See these guys all the time, love them to death. Picking one up feels like a giant slimey bowling ball.

[willywonka]

This brought up a long-forgotten memory of petting one at a tide pool. Their skin is incredibly smooth, like velvet.

[EvilFi]

I grew up near the San Francisco Bay, right in the middle of these big bois habitat, and yet never heard of them! Amazing!

[uninspired]

I remember my science teacher in LA taking us on a field trip to Malibu. The beach was full of these guys, we were picking them up, was pretty neat. Felt like playing with a sentient ball of tar

[erents]

Never knew they existed, I was surprised to see their membranes or wings, a graceful slug, amazing.

[KorosuzoXSR]

I’ve seen these while diving in the kelp forests.. The large size was a little surprising and fascinating at first then the “oh, yuck, I don’t want to get near something that looks like a giant slug” kicked in.

[kikog]

I used to pick them up whenever I went for walks on the beach as a kid! I once saved one from drying up on the shore by putting it in a tide pool

[the_royal_frick]

"But as of now they are fine, " that almost sounded spiteful

[LOUDMOUTHTYRONE]

I wouldn't hunt them. I'll breed them to be more domesticated, and less toxic. So they can become proper sea pigs.

[aleksamrkela]

It looks like a big blob of grimy tar when out of water. Fascinating creature.

[LuinTathren]

He's adorable! So slippery and slimy. He looks like he'd be fun to hold!

[debbiehenri]

I'm just glad they didn't decide to haul themselves out of the ocean and evolve into land animals - would hate to find one of these among my cabbages!

[elliottcoleman]

I found one while snorkeling once and it sparked my undying love for them. It was deep in a coral reef and wasn't so keen about people so it stayed in a firm protective ball but I loved it so much. It might have been because it was in a ball, but those things are much more firm feeling than people might guess.

[cabotfinch]

I remember finding these guys in tide pools as a kid! Didn't know they were exclusive to California though

[janegael]

This such a cool animal. I can't believe that I never heard of them.

[--Paws--]

1:38 Similarly my freshwater snails that eat algae of the glass and other surfaces tend to be a light grey-green while those that eat vegetables that I boil are a brighter green color. Some are a dark bright green, also depends on what kind of snail it is ramshorn snail (planorbidae) vs bladder snail (Physidae).