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Allegro-Designs — Discovery of the Millenium
Published: 2012-05-23 19:05:56 +0000 UTC; Views: 5931; Favourites: 188; Downloads: 23
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Description
Let's play a game!Comment with any question you'd want to ask one of these marine biologists about their new discovery and they (I) will do their very best to give you a thoughtful answer.
[CHARACTER CHANGE - GO!]
Hello out there. My name is Dr. Andrews and I will be taking your questions about this marvelous creature. To start, I'll tell you a little about what's going on in our lab today.
Three weeks ago, my team was out on a dive looking for fossils when they heard a strange animal call. It sounded much like a whale, except whales do not have the ability to create the range of pitches my team was hearing. It was almost as if the creature was singing. After sending down two more teams, they found this massive beast trapped under what looked to be some fallen rocks. Her mate, who was a good three or four meters shorter, was already crushed by another rock nearby. It was nothing we'd ever seen before, so we rushed to free her and brought her back to the labrotory. Strangely enough, she didn't struggle (which is good, seeing as she probably has the strength to crush any unprotected human).
We were perplexed as to what this could be. Finally, we all admitted that there was no other explination - we had found a mermaid.
Today, you can see our team of specialists analyzing her reactions and habits. On a whim, we've even had Dr. Jerriene come in. She trains Gorrillas to communicate using sign language and pictures. So far, the creature seems to be doing well and is cooperating wonderfully.
Frequently Asked Questions -
Q: Why do you have her in such a small space?! Animals shouldn't be cooped up like that!
A: When we first brought her here we had her in a MUCH larger tank, but she actually began showing signs of anxiety and stuck to the corners and crevices. We've learned that they feel safer in smaller spaces.
Q: She looks so human like. How is this possible?
A: We're still debating about that. Our hypothesis is that her anscestors were the same ones that lead to the modern day humans. A good example of what we think happened is along the lines of the whales - Whales actually evolved to go on land, then for whatever reason, they went back to the water. This may have happened with a branch of the early humans.
Q: She's HUMUNGOUS. How in the world did she get so big?
A: Again, we don't know anything for sure. Our closest guess is the Goldfish Theory. A goldfish's size is proportional to their environment and their population. Since we've never seen one of these before, we can assume their population is very small, and with the whole ocean to live in, they grew to be very large. Their size is also probably a defense measure against predators that would normally be able to hunt human-sized prey.
Your turn! Do you have any questions about her that you're just dying to know the answer to? Want to know how she does something, or what one of her special features is? leave a comment below!
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Comments: 118
No angry birds? shame... maybe the mermaid wants to play with it XD
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Well, I'm not going to say outright that we don't all have our games that we like to keep on hand, but we're strictly forbidden from playing them during work hours.
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What if the mermaid wants to?
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Technology doesn't happen to mix with water very well. Besides, her palm alone is much bigger than out iPads.
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There are actually water proof cases on the market, and I'm sure you can ask apple (if needed) to make a large I pad for the purpose, not like it'll be mass produced or anything.
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That may be, but she seems a bit spooked by technology anyway. I'm not sure that something as large as an iPad made for her that lights up and flashes colors would go over well. It's a good idea, but I don't think we'll be able to pull it off.
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maybe if you find a way to add an interface into the window of her tank.
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Again, all great ideas, but we just can't focus on that at the moment. If we did eventually do that, we would have to wait an indefinite amount of time for her to grow comfortable enough with us and her surroundings (not to mention things that light up) to install it. Then, there's the subject on HOW MUCH an interface of that size for such a purpose would cost. It would be very, very expensive. In order to justify getting such a grant from the board, we would have to know that we were capable of keeping her for a very long time, and the jury's still out on how long we have this girl.
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Has one of your team members try to swim with her?
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Oh yes, it's a common occurrence. Several times a week, we'll have someone in the tank with her, performing various tasks. While it just started out as a means of running tests, we now take turns going in and playing with her. She's just so docile that, while we still take precautions, none of us ever feel threatened when with her.
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One this is a very awesome idea! This reminds me of a Fact or Faked show where they were looking for a sea creature to end up recording a sound unlike anything they have ever heard along with the whales and dolphins. I wanted to know so bad what it looked like.
With that said onto the questions:
1. Does or can she/parts of her light up like some of the other deep water dwelling fish. Those things coming out of her head kind of look like a few bottom of the ocean fish who have headlights on their heads in the form of antennas. They usually use them to hypnotize other fish.
2. With that asked are those sharp bone/cartilage like teeth (like a Piranha or small shark) or are they more like a whales mouth excluding the Killer whale type of teeth? I just wonder if those are lights on her antennas and if she hypnotizes her prey to eat?
3. Have you tried turning off all the lights or running a black light on her to see if she glows?
4. Does she seem to hear incredibly well like whales and dolphins that can hear sonic waves and sounds of the ocean from miles away?
5. If she can't see the lab equipment unless the lights are on in the lab part can she see well in the dark or does she smell like a shark does?
6. Have you ever tried to have other fish/mammals interact with her to see how she responds to them like dolphins or played back sounds of them or whales.
I have always wanted to be an oceanologist but never had the chance. As you can see I have a lot of questions about her. Well I wish her and your lab well and hope that you can form a bridge across the gulf and establish a form of communication and learn from each other.
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Wow, that's a lot of questions! We've never had anyone be so interested in her before.
1. Her "antennae" are very much like the ones found on angler fish and have independent movement, so it's a logical conclusion they're used in the same way. She also has lines of several pinpoint lights running along either side of her crest, but they don't produce significant light.
2. Her teeth are, again, much like ours, so your first choice is more accurate.
3. We have not tried that yet, but I'll make a note to have one of my technicans do so.
4. There's no way of testing that just yet. That'll be something to try out once she's released back into the wild.
5. She sees very well in the dark. The reflection on the glass just makes it hard to see distances. When she's in the brightly lit tank, her eyes are adjusted to bright environments, therefore making it hard to see into our dark labrotory.
6. We've played back various tracks and monitored her response to see what she hunts or hides from. So far, she seems to be a tad wary of whales, and she doesn't really respond at all to dolphins. We have a feeling that they all leave each other well enough alone, and the only confrontation between them is for territory.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
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Thanks so much for the replies. This was and is fun what a great idea! Please let me know about 3 and 4 when you get the chance. Oh and back to 1. What color(s) are her lights? Are all her lights one color or several colors? Do they change color due to mood?
She really is a wonderful creation and so full of life and spirit.
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As for your blacklight idea, she appears to glow very slightly, but it's not very noticeable. For some reason, she didn't seem to like it, so we turned it off fairly quickly.
Her lights are all a very pale yellow. They do not change color, but she can blink her main ones when something's upsetting her.
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Awe didn't mean to upset her. Maybe the UV light. I hope she is alright. Tell her when she can understand us I am sorry.
I bet when she lights up she is even prettier.
Good luck to you and your most remarkable discovery Dr. Andrews.
p.s. I really love the drawing you made of her and the lab. The small details make it look pretty real, like the danger sign, the small computer pad and the panel of lights on the wall I mean you really thought about it and how it would look. I never thought of making a deviation like this with a Q&A forum. Really neat and very interactive love it!!
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She just doesn't like us waving equipment around her, that's all. She wasn't hurt, so don't worry. I'll see about uploading a picture of her when she's lit up. She doesn't do it often, but I'll see what I can do.
Thank you so much! People seem to be really interested, so I'll see about adding more updates every so often.
p.s. Thank you so much! I was really hoping that the details would add more of an atmosphere. Plus, it just adds all the more things to ask about. ^^ I have another one of these in the making.
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Glad she's not hurt, I can't stand any harm to animals, creatures, or even people for that matter.
That would be so awesome to see her lit up.
Can't wait this one was so much fun!!!!
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My question would be if the scientists would reach a point with their study of the creature where they can change a human into one?
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We're not really going to look too much into that, at least for now. We're just focused on learning as much as possible about this creature before we set it free. Besides, we have the means to genetically clone one, but we have no way of "transforming" someone into one.
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Ok understand.
Can you ask more than one question?
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Why was the male so much smaler than the female is?
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With many species, the female is larger (sometimes extremely so). In this case, from what we could see from her mate's body, the males are more agile, as well as equipped with more jaw muscles. The males are obviously built for fighting whereas the female is built more for protecting her offspring.
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Understand. Thank you.
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I can't help but notice something similar to breasts on her! Could that mean they're mammals?
(PS: Awesome idea and drawing Turbo!)
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Yes, she has a set of mammary glands much similar to us. However, they are smaller than expected for a creature of such size, implying that their young does not need as much nourishment as ours. This could mean that offspring begin to hunt as soon as they are born (therefore needing less nutrients from the mother).
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Mara says: I really hope you guys intend to set her free again sooner or later, or else my question is how you would like to be kicked in the butt.
As she said, are you going to release her?
P.S. This drawing is rather amazing, I like the gaze she send the Doctor.
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We do intend to release her eventually, but we are going to keep her under intense observation while she is under our care. After that, she will be set free with a tracking device so we can perhaps find more of her kind, and in turn, study their social patterns.
P.S. Thank you!
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Never liked the idéa of tracking devices actually.
Offgame: This is an interesting idéa. 
You're welcome.
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We wouldn't have the need for one if we could readily find another creature like her, however at this time, we want to be sure their entire race doesn't disappear under the radar again.
Offgame: It's been really fun so far. I'm getting a lot of thought-provoking questions.
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Humans. You are so curious about everything.
OG: Thats great! Makes you think about things you didn't thought about before.
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Awesome idea~ (lol OC question time xD) -Saitmil- Hmm, she's so very different...how much of her communication have you managed to understand~? She seems like she is just as smart as we are, maybe smarter, but possible speaks in a different tongue than us?
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We haven't been able to pinpoint many of her vocal patterns yet, mostly because she has such a wide range of them. She does emit a certain kind of squeal when she's hungry, but that's all we have so far. That's actually another reason we want to train her to communicate with us. We're not afraid to admit that we're not at a level to learn her language through observation alone, so perhaps after she learns to convey a message to us, she can help us learn her vocal patterns in return.
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-Saitmil- Hmmm I understand, have you tried letting her try and teach you? It seems as though she may, in time, teach you her language better than if you tried to learn it by trying to communicate with her, also have you tested to see her reaction to things like music and other animal sounds? It could provide you with more information ~
((This is an awesome idea~ Also love how you drew her, the colors suit her really well 
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That's actually the idea so far. We're going to teach her some basics of sign language so that we can ask her questions and request that she teach one of our linguistics professors her vocal patterns.
As for the music, no we haven't. We have, however, used animal sounds/smells to build some kind of idea as to what she hunts or hides from, depending on her reaction.
((Thanks! I had a lot of fun. 
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-Saitmil- I see, so what exactly does she eat? It seems that perhaps she may need a fair bit of food? Or does she only require food every now and again like a snake?
((I understand that xD You did a really good job on the countershading, I'm trying to learn how to do so with paints at the moment but I'm not too good at it xD))
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She eats small fish as well as various shellfish. As for the amount, she does need a fair amount of food. Because her prey is so small, she constantly "grazes" on what she digs up in the fine sediment at the ocean floor.
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This is so great! I love it! The idea and story behind it is so thought-out-- it's awesome!
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Thank you very much! I've gotten some interesting questions so far. It's quite fun.
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i see there's a high voltage sign & she have some eelish characteristics, does the especimen produces electricity like the eels?
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She hasn't produced any electrical impulses since she's been in our care so far. That sign is actually a warning for the tank regulation system next to it. If anything, she shares more characteristics with an anglerfish than an eel. Good observation, though.
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oh my god, I love this. This is absolutely fascinating ' w '
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With all possibilities on the table, it's most likely that these creatures just haven't lost the DNA strain that determines human hair growth patterns. She even has a very fine layer of hair on her arms and torso, even continuing down her tail a bit, much like us.
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Is the Hair cosmetic, or is there a purpose for it? or should I say porpoise? Wokka Wokka!
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