Sea Angel

How could you not love a gorgeous little creature like this?  It looks just like a tiny angel swimming through the sea – complete with “wings” (a.k.a. parapodia) and an ethereal glow. 

These shell-less sea snails are mainly transparent and are known to zoom around reaching speeds of 100mm per second. That may not seem fast to you and me, but it’s super-speedy for a mini sea creature. They swim twice as fast as their favourite delicacy, and close relative, the sea butterfly. 

The sea angel swims in the waters of the sub-sea ice polar regions such as the North Atlantic and Arctic Sea. They can also be found in equatorial seas. Antarctic sea angels don’t have many predators as they produce a distasteful chemical compound which prevents other sea creatures from eating them. 

These little beauties are protandrous hermaphrodites. This means they start out male and become female throughout the duration of their lives. As they reach adulthood, they start developing eggs. This doesn’t mean they can reproduce all on their own. They still need two to tango. The male and female attach to each other using a specialized sucker which leaves quite a scar when they are done. They float together for several hours even hunting as a team when they get hungry.

When the time is right, they release eggs into the sea in a gelatinous mass. This floats around until they hatch. The teeny little newborns start with shells as you would expect from a snail, however, they shed them within a few days of hatching. 

Tidbit of Awesomeness – They turn their sexual organs inside-out to mate. There I said it, now I’m going to stop imagining it.

There’s nowhere you can exist where you aren’t surrounded by angelic guidance and support. You are loved. Perhaps you needed to hear this. I’ll say it again. You are loved. 

Love and beauty can be found in unexpected places. Even in the harshest environments, you survive and you are beautiful. Your light shines from deep within. If you’re feeling a bit low and have dimmed that light, spend some time doing things you love to self-nurture. Step into nature and truly absorb all the beauty this wonderful planet has to offer. When you connect with earth, you will become grounded and balanced.