I've been seeing this whales poster by Uko Gorter going around. I wanted to point something out. http://www.ukogorter.com/merchandise/whales-of-world-poster.html

See this HUGE chunk of whales I've highlighted? It's a group called the Beaked Whales, and we know ALMOST NOTHING ABOUT THEM.

They are deeply weird. Many of them have enormous underbites and huge, protruding tusks. http://opencage.info/pics.e/large_17034.asp

They dive deeper and longer than any mammal on Earth. One dive is like climbing down Mount Olympus. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140326-cuvier-beaked-whale-record-dive-depth-ocean-animal-science/

When I was a kid, I thought I knew all the whales, and I was FURIOUS when I realized that my books omitted this enormous group of whales.

Some texts don't like admitting what they don't know. Boo. There are excellent scientists studying them and DISCOVERING NEW SPECIES.

Sometimes I lie in bed at night and think about these huge, bizarre-looking, mysterious whales doing who-knows-what in the deepest oceans.

Even in the darkest times, you can feel confident in the ever-unfolding weirdness of nature.

Whenever you're ready, it's out there.

/fin