Sea Monkey - Grade: A+ PDF

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Sea Monkeys John Baker 11/11/2021

Sea Monkeys are really interesting to me. Invented in the United States in 1957, Harold van Braunhut sold “Sea-Monkey” eggs intended to be added to water, with additional pouches and instructions. The product was heavily and creatively marketed in the 1960s and 70s, specifically in comic books. However, are Sea Monkeys really Sea Monkeys? To answer that question, we must look further into the history of Sea Monkeys. Inspired by ant farms popularized in in 1956 invented a brine-shrimp-based product. So, despite the name, they are not Sea-Monkeys. They are brine shrimp. Is the marketing clever? Yes. Is the product deceptive? Yes. Is it a scam? I think that depends on who you ask. I believe the buyer should be aware that the product is not actually Sea Monkeys. An effective method would be on the advertising, and in the 1960s, that was all they had. That was pre-internet, so it was impossible to go on the net and find the truth about the Sea Monkeys. A quick side note that I found interesting, Harold van Braunhut, despite being Jewish, was a supporter of the Ku Klux Klan. I find his support of Nazism peculiar. He was once quoted saying Hitler “just got bad press.” Back to advertising, Sea-Monkeys were intensely marketed in comic books throughout the 1960s and early 1970s using illustrations by the comic-book illustrator Joe Orlando. These showed humanoid animals that bear no resemblance to the crustaceans. Many purchasers were disappointed by the dissimilarity and by the short lifespan of the animals.

To start a colony, you add the contents of the “Water Purifier” packet to a tank of water. This packet contains salt, water conditioner, and brine shrimp eggs. After 24 hours you need to add the “Instant Life Eggs” packet, containing more eggs, yeast, borax, soda, salt, food, and occasionally dye. Shortly after, the Sea-Monkeys begin to hatch from the eggs. The best water temperature for hatching is 75-81 degrees Fahrenheit. Sea-Monkeys are born with one eye, and pop out two more upon reaching maturity. They're translucent and breathe through their feathery feet. They can reproduce sexually or asexually. They chase flashlight beams. In short, SeaMonkeys are everything you could want in a brine shrimp pet, and more. One fact about Sea-Monkeys I found interesting is that as they start to mature, you can easily see the female’s egg sacks. Female Sea-Monkeys birth live young directly from their egg sacks. This process is called viviparity, or “live birth.” However, if a female Sea-Monkey dies while pregnant, she can still birth live young. Amazingly, the embryo will continue to develop and hatch live babies from her dead body. This is called necroovovivoparity, “birth by the dead.” Just imagine if humans could do this. The egg doesn’t even need to be attached to the mother to hatch. If a female Sea-Monkey feels threatened, she may detach her eggs and let them float away. Her babies can then hatch directly from the eggs. This process is called oviparity, or “egg birth.” But if the Sea-Monkey’s unbreakable “chain of life” does end for some reason (like you if accidentally knock the tank over), the company will send you a free replacement. Also, both male and female Sea-Monkeys have very identifiable physical characteristics. While female Sea-Monkeys have giant egg sacks, males have large mating arms. This allows them to hold on to a female during the mating process. But male Sea-Monkeys also use these arms to fight other males. They will lock onto each other and attempt to crush their opponents to

death. The winner gets the girl. Or sometimes, one male will die during the battle forcing the winner to spend the rest of its short life attached to a corpse. Another interesting fact about Sea-Monkeys is that there was a short-lived, live-action television series about the creatures. Even crazier, it starred Howie Mandell and Gilbert Gottfried. Also, Sea-Monkeys are edible. Granted, there are little-to-none nutritional value to brine shrimp, but they are still edible.

Sources https://methodshop.com/weird-facts-about-sea-monkeys/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-Monkeys...