Oh the huge manatee. CMGW photography capture a moment between a girl and a manatee.

First contact

Many people are aware of the cleverness of the octopodes, what is less well known is that they are big fans of ambient world music… someone has to be.

Upon one’s morning stroll one couldn’t help but marvel at the bird’s sweet song and the flowers delicate splendour… what could be more pleasant than a wander through the English countryside… certainly not a stagger through the parched deserts of Arizona, where instead of bird song and blooms you might be lucky enough to spot two rather drab lady lizards humping the hell out of one another … though one can’t help but point out that the bird’s song, the delightful flowers and indeed the lesbian lizard’s leathery frot are all about one thing…

Yes rumpy pumpy. It’s the reason why birds warble and why flowers unfurl, it’s why a hummingbird is as iridescent as a polished gem and why a blue-footed booby has such marvellous azure feet, why the hooded seal inflates a scarlet sack out of its schnoz, why the suberb lyrebird sings the most delightful tunes, and why squillions of other creatures are so bloody marvellous too. What’s more one has inkling that it may be something to do with the faint sound of whip cracks coming from the basement of this less than salubrious gentlemen’s club.

Source: Photo by leafwarbler – http://flic.kr/p/6QHhN7

Bally good reason for all this effort into getting some bedroom malarkey too… Yes it’s rather good fun, and of course it makes wee ones who can go off and make wee ones of their own. We are rather fond of making wee ones… little bits of us going on to live forever… we’ve talked about all that gubbins yes, though it is what all that sloshing around downstairs leads to that is the interesting thing…

'... unhand me you buffoon, one is late for the KD Lang concerto...'

Source: Photo by Fool-On-The-Hill – http://flic.kr/p/6J6sMt

Not only is it how we ensure our genes are passed down the generations it’s also rather important at mixing things up. In the sticky goo that is left at the end of the act something rather remarkable happens. Of course life is born, but it’s a unique life, like a deck of cards that has been shuffled and out pops a new hand; something completely unique.

Why all this smutty muttering? Well the lesbian lizards, or New Mexico whiptail lizards as their women’s empowerment group are petitioning for them to be known, have decided that they don’t need all this recombinant business with chaps and have done away with all that icky swapping things downstairs. They simply clone themselves to make a new lizard, another lady, just like their lady-loving selves. Aaaah yes, the lesbian thingamujig, well yes while it seems like they may as well have done away with all that energetic to-ing and fro-ing, there may well be some advantage to these romps. Indeed studies have shown that nuptials may still facilitate the making of more lesbian lizards… and so a couple of the ladies will still get jiggy with it… quite right too.

A rather disturbing creature has been picked up on an ROV camera. After much debate the creature appears to be the rather delighfully named Deepstaria enigmatica a cnidaria, but don’t hold that against him. The cnidaria are a pretty diverse and stingy bunch that includes the corals, box jellyfish, the hydrozoa and the true jellyfish. Deepstaria is a true jellyfish of the Ulmaridae. Let us not forget this is a group that uses the same hole to eat and defecate. Deeply disturbing.

via opsgreenfly and reddit

Mammatus clouds are so called due to their resemblance to boobage. Just one of the reasons that we at The Proceedings think they’re brilliant.

Photo by Steve – http://flic.kr/p/4npUn

Photo by Daveybot – http://flic.kr/p/x4E3t

via reddit

The Crimson Horned Pheasant is also known as the Satyr Tragopan and of course its inexplicable latin name Tragopan satyra.

These delightful birds live in the Himalayas, and are perhaps best known for their mating rituals. When it is courting season the male grows a pair of blue horns and a gular wattle. As if that wasn’t enough to enamour a game filly he pulls of what appears to be a rather remarkable magic trick.