“They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see . . . His wonders in the deep.”
Psalm 107:2324
A bright-red scorpionfish makes its home off the Mexican coast. It’s scary to have one of these approach you underwater - its big, ugly mouth grins at you and its black, bulging eyes look you over. However, it is quite harmless. Its red skin looks like it has loose patches ready to fall off.
The main enemy of the 10-inch puffer is a shark, but they must sneak up on the puffer or they are faced with a big problem. When a puffer thinks a shark is after it, it suddenly puffs up its body into a large ball. The shark doesn’t like the looks of this and quickly leaves. But all the puffer has done is swallow water or air, if near the surface, which makes it puff up like a balloon. Then it turns over on its back and floats to the surface like a piece of driftwood.
The flying fish of the Sargasso Sea lay eggs that look like the seaweed plants where they live. After hatching, the baby fish look even more like a part of these plants. Even close up, it is almost impossible to tell which is plant and which is fish.
The eight-inch anableps of tropical America, sometimes called the four-eyed fish, adapt to both fresh and salt water. These swim along the surface with the top part of their bulging eyes seeing what is floating or moving at the surface, while the lower part at the same time watches for things below. We wonder how it decides when there is something of interest both above and below the surface.
Another Amazon River fish uses its flat teeth to crack hard nuts, spitting out the shell pieces. It gets good nourishment from these nuts and also from seeds and fruits.
When the female European bitterling is ready to lay eggs, she hunts for a mussel shellfish. Finding one, she drops a tube from her body and inserts it into the flesh so gently that the mussel doesn’t seem to know anything is happening. The three or four dozen eggs deposited stay inside the mussel for about a month, and then they hatch and swim away. The mussel seems none the worse for its role.
There are many creatures barely known to mankind, but all are known to the Creator who had His purpose in placing them in the waters of the earth. But of most importance for us to know is the love of the Lord Jesus who died on the cross for us and who invites us to come to Him as helpless sinners, accepting His invitation to receive Him into our hearts as Lord and Saviour. Have you done this? It is the only way to heaven.
ML-02/13/2005