Available on Netflix, and should be of interest to anyone who loves the natural world. This gif of a man interacting with a wolf spider is conceptually related.
Reposted to add this awesome photo of a bioluminescent octopus:
"Stauroteuthis syrtensis, also known as the glowing sucker octopus or bioluminescent octopus, is a species of small pelagic octopus found at great depths in the north Atlantic Ocean...Stauroteuthis is one of only two genera of octopuses to exhibit bioluminescence. S. syrtensis emits a blue-green light from about 40 modified suckers known as photophores situated in a single row between the pairs of cirri on the underside of each arm. The distance between these decreases towards the ends of the arms with the light becoming fainter. The animal does not emit light continuously, but can do so for a period of five minutes after suitable stimulation. Some of the photophores emit a continuous stream of faint light, while others are much brighter and switch on and off in a cyclical pattern, producing a twinkling effect. The function of the bioluminescence is believed to be for defence, being used by the animal to scare off predators, and also as a lure for the planktonic crustaceans that form its main diet. The light may also be used for sexual signaling, but this is considered to be an unlikely function, as the light is deployed by both sexes and by immature, as well as mature, individuals."
Wolf spiders can see exceptionally well, and are easily trainable. I told my wife that when I was a teenager, I trained wolf spiders to jump from a finger on one hand to a finger on the other hand, and back. Of course she did not believe me because of the other thing that I had told her which while believable, had turned out not to be true. Then, when we were in our fifties, we were on a picnic with a group of sixth graders and I found a wolf spider on the picnic table. So I got to show the kids and my wife how to train a spider to jump from finger to finger (and from kid to kid). That showed her!
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