Creatures Great and Small

Home
Creatures Great and Small

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Creatures Great and Small, Publisher, .

14/07/2026

The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is often called the “unicorn of the sea,” but its famous spiral tusk is not a horn. It is actually an enlarged left canine tooth that can grow up to around three metres long.

The tusk contains millions of nerve endings, making it highly sensitive to changes in the surrounding water — including temperature, pressure and salt levels. Narwhals may use it to explore their environment, communicate with one another and, on occasion, strike at fish.

It is one of the most extraordinary examples of how an animal’s “weapon” can also work like a living sensory tool.

13/07/2026

The Blue Dragon (Glaucus atlanticus) is a tiny sea slug, usually only around 3 centimetres long, but it looks like something designed for a fantasy game.

It floats upside down on the ocean’s surface, held there by a small air bubble in its stomach. Its striking blue body helps it blend in with the water when seen from above.

Its real superpower is what it eats. The Blue Dragon feeds on venomous creatures such as the Portuguese man o’ war. Instead of being destroyed by their stinging cells, it stores some of them in the tips of its finger-like appendages.

If a predator gets too close, this miniature sea creature can use stolen venom as its own defence.

13/07/2026

The aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, found only on Madagascar. At first glance, it can look almost eerie — especially because of its unusually long, thin middle finger.

But that finger is a brilliant survival tool. The aye-aye taps on tree trunks to locate hidden hollow spaces where insect larvae may be living. It then bites through the bark with its strong, rodent-like teeth and uses the long finger to pull the larvae out.

What looks strange is actually one of nature’s most specialized ways of finding food.

09/07/2026

For more than three centuries, the Spanish galleon **San José** lay undisturbed on the floor of the Caribbean Sea. Now, Colombian researchers have recovered several artifacts from the famous shipwreck for the first time, including a cannon, three coins, and a porcelain cup. The **San José** is considered one of the world's most legendary shipwrecks and is often referred to as the **"Holy Grail of shipwrecks"** because of its presumed cargo of gold, silver, and precious gemstones.

The **San José** was part of the Spanish treasure fleet and sank off the coast of **Colombia** in **1708**, during the **War of the Spanish Succession**. It was attacked by a British squadron while transporting valuable cargo. For many years, it was widely believed that an explosion in the ship's powder magazine caused its destruction, although the exact circumstances of its sinking are still being studied by researchers.

The wreck lies at a depth of about **600 meters (nearly 2,000 feet)**, and its precise location remains a closely guarded secret. The ship is believed to have carried enormous quantities of gold, silver, emeralds, and other valuable goods. Some estimates place the value of its cargo at as much as **$17 billion** in today's terms, although many experts caution that such figures are highly uncertain. What is beyond doubt, however, is that the **San José** went down carrying one of the richest known cargoes in maritime history.

09/07/2026

A harbor that was once designed almost exclusively for ships is gradually making room for nature again.

Where concrete and hard edges once pushed out almost every trace of the natural world, small planted islands now float on the water. At first glance, they may seem like little more than an attractive feature—but in reality, they are part of a carefully planned ecological project. These floating gardens are deliberately planted with native wildflowers that bloom over an extended season, providing food for pollinating insects from early spring well into autumn.

The platforms are securely anchored, yet they rise and fall with the tides. That movement makes them especially valuable for wildlife, as they mimic the natural shoreline dynamics that birds and insects instinctively recognize. Insects are usually the first to arrive. Often, it takes only a few days for the wind to carry them to places where previously there was no suitable habitat.

Birds soon follow. They use these small islands as resting places, feeding grounds, and sometimes even nesting sites—right in the middle of busy harbors that were once shaped entirely by human activity rather than wildlife. In cities such as **Copenhagen**, where waterfronts have become increasingly developed and sealed over the decades, even a few square meters of habitat can make a meaningful difference by restoring lost connections with nature.

Of course, these floating gardens are not a substitute for full ecological restoration.

But they are a thoughtful and effective intervention—a small decision with a significant impact, demonstrating that even built environments can learn to support life once again.

09/07/2026

It simply stands there, day after day, doing far more than most people ever notice.

Not an ornament. Not just part of the scenery.

But a quiet, living system that works continuously.

The most important things often happen where no one is looking.

A single mature tree can absorb significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, storing it in its trunk, branches, roots, and the surrounding soil. Year after year, it builds a natural carbon reservoir—ring by ring.

Its leaves produce oxygen while also filtering pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter from the air, improving the environment where people live and walk every day.

On hot days, its canopy does more than provide shade. Through the process of evaporation, it cools the surrounding air, helping to reduce the heat that accumulates in asphalt, concrete, and buildings.

Beneath the surface, its roots hold the soil together, reduce erosion, and allow rainwater to soak into the ground instead of rushing into overloaded drainage systems.

No noise.

No dramatic movement.

No applause required.

Only space and time.

When an old tree is cut down, more than something green disappears. Its absence spreads quietly through the landscape.

But as long as it stands, it keeps working—day after day, without ever stopping.

08/07/2026

In **Pennsylvania**, two 18-year-olds demonstrated that big ideas do not always have to come from massive research laboratories. For nearly a year, **Rohan Kapoor** and **Jack Reichert** worked on a solution that could help make the air cleaner—driven by patience, curiosity, and a desire to do something meaningful for the environment.

The result of their work is an exhaust filter called **"Go Green."** It is attached to a car's tailpipe and uses **microalgae** to absorb carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen. The prototype is designed to be relatively inexpensive to produce and reportedly reduced emissions significantly during testing.

What is especially inspiring is not just the invention itself, but the idea behind it. The two young inventors wanted to show that tackling climate change does not always have to begin with enormous budgets or highly complex systems. Sometimes, meaningful change starts with two people, a simple question, and the determination to test a possible solution.

Their work is a reminder that progress often begins where someone chooses not only to recognize a problem, but to start building an answer.

08/07/2026

A man from **Derbyshire, England**, had a rather alarming start to his day when he woke up to discover that his skin had turned a bright shade of blue. The 42-year-old, **Tommy Lynch**, also felt unusually fatigued, prompting a friend who worked in healthcare to suspect a medical emergency and take him to the hospital. As a precaution, doctors initially treated him with oxygen while investigating the cause.

However, the case took a completely unexpected turn during the examination. When a doctor wiped Lynch's arm with an alcohol swab, the swab immediately turned blue. The mystery was solved: his skin had not changed color because of a medical condition, but because dye from his new dark blue bed sheets had transferred onto his skin. He had slept on the sheets for two nights without washing them first, allowing the excess dye to rub off.

What initially appeared to be a serious medical emergency turned out to have a harmless—and rather amusing—explanation. Lynch later laughed about the incident, joking that he looked like a character from *Avatar*. In the end, the experience brought relief—and probably taught him to wash new bed linens before using them.

08/07/2026

Scientists have studied this bird for many years and discovered something truly remarkable: the **common swift** can remain almost continuously airborne for up to **ten months**, giving it one of the most extraordinary flight records in the animal kingdom.

Even more astonishing is what it does during that time. While in flight, the common swift catches insects for food, drinks water, and spends virtually its entire life high above the ground. Even its periods of rest do not take place on land. Instead, the bird climbs to high altitudes and, while gliding, is believed to let parts of its brain enter a sleep-like state.

This is what makes the common swift so unique. It is barely adapted to life on the ground, where it appears awkward and vulnerable. In the air, however, it is among the most perfectly adapted fliers in nature. Its body, wings, and entire way of life are designed for one thing above all else—the sky.

The common swift is far more than just another bird.

It is one of nature's greatest marvels—and a true master of the skies.

08/07/2026

In **539 BC**, **Cyrus the Great** conquered **Babylon** and left behind a legacy that remains remarkable to this day. Rather than oppressing the peoples he had conquered, he allowed many displaced communities to return to their homelands, permitted them to practice their own religions, and supported the restoration of destroyed temples. Parts of this policy are recorded on the famous **Cyrus Cylinder**, which is often described as one of the earliest known declarations of tolerance and human rights.

Cyrus also holds a special place in the **Hebrew Bible**, where he is credited with allowing the Jewish people to return to **Jerusalem**, making it possible to rebuild the **Second Temple**. For its time, this approach was extraordinary, especially in an era when conquest was usually accompanied by subjugation.

At the same time, the **Persian Empire** was long portrayed in many Western narratives as the opposite of ancient Greece. Films such as **300**, for example, present the Spartans as defenders of freedom, despite the fact that Spartan society relied heavily on the brutal oppression of the **helots**. These people were forced to work the land, produce food for Sparta, and lived under constant fear, as even their killing was, at times, sanctioned by the state.

History is often far more complex than the stories told on screen. Those labeled as "barbarians" were not always the oppressors—and those celebrated as heroes were not always free from cruelty.

Address

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Creatures Great and Small posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.