The campaign begins here

There has been a distinct lack of (my own) words round these parts lately. Sorry.  At the start of the week I was struggling to find things to write about (lurking behind the cool, calm exterior of this blog there are, at last count, SEVEN abandoned earlier drafts of posts which were going nowhere fast) and now I've thought of lots of things but have no time to write about them.  Such is life.

Tales part 7 is on the way, but in the meantime, I have exciting news from the world of science.  Exciting if you are me, at least.  Mildly interesting, I expect, if you are you.
I have mentioned, in passing, that my Mum is a marine biologist.  Barnacles, specifically, which is the bit I didn't mention before. A while ago, she and a colleague discovered a new species of barnacle, which looks like this:

Its scientific name is Calantica Darwini but it's also called (rather fittingly, I think) the  Opera House barnacle.  Although they don't say WHICH opera house, I'm pretty sure it's this one:

Of course if they mean a different one, maybe it's not so fitting after all.

I am sure you are impressed beyond belief already, and that isn't even the exciting bit of my exciting news.  Calantica Darwini has made it onto the list of Australia's Top Ten New Species (2009).  I'm not going to tell you too much about the rest of the list now, because there's going to be a public vote in August which I want my mum's barnacle to win, and although you can't vote yet* I am getting in early with a spot of product placement. Not much point in doing that if I place them ALL, is there?  You can click on the link, though, if you are desperate to know more.  Her stiffest competition, I think, is going to be this:

which may not look much of a contender until I tell you its scientific name is Crikey Steveirwini.  Yes, my mum's barnacle will be battling it out with a mountainous-tree-dwelling snail named after Steve Irwin. It's going to be a tough campaign.

Coincidentally, the same day I heard this news, I stumbled across a different list of captivating new species, which I am more than happy to tell you about now, because they're not in the competition.  It's just as well, because there are some seriously cute critters on that list.  My favourite, I think, is the Pinocchio Tree Frog

But I also love that this is called Tim Burton Seaweed:

Here is Tim Burton, for purposes of comparison:

(This reminds me, I have stuff to say about an incredible Tim Burton exhibition I saw in New York.  You don't need to know this now;  I'm just borrowing my blog back to use as an electronic memo-board.)

Then again, who doesn't love a teeny, tiny sea-horse?  These ones are smaller than your finger nail, and their babies are 3mm long when they are born:

I am quite relieved none of these creatures are competing against my Mum's barnacle.  Her barnacle is great, don't get me wrong, but it's hard to beat a mini seahorse.

 *In case you are worried you might forget to vote in August, fear not.  I will be reminding you. Quite a lot, probably.