Sound Politics: Word of the Day

February 20, 2007

Word of the Day

The Word of the Day is "tunicate", as in today's Seattle Times article: "The blob that's invading the Sound"

It's a 6-inch-long blob of goo called a tunicate, a siphon-feeding animal much like a clam without a shell.

I just upgraded my Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM with the latest version, which further defines tunicate:

One of a class of marine animals, formerly regarded as molluscs, but now classified as a degenerate branch of Chordata, comprising the ascidians and allied forms, characterized by a pouch-like body enclosed in a tough leathery integument, with a single or double aperture through which the water enters and leaves the pharynx.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 20, 2007 12:12 PM | Email This

Comments

1. Kinda pretty:

http://www.geocities.com/panuwatsuppakul/Purple_Tunicate.jpg

Or not:

http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2005/11/tunicate.jpg

Posted by: ScottM on February 20, 2007 12:02 PM

2. A true Puget Sound classic. They've really got no idea of what the tunicates will do to the Sound, etc. but they attack it with spatulas like a primitive tribe.

The rationale behind this is not a serious desire to protect local commerce that would be harmed by the tunicate as much as some irrational and arrogant attempt to restore earth to some unknown and previous yet allegedly superior state. The article's whole premise is that the ecosystem of the Sound is "troubled." As compared to what and when?

Throughout the earth's billions of years, there have been many species that have migrated to other parts of the world riding on other species, on the winds, or floating along in the water. Somehow, the arrival of this species of tunicate is now something worth villifying and correcting because it MIGHT have been caused by human actions.

Eco-Nuts hate man, and they love to play god.

Posted by: Jeff B. on February 20, 2007 12:07 PM

3. See! Global Warming.

Posted by: JCM on February 20, 2007 12:08 PM

4.
Big blob of goo...wait, I thought that was the Mayor.

Posted by: John Bailo on February 20, 2007 12:21 PM

5. I don't know about tunicates, but we better all run for the hills if any Cialis seeps into the Sound and is ingested by the geoducks.

Kershwang, indeed.

"Ferries Assaulted!"

Posted by: Rey Smith on February 20, 2007 01:22 PM

6. It's more an issue of bad maritime practices allowing the accidental importation of a foreign species than it is anything else. Getting rid of them will be troublesome if not impossible.

Of course, if it was something we could eat, nobody would care.

Posted by: H Moul on February 20, 2007 01:45 PM

7. As soon as they make it a priority to get rid of those damn sea lions that devour thousands of salmon at the locks every year, then I'll give a crap about "tunicates" or whatever other little sea creature is the latest threat to the Sound. What a joke.

Posted by: Palouse on February 20, 2007 01:55 PM

8. The solution to the sea lions is obvious - start shooting them again. What used to keep their numbers in line were traveling Orca whales.

And another thing, don't believe all the hype about what gentle things Killer Whales are - there are three distinct populations/cultures of Orca out there, and we really only study the "nice ones" that eat salmon.

Posted by: H Moul on February 20, 2007 02:28 PM

9. Oh no H Moul! We can't kill the poor sea lions - PETA and the rest of the enviro-wackos in Seattle will have a fit. It's the same reason we can't kill the damn Canadian geese that infest us with their crap every year.

They complain the population of salmon in the sound is too low, but do nothing about a problem killing thousands of them. In Alaska, the fishermen take the problem into their own hands, quietly. Same thing with predators that kill the moose and caribou population.

Posted by: Palouse on February 20, 2007 02:56 PM

10. 1--Dean Logan never REALLY left--it's his new undercover look.
2--is this little devil registered to vote yet in WA?
3--legal or illegal alien? Bank of Amer will issue him a mortgage & credit card, too.

Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on February 20, 2007 03:05 PM

11. The phylum Chordata includes vertebrates, which are creatures with spines. So "degenerate branch of Chordata" probably means "spineless". So tunicates are degenerate spineless siphon-feeding blobs of goo.

Now who all does that remind me of . . .?

Posted by: starboardhelm on February 20, 2007 06:05 PM

12. i nomimate this critter for the new, (and) re-designed (at much taxpayer expense) King County Flag Image/Logo.

no spine. indecisive. no progress except an invasive critter consuming everyone's pocketbook with yet more taxes.

it's neutral in color, so racial groups can't complain. it's natural, so we get the green vote. it's colorful, so we get the artist/art park/piercing/diverse vote.

c'mon--guys--forget all the (practical) pressing needs of Seattle--bring THIS up for endless discussion and consensus!!

Posted by: jimmie-howya-doin on February 20, 2007 09:12 PM

13. Tunicate (Too-nee-cut), useless blob invading productive grounds. See Liberal

Posted by: pbj on February 21, 2007 09:21 AM