16 May: Sea Monkey Day

People of a certain age will remember seeing these creatures advertised in comic books. Today is national Sea Monkey Day so here are some facts about them.

1. They're not monkeys. They are actually a type of brine Shrimp called Artemia NYOS.
2. They don't actually exist in nature. They are hybrids bred by an inventor called Harold von Braunhut. They were selectively bred so they would live longer.
3. The adverts in comic books portrayed sea monkeys as little Pink humanoid creatures with pot bellies and crowns on their heads. Needless to say, they don't look like that, but they do have tails resembling those of monkeys.
4. Harold von Braunhut was inspired by the creatures when he saw them on sale in pet shops as fish food. He was also very interested in ant farms and came up with the idea for an instant pet as a way to educate children about nature.
5. Up until 1964, they were marketed as "Instant Life". What you got if you sent off for sea monkeys was a packet of what looked like dust. The dust contained shrimp eggs and nutrients and when you added Water and put them in a tank, they would appear to spring to life.
6. This works because the shrimps, which live in Salt lakes (not the sea) and when the water evaporates they can go into a state of suspended animation called cryptobiosis in protective casings. When water is added they hatch.
7. Sea-Monkeys are born with one eye, and develop two more eyes as they grow. They breathe through their feathery feet.
8. They are naturally attracted to light, so will appear to follow the beam of a torch. They'll also fight. If you see two sea monkeys, both with whiskers, locked together, it's two males fighting. If one of the participants has no whiskers, one's a female and they're doing something else...
9. Sea monkeys have featured in several TV shows including South Park, Spin City, Roseanne, Night Court, The Simpsons, 3rd Rock from the Sun, American Dad, It's Garry Shandling's Show and Desperate Housewives. There have been songs written about them and video games based on them. They've even been to space. Astronaut John Glenn took several million sea monkey eggs up in the Space Shuttle in 1998. On return to Earth, they hatched with no ill effects.
10. Harold von Braunhut invented other things you may have seen advertised in comics in the 1960s, like X-Ray specs. He also invented the dolls' eyes that close when you lay the doll down, and the game of Balderdash. He wasn't all fun and games, though. He had a darker side. There is evidence that he was associated with white supremacist groups and believed that Hitler was merely a victim of "bad press".

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