# So...Sea Monkeys? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419 "2007-07-03T22:08:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/1 "2007-07-03T22:08:10Z")
Recently I acquired Sea Monkeys as a birthday present, and only about 8 or 9 days ago finally “planted” the little guys. I’ve been following the booklet instructions to the letter, and the little buggers are getting quite huge and numerous. I’m wondering - how big do they get? Do they all just suddenly up and die one day, or do they stick around for awhile if you actually take care of them? And how, pray tell, can they “regenerate” if they all die and I let the water evaporate and then add more water, like the booklet says? What is _that_ about?! Seriously though, they are pretty cool, and have become the wee mascots of my entire office. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/2 "2007-07-03T22:17:31Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] What is _that_ about?! [/QUOTE] [brine shrimp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Monkeys) ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/3 "2007-07-03T22:21:11Z")
[QUOTE=wikipedia] Basically, one adds the ‘water purifier’ package on day one. The user is typically unaware that this package already contains eggs in addition to the salt. [/QUOTE] Well I’ll be damned. Those liars!! And here I was wondering why some were so much bigger than others… ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/4 "2007-07-03T22:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] Do they all just suddenly up and die one day, or do they stick around for awhile if you actually take care of them? [/QUOTE] Both, they can last ages and then die suddenly. [QUOTE=NailBunny] And how, pray tell, can they “regenerate” if they all die and I let the water evaporate and then add more water, like the booklet says? What is _that_ about?! [/quote] When you add more water you’re just encouraging any eggs left to burst forth with life. Doesn’t always work of course. > [@Bloodhound Gang: Three point one four](#): > > So my love for her died quicker than a bunch of Sea Monkeys There’s a reason they said that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Hildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Johnny\_Hildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Hildo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/5 "2007-07-03T22:38:57Z")
The man who created them was a [neo-Nazi.](http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=390&printable=1) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/6 "2007-07-03T23:30:54Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny Hildo] The man who created them was a [neo-Nazi.](http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=390&printable=1) [/QUOTE] That explains the “Final Solution MicroVue Sea Monkey Steamer” and the little “Banana Flavored Stars” treats I suppose. I rehatched Sea Monkeys once- really does work, though when those died I couldn’t care less about doing them again. I actually took a “MicroVue Ocean Zoo” that I’d just hatched on vacation once when I was a kid- the water sloshed from Alabama up to Virginia and back and even though I took them because I knew they’d die if I left them for my g’mother to take care of, somewhere around North Carolina even I was tired of them and dumped the survivors in a toilet. For years- literally when we sold the car years later- the back seat and floor board of my dad’s Cadillac was called “the Brine Shrimp Gehenna” because we never were able to get the exeskeletons of the sloshed & damned out- you’d still find one or hear it crunch from then on. In many ways and for many kids Sea Monkeys could well be the introduction to Critical Thinking skills. They don’t exactly live up to the pics. I also remember sending away $.75 and a SASE for a “Sea Vac” that was advertised- it was a “mini vacuum cleaner for cleaning your tank”. I still remember how pissed I was when the SASE came back with nothing but an eyedropper in it- no letter, receipt, or anything else. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/7 "2007-07-04T00:03:13Z")
It’s even more fun to raise [Nancies.](http://howardcruse.com/comicsvault/nancies/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/8 "2007-07-04T00:27:58Z")
Add bacon to the watre and watch life spawn! ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/9 "2007-07-04T02:45:59Z")
A must read classic thread on Sea Monkeys: Can we induce morality in sea monkeys? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65105&threadid65105](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65105&threadid65105) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/10 "2007-07-04T15:04:10Z")
[QUOTE=BoBettie] A must read classic thread on Sea Monkeys: Can we induce morality in sea monkeys? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65105&threadid65105](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65105&threadid65105) [/QUOTE] I have it on good authority that kind of experiment works much better if you add a little human DNA to the tank. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/11 "2007-07-04T15:36:46Z")
I’ve got a gallon of spunk that I can donate to the cause. Yes. One serving. That’s right, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/12 "2007-07-04T16:23:52Z")
My sea monkeys came with a book of ‘tricks’ that you could ‘train’ the little beasts to do – like shining a penlight through and watching them react to it. It occurred to me that these ‘tricks’ were more in the nature of ‘fucking with them.’ ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/13 "2007-07-04T16:52:16Z")
Ahhh Sea Monkeys… How I miss them… Must get a batch for my work station. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/14 "2007-07-04T17:43:27Z")
So, this is what \*\*Cafe Society \*\* has devolved into? Discussions about Shakespeare, Rembrandt and _Sea Monkeys_!? May I be the first one to amend the official description, as follows: Cafe Society: Our salon for art, drama, literature, movies, music, comics, cuisine, and branchiopod behavior – all the artistic disciplines – if it’s about creativity, entertainment, leisure, or brine shrimp it goes here! [smilie here] ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/15 "2007-07-04T18:01:07Z")
[QUOTE=NailBunny] I’m wondering - how big do they get? [/QUOTE] Oh, it’s far too late to wonder about that now… ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-sea-monkeys/410419/16 "2007-07-04T18:15:48Z")
[QUOTE=stuyguy] So, this is what \*\*Cafe Society \*\* has devolved into? Discussions about Shakespeare, Rembrandt and _Sea Monkeys_!? [smilie here] [/QUOTE] Well then for you I give: **AN ODE TO SEA MONKEYS** In B minor O little friends that swim about In frollick and in Glee The Briney shrimp that I do tout No one is greater or Monkier than thee! Your smiles so Sunny Your Antics so Funny I come to watch you build your castles and nest But today instead I find you all still and at rest And tho I feel I knew all about ye from what I had read. I fear, and loathe that I forgot to feed thee, cause you’re all dead.