# What's the deal with sea monkey's?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 29, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965 "2001-03-29T13:43:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DoperChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@DoperChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoperChic)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965/1 "2001-03-29T13:43:58Z")

</div>

I live in a dorm room which bans just about every pet known to man for obvious reason. The only one I’ve managed to get away with are sea monkeys. No more dangerous than a big cup of water, right? The thing that I just can’t comprehend is the whole freeze dried eggs thing. I’ve been watching my sea monkeys for quite a while now and they are obviously alive. But how, I ask, did the eggs possibly survive in that little pouch until some kind-hearted soul - like myself - decides to set them free - or at least as free as one could get in a 12 oz mini aquarium? Hmmmm…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965/2 "2001-03-29T13:51:23Z")

</div>

I could look it up. Maybe I will later. But for now I’ll just go off the point… er, top of my head.

I think “Sea Monkeys” are realy brine shrimp. Their eggs have been known to lie dormant for a long time. IIRC, they can still be viable after lying in a dry lake bed for 100 years. No, they’re not freeze-dried; just dried. They probably develop a water-soluable cyst around them to proect them.

The lakebeds at Edwards AFB where I used to work would dry out every summer; but come spring, the shrimp would hatch and attract flocks of seagulls to feed on them.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965/3 "2001-03-29T14:00:28Z")

</div>

So I got to it quicker than I thought. Here’s a link: [http://www.howstuffworks.com/question191.htm](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question191.htm)

I couldn’t find a cite for the “vaible for 100 years” comment, except for one person (who also talked of Edwards AFB’s Rodgers Dry Lake) wo said he had “heard” about it. Nevertheless, they apparently _can_ survive without water for several years because of their cysts.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965/4 "2001-03-29T16:26:06Z")

</div>

There’s a great exchange on this quoted from the SDMB in book four of the Bible - (i.e., The Straight Dope Tells All)!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\
**Post date:** [March 29, 2001, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-sea-monkeys/59965/5 "2001-03-29T17:22:02Z")

</div>

What’s the deal with the Sea Monkey’s what?

What are the Sea Monkeys in possession of that you’re so concerned about?