Pablo Puffer!!

National Geographic photo by Kimiaki Ito.

Bet you’ve never seen the artwork of ‘Pablo’ (as in Picasso) Pufferfish before!  (Can you see him at work in the center of the circle in the above photo?)
Not many have.  In fact, these mysterious circles on the sea floor weren’t even discovered until 1995 and no one knew what they were.  More than a decade later, scientists finally identified the artist.  It is Pablo Pufferfish!  This fish is already famous for its ability to ‘puff up’ as a defense mechanism against predators.  They can more than double their original size and are sometimes covered in spines.  This makes them much less appetizing and more difficult to bite!

Pablo Puffer’s artwork is a labor of love designed to attract a mate!!!  It is 6.5 feet wide and created by this male puffer who works tirelessly, 24 hours a day for a week to create his geometric masterpiece!  This 5 inch fish first uses its body to create peaks and valleys in the sand on the sea floor around a center of smooth sand.  He then swims toward the center of the circle in straight lines to form this masterpiece.  Do yourself a favor and watch a Pufferfish making its nest.  Puffer Fish Constructs A Masterpiece of Love.

If the male Puffer is successful at attracting a mate, then his masterpiece also serves as a nest and his mate lays her eggs in the center of the nest and leaves.  Scientists say that the geometric pattern and raised areas of sand in the nest protect the eggs from the everchanging currents of the sea floor.  After Puffer’s mate deposits her eggs, it is Pablo who remains in the nest for another six days until the eggs hatch.  My Hero.

Pablo’s artwork is just another reminder of just how wonderful and awesome our God is!

‘You, (God) make me glad by your deeds, I sing for joy at what your hands have done.  How great are your works!’ Psalm 92:4-5.

‘Many, Lord my God are the wonders you have done!’ Psalm 40:5.

‘The Lord most high is awesome, the great King over all the earth.’ Psalm 47:2.

That is why King David in Psalm 107 pleads with us four times to ‘give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for mankind!’
And in the last verse of the Psalm says:

LET THE ONE WHO IS WISE HEED THESE THINGS AND PONDER THE LOVING DEEDS OF THE LORD.

And look at this!  A baby Puffer is so proud of his dads’ art- work that he is all puffed up!

‘Baby Puffer Fish’ photo– (Super cute) by NikazDesignz is licensed
under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0