NE aquarium

This weekend Viscoelastic visited the aquarium with Mao the Googler and Turtle Girl. The aquarium is a place where most systems are predominantly Newtonian. I spent some time studying the swimming of jellyfishes. First I estimated the Reynolds number. They are of the order 1000 to 10000.


We conclude that these systems are largely inertial, viscous effects are insignificant when considering a control volume roughly the size of the jellyfish. Next we tried to estimate the Strouhal number, most aquatic animals using jets to propel themselves pulse at frequencies corresponding a Strouhal number (St) of 0.2~0.3. We find the large jelly fish (video) does approach this value. While St for its smaller cousin (video) is significantly higher, obviously the little twerp has no respect for good fluid mechanics.


viscoelastic is pleased with the menu.

These studies consumed much brain power, and I moved onto a more interesting problem... How best to prepare these aquatic delicacies. The giant garoupa should be steamed in soy sauce, what you can't finish should be frozen as fillets and sauted. Jellyfish are cut into thin strips and served chilled with vinegar and sesame seed oil. Turtle shells can be made into Gwei Ling Go (A jello like delicacy), while the meat should be braised in soup. This beast here weighs 600 pds, and is approximately 1.5m in diameter.


click here for turtle video


Viscoelastic feeding on the sweet diamondback

Aside, if you want to promote conservation of diamondback turtles, one MUST not begin a description of the species by stating "Diamondback turtles are prized for their sweet meat", it certainly put me in a rather unconservationist mindset.


Turtle girl has yet to develop a taste for turtle soup. (photos courtesy of turtle girl, and mao's superb camera wielding skills)