I going to be a lawyer for moray eels.

A couple of weeks ago I was covering at a Science University out in Saitama. One of my classes that day is  where there isn't really a plan, it's more of a chance for students to have a free-flowing conversation.  It pretty much ends up me being interviewed (or interrogated) for 40 minutes.  

One student asked me what my favourite animal was. I said octopus and shocked faces stared back at me.  "But, why....?"  I think students usually answer "cat"or "dog" because. . .  "it's cute".  And then I came along and was all like "Yeah but it's got like eight legs with suckers on them, and they're like really, I mean ridiculously intelligent, and they have beaks man!" I think sometimes I get a bit carried away when I talk to my students.

But I have been thinking about my favourite animal and there may be a new contender.  The Mooray Eel.  

I know it is wrong, or not so cool to assign human qualities to animals these days but I don't care.  Mooray Eels are cool because they look badass.  Unbelievably badass.  If you were in an underwater alley, you would not want to run into these guys. Imagine you were a shady dive in Atlantis, where there is just a laptop hooked up to some speakers and you thought "this song sucks" and change it in the middle of the song, and the moray eel is all "That was my song" and then you wet yourself but it doesn't matter because you are underwater.

They are super hardcore, and if I remember correctly, I don't think they got a fair representation in Ariel, the little mermaid.  I think they are way more clever than that.  I am going to become a lawyer for moray eels (also maybe for Ursula too, and that lobster, talk about stereotypes).

Also moray eels hunt with other animals.  They work with grouper to catch prey.  How cool is that?  I think, it is the only known case of two different species working together to catch prey.

So, I think it is an interesting question.  But I think  you should discount answers based on cuteness, but allow answers based on deliciousness. Octopus is delicious. But not moray eels.

p.s. I love teaching at Science Universities.  It is so much fun getting students to tell you about their studies, especially when they are Masters students.  I had a really cool conversation with one student about his project which was using brainwaves to control robots.  That was another fun thing about my last job.  Down the hall from me was the robotics department so you used to be able to watch students test their robots in the hallway. Soooo cool!