All Creatures Blue and Beautiful...

"Great shades of blue, you find them in nature. They're all magic"

- Bryan Batt

The colour blue occurs more often in the animal kingdom than you might think! Here's my countdown of the top 5 blue animals. Enjoy!

5. The blue morpho butterfly

There are actually 29 species and 147 subspecies of morpho butterfly. They're usually found in South America and their wingspan ranges from 3 inches to 8 inches. They are not blue due to any pigmentation in their wings but some sort of trick of the light, the thin layers of their wings scattering light particles, much like the sky which appears blue due to Rayleigh light scattering. True blue or not, this butterfly is too pretty not to be on the list!

4. The blue whale

You've indubitably heard of the blue whale and know that it's the largest animal on the planet. You would be correct. Their heart is the size of a car and their tongue is the size of an elephant. Despite their massive size, they feed mainly off plankton and krill. There must be a lot of love in their car sized hearts because they form close emotional bonds and travel in small groups,  usually with family members. They might seem quiet but they communicate with other whales at a frequency of 10 - 39 hertz. Blue whales aren't really a vivid blue but I like them and "blue" is right there in the name!

3. The blue footed booby

The blue footed booby is a bird that, as its name suggests, has striking blue feet. Aside from the blue footed booby's fancy footwear, what makes it stand out is the unique mating dance the males perform. They lift their feet one at a time to show them off. The bluer their feet are, the more liable they are to find a special lady booby (finally, some animals with sense!). Blue footed boobies are mainly found in South America and Central America and can have a wingspan up to 5ft across. They eat small fish and, like most birds, nest on land when not hunting for food. The word "booby" comes from the Spanish 'bobo', meaning 'stupid'. This may seem cruel but boobies probably call us worse behind our backs!

2. The blue ringed octopus

This may seem an odd entry on a list celebrating blue animals due to how feared the blue ringed octopus (or BRO. If there's a better acronym than that, I don't want to hear it!) is in its native Australia. However, it's not the BRO making the toxin - it's the bacteria that lives on it. And if a massive foot suddenly crashed into your house right now and your bite was venomous, would you not bite the intruder? They're just scared! But rational or not, the actions of a BRO can be life threatening. The bite is reported to be painless and many may not even notice they've been bitten which makes them slow to seek medical attention. There is no treatment except CPR which makes the death toll for those bitten by a BRO very high. The BRO actually has two toxins - the other one is harmless to humans but kills prey for the BRO to eat. When threatened, the rings that give this cephalopod its name flash bright blue.

1. The Russian Blue cat

You knew it had to be a cat! Admittedly, the Russian Blue is not a vivid blue but more of a muted greyish-blue. It has two coats, a soft undercoat and a topcoat (these are called guard hairs). The guard hairs are blue with silver tips, giving the cat a sugarcoated appearance. Russian Blue cats are calm, intelligent cats and are very close to their owners but shy around strangers. They're known to be very playful so they're good for households with other small animals or children. They're also less likely to affect those allergic to cats. Oh, and their kittens are cute to the point of being ridiculous!

So those are the top 5 blue animals, in my humble opinion at least. What's your favourite blue animal?