Sea-Monkeys – Better than fish, more loyal than dogs

by OLIVIA CLARKE, Arizona Daily Star

They may look like teeny white eyelashes floating in murky water, but Kevin Schulte's Sea-Monkeys are real, very real.

They eat, they swim and, well, they die. Quite often, actually. But this hasn't deterred Schulte in the least.
The lanky 16-year-old with floppy hair has collected Sea-Monkeys since he was 7 or 8.

For those of you who haven't seen the ads on the back of comic books, these creatures aren't monkeys who know how to swim underwater .

They are a hybrid species of brine shrimp. They grow much larger than regular brine shrimp -between one- half and three-quarters of an inch long. The regular kind are less than a half- inch long.

They can live in a latent state inside tiny eggs for years and are awakened when added to treated water, according to the Louisville (Kentucky) Science Center . "Most people don't believe that they're alive," Schulte said. "Give them a try. They're better than fish and more loyal than dogs."

Sea- Monkeys don't quite have the life expectancy of either. They have a two-year growth guarantee, which is probably a good idea because Schulte's little friends die every few months.

He spends about $4 a month on new packs. Once a year he collects on the guarantee and pays only for shipping and handling, he said.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is overfeeding them, he said. They need food only every five to eight days and can chow down only on the Growth Food that comes with them.

Sea-Monkeys aren't the only thing Schulte enjoys nurturing. He keeps a garden in his back yard with such goodies as mint, tomatoes and cabbage.

Yet, Sea- Monkeys are what he gets the most pleasure growing. When he was in elementary school, he purchased his first kit after seeing it advertised on television and on the back pages of magazines. It took him three heartfelt tries to keep the shrimp alive, he said.

Schulte now owns three 12-ounce water tanks and usually has anywhere from 100 to 200 Sea- Monkeys per tank.
He enjoys watching the creatures swim.

"They are relaxing," said Schulte, a high school sophomore in Tucson, Ariz. "You don't see Sea-Monkeys going to war."

Schulte said he likes to experiment and put a twig or flower in the tank to see how they'll react. You can teach them to swim toward your finger by using light, he said.

He once put his Sea-Monkeys in the same tank with a guppy. The guppy died because the shrimp clogged the fish's gills.

Schulte sometimes likes to put a few Sea- Monkeys in different glasses around the house. Sadly, a few lost their lives when his mother accidentally dumped them down the sink.

"I think it's a nice little hobby," said his mother, Kathy Schulte. "They are really interesting living things and they're not toys."

 

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