

His team of talented illustrators depicted the Sea-Monkeys as magical beings - little monkeys with fish-like bodies and crown-like heads. To further advertise the potential of this glorified pet food, von Braunhut hired “Sea-Monkey artists” to help him illustrate the many possible roles of these little guys to their owners. And to make money-making even easier, all kids had to do was send the cash to the address in the ad and their Sea-Monkeys would show up at their doorstep. Rather than opt for the expensive and flashy television commercials others had been using, von Braunhut went straight to the eyes of his juvenile target market. When he was essentially denied from all the big-box toy brands at the time, he took matters into his own hands. He worked out of his self-made factory (aka his barn) to assemble orders and try to find retailers willing to pick up his idea to sell.
REAL SEAMONKEY FULL
Marketing this life in a bag as a “bowl full of happiness,” von Braunhut found great success in his brine goldmine. All you had to do was provide a tank or living space and fill it with water. This process would allow for people to take home the shrimp and, essentially, “grow them” on their own! A Bowl Full of Happinessĭuring the product’s 1960s debut, von Braunhut was selling these kits for only 49 cents a pop! Under the name “Instant Life,” each set of supplies included a packet of shrimp and a packet of nutrients for them to eat. When water is added to this shell, the shrimp could be revived.Įager to make a little bang for his buck, von Braunhut experimented with these creatures and figured out a way to mix nutrients with average tap water, thus creating an elixir of life for these dried brine shrimp. With the evaporation of the water in these areas, the tiny shrimp are left with nothing but a high-sodium diet to survive, causing them to move into a state of “suspended animation.” In a process known as cryptobiosis, the shrimp are encased in a cyst-like protective coating (basically, a dehydrated shell). Known as Artemia salina, this particular species thrives in salt lakes or salt flats. Sea-Monkeys and Suspended Animationīack in 1957, a man named Harold von Braunhut became fascinated with a species of brine shrimp that were commonly sold as a source of pet food. Simply click on the UK flag in the buy now section on the right.There was once a time when no child could flip through Highlights 0r other magazines without seeing a piece of cut-out collateral featuring the toy-pet hybrid known as Sea-Monkeys! Let’s dive a little deeper into the magic of suspended animation and the species of brine shrimp known as Artemia salina. Replacement Sea Monkey refills are available at a special reduced price from in this event, regardless of where you purchased your original kit. My Sea Monkeys have died or failed to hatch, I live in the UK what can I do? We wish to thank George C Atamian, President of Transcience Corp, for his on-going help, advice and expertise with the information and images displayed on this site which is provided in conjunction with Transcience Corporation. Resulting from the most exquisitely sophisticated aquaculture technology, by true pioneers in this science, only the utmost resources of a leading marine biological research centre working for a span of many years has made this project a complete success. These amazing new hybrids grow larger and live longer than any "natural" variety of brine shrimp. We not only unlocked the most elusive secrets of their life cycle, we created new formulas to keep them alive under conditions found in the average home - an accomplishment never before achieved!įinally, after years of cross-breeding, we developed a hybrid.

Sea-Monkeys® are a unique type of brine shrimp, known by the scientific name of Artemia NYOS. Conceived in 1960 as a biological novelty, the fantasy has transformed into brilliant reality.

It is one of the outstanding educational experiences of a lifetime, because the entire life-cycle of these unique creatures are fully recreated. The joy of watching Sea-Monkeys® grow offers a lot more than just pure fun. Sea-Monkeys® are real Time-Travelers asleep in biological time capsules for their strange journey into the future! The instant-life crystals, in which the eggs are enclosed, preserve their viability and help to extend still further their un-hatched life span! They exist in suspended animation inside their tiny eggs for many years. Sea-Monkeys® are a true miracle of nature.
