ZARATAN - 2020

// Taxonomy: Vivorbis erronaecus - wandering world
Habitat (migratory): Outer space.

Sporting private atmospheres for respiration, these colossal organisms capitalise on their own gravity to draw in foreign objects such as asteroids and meteorites. Once close enough, the Zaratan use their long tentacles to grab anything within reach and crash them onto their shelled surfaces. Over thousands of years the resulting sediment is slowly digested via chemosynthesis, creating complex labyrinthine systems within their crusts. Only a handful of Zaratan have been sighted by the colony, leaving much of their behaviour unknown…

This image formed part of my Honours Project for Uni; the depiction of a neo-futuristic civilisation of humans and A.I. living together as equals in harmony. Exploring the depths of deep space aboard a 151 KM long generation starship, they seek to research, learn and evolve together while searching to find wonders that no-one has ever seen. In the thousand years since leaving Earth, the pinnacle of their findings include the successful identification of 8 alien organisms, forming an ecosystem that reaches far beyond the stars…