Photo of Seahorse Art taken in 2008.
Brain Coral, Courtesy Wikimedia Commons, 2010.
Having grown up on a land mass between the Atlantic and Pacific,near the equator, I have always loved and respected the ocean. Apart from the walks and love of waves that dominated childhood visits to several beaches, I adored the shades and hues of blues, greens and almost inky blacks found in varying depths.
While I was never a stellar snorkeler, I did swim, and on more than one occasion, crossed paths with schools of fish, sting rays and the beginning of a coral reef. Shell collecting from the shore was a hobby for my parents who created a fascinating framed mirror that was so heavy with layers of shells that it had to be mounted to the wall with especially heavy screws.
Looking at the various shells, all of differing shapes, sizes, contours and colours, I would try to imagine the creatures that had called them home...
Did the crab in the shiny pink and white shell get along with limpets and barnacles?
How was that giant brain coral retrieved? Did the lobster whose claw I was eying meet a catastrophic end? What happened to the sea urchin missing part of its lovely shell? Where did Dad find that star fish?
My favourite was the rather mythical sea horse I first saw in an aquarium. So taken was I with this delicate specimen of sea life that I spent an entire Saturday consulting the Encyclopedia Britannica in the library...
Did you know that the male seahorse is the one who gets pregnant and gives birth? For more fun facts, visit this link from a Nova episode that aired in 1997 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/seahorse/ the link is still active.
You may also enjoy a rather unique piece of seahorse art in the photo above. Another favourite, Brain coral, is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Released for use in the public domain, each is intended for illustrative puposes only.
I was the perfect kid to have read and appreciated the funny sea characters once penned by Zoe at http://mindandlanguage.blogspot.com. If you've not seen her blog, take a look. It's enjoyable reading. It was Zoe's writing about these stories that sparked the idea for this post.
Until Next Time...
8 comments:
the seahorse art is very cool...and kinda glad i am not a seahorse...not interested in being pregnant...smiles.
Marine life is full of amazing wonders and delights. It's a shame most of it is under water and hidden from us unless as you say we go snorkelling. Do your parents still have that wonderful mirror or has it been given away?
e, you must look at this:
http://www.arquitecturaorganica.com/inicio_i.html
click on 'orgnaic works' then 'Nautilus 2007'. Scroll down for photos of a shell you can really live in!
i love shells and beach combing
and that coral - just amazing, how beautiful
Hah I'm always afraid Greenpeace might come along and try to 'rehabilitate' me into the brine.
Really nice post.I like the sea too :)
I too have long been fascinated with the role of the male seahorse. The emperor penguin has an equally important role reversal in an effort to keep the species alive.
Ah, snorkeling in tropical climes is my idea of heaven. I feel more at peace doing that than anything else can give me. The best I've had was Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. But, Kauai is good, too, just not primo.
Post a Comment