Monday, March 26, 2007

Lesson of the day and why I love tide pools!

The gumboot chiton may look a little dull in comparison to some of the other fancy undersea creatures.



But don't let it's appearance fool you....

This bad ass has a tongue that is partially made out of iron, so it can best scrape the bottom of the sea! It even rusts at times!

It is also a crafty critter. It often lets a worm live in its gills... and the worm will attack predators that come after the chiton!

***

After learning these fun facts about the chiton, and many other sea creatures, my guy and I went to the ocean today, scaled some rocks, and found a really amazing tidepool.



It is incredible how these unassuming little puddles contain such thriving life when you take an extra look. We saw anemones, a few different types of crabs, and stripey fish. It was somehow oddly exciting to have found this little cranny only 10 minutes away from throngs of tourists, but to be the only people crouching by it.
I like catching the things that other people miss.

5 comments:

Ultra Toast Mosha God said...

Rusty tongue?

This conjures up a whole world of imagery

L said...

That thing looks like one big tongue! Eugh!

Ant said...

Right, I'm not buying it any more - you're totally just taking pictures of your old slippers then making all that stuff up...

Rusty tongue indeed...

Princess Pointful said...

Argh... overwhelmed with frightening visions of exfoliating tongues... *shudder*

eric1313 said...

I was just going to say what happened to the lower picture? It disappeared.

And you seemed so excited and genuine in the post about finding the tide pool off the beaten path.

Takes more than a rusty tongue to distract me.

Aren't most tourists annoying in their lackadaisical gawkery? Good for you and your man for finding what others wouldn't care to find. And good for you for being in love with life itself.

Is it past my bed time? Or is it before my wake up time? Quite the philosophical quandary...

Gawkery is really a great new word. It almost passes as real.