Hello, Sparky here.
Ø Life on the
Banyan Island has settled down into its usual rhythm. I am sure I make many of
you long for the idyllic life that we on Banyan Island lead when I keep
mentioning our routine of food in plenty, rest in abundance, great company to
boot, lots of engaging conversation for the evenings as the day winds down.
But, like it is with many in the animal world, our space is just as vulnerable.
Ø This week the weather was great, rains in the evening, sunshine through
the day brought along with it some humans to our island. A family of four –
parents and 2 kids came for a picnic. They came in a row boat rowed by a
villager who lives on the mainland, across our island. Though humans from the
villages around hardly ever step onto our island we see them passing by our
island in their boats as they go about their lives. These are the kind of
humans we don’t mind – the ones who just let us be.
Ø The villager dropped the family and left. The family was nice enough,
like a squirrel family or a monkey family – lots of affection between the
members, love and concern for each other – the adults went around the island
with their children in tow. Though we were all aware of their presence and were
on our guard, we did not feel threatened by their presence. They behaved as one
should in another’s house.
Ø The human family spread a mat on the ground – it’s funny how they don’t
like to sit on the grass. Why does someone who comes to enjoy nature avoids
sitting directly on the grass? – arranged their things around, explored the island,
played some ball games, then settled down for some food. Then as the mother
read a book, the father napped and the children played on the sandy banks all
under the shade of our majestic banyan tree.
Ø As the shadows started to lengthen again, the parents called back their
children who came along carrying a small basket full of shells. They had
collected shells from the banks – not all shells are seashells, you know – the
parents looked at the shells with interest and gave them a used paper bag to
put it in, to carry it back home.
Ø I watched with a sense of surprise and disbelief in equal measure. Even
the humans who conduct themselves impeccably when in the midst of nature can fall
short on some important points of etiquette. One of the foremost things to
remember in nature is that if you remove something from its natural
surroundings there are bound to be implications. To give you the gist of the
implication for these humans is easy – and that would be ‘stink’. Yes, these
shells that these children picked up in play and adults approved in ignorance
still had mollusks within them. Once they take it home, the mollusks die and
then decay causing foul smell which they would then resort to rectify by
throwing away the shells – with the dead mollusks inside.
Ø This is in fact the story of every beachgoer human. They go to the beach
and leave a trail of destruction behind. Mollusks are invertebrates living in water
or wet habitats. Most of them have shells. Shells are the hard, protective
outer layer of mollusks that live in seas, freshwaters and also on land.
Mollusks build the shells around them with proteins and glucose. The material
of the shell is mainly Calcium Carbonate. The mollusk works on this outer
covering through its life, so its shape and size keeps getting larger to
accommodate the growth of the animal within. When the mollusk dies and its body
decomposes or it has been eaten by another animal, the empty shells do not go
waste, in fact, in nature nothing ever goes to waste, it’s reused or recycled.
o
The shells provide a home or an attachment-surface
for algae, sea grass, sponges and many other microorganisms.
o
Fishes and octopuses use it to hide from predators.
o
Hermit crabs, the crafty ones, use them as temporary
shelters.
o
Coastal birds use the shells in their nests.
o
Removal of shells can impact erosion pattern of
shorelines.
Ø The shells are thus a vital part of the coastal eco-systems and many
creatures’ survival depends on it. The empty shells often get deposited on the
beach and many a time it has its temporary residents within. By picking up a
shell from the beach you might deprive someone of a home and protection but
there is a far greater damage one can do by buying a shell as a souvenir. The
shells that are sold commercially are collected in bulk, while the animal is
still alive from its underwater home, they are then killed (by soaking them in
acid), cleaned and polished. So, the beautiful piece of shell on sale is a
really a symbol of human’s crass and ‘to hell with the rest’ attitude.
Ø Here’s a collage of a few ‘shell’ photos.
Ø Coming back to the mollusks with their shells that were being taken away from
our island. The mollusks got lucky, the villager who had been hired to ferry
them across the waters happened to notice the paper bag one of the child was
holding so fondly and guessing that it was something they had collected from
the island, made enquires and told them of the harm they were causing. The nice
humans corrected their folly, the children themselves lovingly put back their
collection on the bank and left waving a goodbye to us all.
Ø We need more humans like this villager who rightly understood the effect
of seemingly small things on the survival of the island and its inhabitants in
the not so far future. Possibly, the villager realised his livelihood would be
at stake if we were gone. This is how things really are – our lives are connected
to each other. We earthlings will either survive as one or sink one after
another.
Here
are a few activities for this week. If reading so much about shells and mollusks
doesn’t make you want to go to the beach then you can always solve a few puzzles
at home.
·
Here’s
a photo clicked in a tidal pool. Tidal Pool is water that remains when the ocean
recedes at low tide. Look at this photo of the underwater ‘tidal pool’ life and
see how many words you can identify that begin with the letter ‘S’. Don’t limit
yourself to just what you see, widen your imagination and look for intangible things
as well.
· Here is a ‘Mollusk’ crossword puzzle.
· Here are a few animals hiding almost in ‘plain sight’. Can you try and spot them and identify them?
See
you all next week with more news, activities and answers to this week’s
puzzles.
In
the meanwhile, if you would like to write to me, email me at Sparkyatbanyan@gmail.com
Answers to
last week’s puzzles:
·
Solve
the riddles below, put the words together and you will get the name of a science fiction short story which
was written in 1952.
|
A |
This
is how the alpha beta count begins |
|
Sound |
Your
ears pick it up if it’s within range, Your
brain sorts it and tells you if it’s familiar or strange. |
|
Of |
Expresses
relationship between parts and whole, Is
a preposition. Also
shows belonging, origin and possession.
|
|
Thunder |
This
is what follows a lightning, If
you shout angrily, you would be doing this and
that would be frightening. |
‘A Sound of Thunder’ is a science fiction short story by Ray Bradbury, an American
writer. The story talks of how ‘a small change could lead to a huge
difference’, which is the essence of what a ‘Butterfly effect’ is.
·
Here
are some idioms from space – match the idiom in column 1 with its meaning in
column 2:
·
Crossword
puzzle for the week:
‘Little readers’ Section’
·
Here are a few creatures – can you
identify them.
|
No. |
Animal |
|
1 |
Moth |
|
2 |
Butterfly |
|
3 |
Beatle |
|
4 |
Grasshopper(s) |
|
5 |
Caterpillar |
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