I’ve loved limpet shells since childhood, and I still keep them around the house among other shells. It’s fascinating to learn more about their little lives. I remember seeing time-lapse footage of them moving about to forage, but I had no idea about the home scar. Thank you for sharing.
And thank you for the information about Rosebank. I’ll sign the petition and write to my MP, though I admit I’m losing hope that our leaders truly care about nature. Everything I’ve supported, signed, or written letters about just seems to go ahead regardless of the cost to nature. Still, I won’t give up.
I feel the same, Linda - no matter how loud the protest, it doesn't seem to make much difference to our politicians' choices. But like you, I won't give up on getting our voices heard. Thank you for writing to your MP. I hope they care more about nature than mine, and will be keeping my fingers crossed (although not holding out too much hope) about the upcoming decision...
Nature is amazing! Limpets are common in Portugal (where I grew up) and I always assumed they just grew up and lived on the same spot, never moving. It's fascinating that they detach to forage and then come back to the same spot! "home scar" - beautiful.
Isn't it just! I've spent so much time around limpets but also had no idea about the details of their lives. It never ceases to amaze me how much beauty there is when we look closely!
This is so moving and the thought of that oilfield so horrific. 'Rosebank' -- a beautiful name for a monstrous project, so diffeent to those children, who get it: "each holding a shell in the palm of their hand as if cradling something precious, something made of magic, poetry."
oh isn't it. It drives me mad when these projects get beautiful names, especially when they are derived from the natural world. Where I used to live, there was a huge new industrial estate where every road was named after a native bird species. For the aesthetics, I guess, as if the estate hadn't destroyed those birds' habitat. I am sure the irony was not intentional on the parts of the developers...
Lovely. I sort of knew and didn't know about home scars. I've seen them and knew the limpets form them, but didn't know their name nor the full extent of their importance for the limpets. Thanks for teaching me something today!
Ooh you've just added so much more magic to the few limpet shells living currently on my desk! 17 years, wow! Home scar, one piece a life, one piece a scar... 💙 This will live in my mind for a little while now. Oh and same, I just love browsing our field guides. You giving those kids a creature to behold, a new magical world to look deeper into is, in my opinion, a much more efficient way of moving the needle towards conservation and caring, than petitions. (Not to say the latter don't work) I guess I have hope that if we teach the future generations to care more, to hold that little creature with reverence and awe, then perhaps there might be hope for us after all✨💙
I love that you have limpet shells on your desk! I do too and I love to think that their corresponding scars are somewhere out by the ocean, a wild portal connecting our desks to the sea 💙 And I really agree, I think long-term that cultivating love and respect and wonder for nature is what is going to make perhaps one of the biggest differences. What worries me is how long-term such a strategy is, when time is not on our side... but we shall keep going and spreading wonder and doing what we can. Happy new year, Vic 💙
Connecting our desks to the sea, that brings joy to me! :) Mmh I share your worries, I often feel a sense of despair or dread when I think of how pressing the shift is and wether or not it will ever really happen, but then I think, we have this short and precious life... I want to live it while spreading and bathing in wonder, not worry. Its the only thing that makes sense. So thanks for being on that journey too and inspiring us all. xx Happy New Year Rebecca! Lots of love. xx
What a beautiful beautiful article! I learnt a lot and fell in love with limpets, thank you. I love that you organised a poetry workshop with children and shared what you had learned with them. I´ve worked with children in the past and I feel that they are often the most open and atuned to the magic of the world, how powerful it must have felt to share this with them and see their eyes light up!
oh I couldn't agree more about kids being more open and attuned to the magic of the world - it is so wonderful seeing the world through their eyes and learning to let magic in the way they do. Thank you for reading, Maria, so glad you enjoyed it!
Another beautiful story about things most of us miss, or at least fail to appreciate and understand. I have a feeling that if limpets become extinct we’re going to find out, to our sorrow, that, since they occur in the zone between the high and low tides, they are some kind of bulwark or cornerstone in the structure of life on land and in the sea. Thanks, Rebecca, for shining a light on these animals.
You are so welcome Rafael and I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Let's hope we don't lose our limpets, because I think you are right - they are such an important component of the ecosystems they live in. And, also, they are just wonderful creatures!
I am in love with this, such rich metaphors. All of us, anyone with a home, leaves a scar, an etching of ourselves upon the earth. And each scar begets another scar. And another. Of every kind. And as I read this, I envied the limpet--how cozy it seems, now secure and safe, like the morning kitchen after a sound sleep, how the body turns round and round, ensconced in the warmth, the toasting bread, the coffee brewing. I wish I could haul my body up out of my scar and attach myself to the seawall, draw in the water around me, and sleep through the days.
oh you brought me right into that cosy scene - morning light, the smell of coffee, the safety of home. This is one of the reasons I think the concept of the home scar is so beautiful - because we all know (or, at least those of us that are lucky know) our own safe and quiet home scar x
I have always like limpets because they are just so strong and immovable. As a child, I roamed rocky ocean shores often, and explored everything I could find in the intertidal zone. I would pick up shellfish, and then carefully replace them where I had found them - but limpets were an impregnable mystery, holding fast to the stone as if part of it.
When I held a limpet shell up to the kids at the workshop and asked what it was, one of them said, 'it's a rock', and you know, I think I thought the same when I was little. That the limpet shell was actually part of the rock itself. Impregnable mystery indeed!
Oh dear, how beautiful this new knowledge is, thank you, but so dreadful the prospect of Rosebank. As always, your post has amazed and informed, eloquent, succinct and poetic.
I admit to finding resonance in “They are the quiet child on the side-lines of a raucous birthday party: tucked away, regrettably easy to ignore.” 🤭 And to the whole idea of ‘home scar’ for humans who root into place to.
Your piece brought to mind a talk I attended by Dutch photographer Theo Bosboom in 2018 which included a time lapse video of limpets. There’s a recording of it online—the section begins at 46:19 with the limpets moving at around 52minutes. You might enjoy it Rebecca.
haha, I too see myself in that picture ;) oh this talk is just incredible! His photos are spectacular but my favourites are the time-lapses at the end - how incredible to see them moving like that!!!
Wow I didn’t know anything about limpets and I too am completely charmed by the idea of a home-scar. I will be thinking about this all day now.
I am so pleased to be spreading the limpet love! (big fan of your gorgeous artwork, by the way) x
I’ve loved limpet shells since childhood, and I still keep them around the house among other shells. It’s fascinating to learn more about their little lives. I remember seeing time-lapse footage of them moving about to forage, but I had no idea about the home scar. Thank you for sharing.
And thank you for the information about Rosebank. I’ll sign the petition and write to my MP, though I admit I’m losing hope that our leaders truly care about nature. Everything I’ve supported, signed, or written letters about just seems to go ahead regardless of the cost to nature. Still, I won’t give up.
I feel the same, Linda - no matter how loud the protest, it doesn't seem to make much difference to our politicians' choices. But like you, I won't give up on getting our voices heard. Thank you for writing to your MP. I hope they care more about nature than mine, and will be keeping my fingers crossed (although not holding out too much hope) about the upcoming decision...
Nature is amazing! Limpets are common in Portugal (where I grew up) and I always assumed they just grew up and lived on the same spot, never moving. It's fascinating that they detach to forage and then come back to the same spot! "home scar" - beautiful.
Isn't it just! I've spent so much time around limpets but also had no idea about the details of their lives. It never ceases to amaze me how much beauty there is when we look closely!
One of my favourite things is to put my ear to a limpet-covered rock and hear their snap, crackle and pop.
Oh I love this, as well! For barnacles too!
This is so moving and the thought of that oilfield so horrific. 'Rosebank' -- a beautiful name for a monstrous project, so diffeent to those children, who get it: "each holding a shell in the palm of their hand as if cradling something precious, something made of magic, poetry."
oh isn't it. It drives me mad when these projects get beautiful names, especially when they are derived from the natural world. Where I used to live, there was a huge new industrial estate where every road was named after a native bird species. For the aesthetics, I guess, as if the estate hadn't destroyed those birds' habitat. I am sure the irony was not intentional on the parts of the developers...
Yes - I grew up on an estate where all the streets were the names of the cut down trees.
Oh how beautiful...what a way to start my day 😍
So glad to read this, Janey! x
Lovely. I sort of knew and didn't know about home scars. I've seen them and knew the limpets form them, but didn't know their name nor the full extent of their importance for the limpets. Thanks for teaching me something today!
so glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reading, Pedro!
Thank you for this much-needed awareness-raising and call-to-action, as well as your always lovely writing.
thank you for reading, John! so glad you enjoyed it.
Ooh you've just added so much more magic to the few limpet shells living currently on my desk! 17 years, wow! Home scar, one piece a life, one piece a scar... 💙 This will live in my mind for a little while now. Oh and same, I just love browsing our field guides. You giving those kids a creature to behold, a new magical world to look deeper into is, in my opinion, a much more efficient way of moving the needle towards conservation and caring, than petitions. (Not to say the latter don't work) I guess I have hope that if we teach the future generations to care more, to hold that little creature with reverence and awe, then perhaps there might be hope for us after all✨💙
I love that you have limpet shells on your desk! I do too and I love to think that their corresponding scars are somewhere out by the ocean, a wild portal connecting our desks to the sea 💙 And I really agree, I think long-term that cultivating love and respect and wonder for nature is what is going to make perhaps one of the biggest differences. What worries me is how long-term such a strategy is, when time is not on our side... but we shall keep going and spreading wonder and doing what we can. Happy new year, Vic 💙
Connecting our desks to the sea, that brings joy to me! :) Mmh I share your worries, I often feel a sense of despair or dread when I think of how pressing the shift is and wether or not it will ever really happen, but then I think, we have this short and precious life... I want to live it while spreading and bathing in wonder, not worry. Its the only thing that makes sense. So thanks for being on that journey too and inspiring us all. xx Happy New Year Rebecca! Lots of love. xx
What a beautiful beautiful article! I learnt a lot and fell in love with limpets, thank you. I love that you organised a poetry workshop with children and shared what you had learned with them. I´ve worked with children in the past and I feel that they are often the most open and atuned to the magic of the world, how powerful it must have felt to share this with them and see their eyes light up!
oh I couldn't agree more about kids being more open and attuned to the magic of the world - it is so wonderful seeing the world through their eyes and learning to let magic in the way they do. Thank you for reading, Maria, so glad you enjoyed it!
Home scar - what an incredible concept. Chimes with my developing sense of boundaries and knowing yourself. Beautiful read.
isn't it just, Anna! so glad you enjoyed the piece x
Another beautiful story about things most of us miss, or at least fail to appreciate and understand. I have a feeling that if limpets become extinct we’re going to find out, to our sorrow, that, since they occur in the zone between the high and low tides, they are some kind of bulwark or cornerstone in the structure of life on land and in the sea. Thanks, Rebecca, for shining a light on these animals.
You are so welcome Rafael and I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Let's hope we don't lose our limpets, because I think you are right - they are such an important component of the ecosystems they live in. And, also, they are just wonderful creatures!
❤️!
I am in love with this, such rich metaphors. All of us, anyone with a home, leaves a scar, an etching of ourselves upon the earth. And each scar begets another scar. And another. Of every kind. And as I read this, I envied the limpet--how cozy it seems, now secure and safe, like the morning kitchen after a sound sleep, how the body turns round and round, ensconced in the warmth, the toasting bread, the coffee brewing. I wish I could haul my body up out of my scar and attach myself to the seawall, draw in the water around me, and sleep through the days.
oh you brought me right into that cosy scene - morning light, the smell of coffee, the safety of home. This is one of the reasons I think the concept of the home scar is so beautiful - because we all know (or, at least those of us that are lucky know) our own safe and quiet home scar x
I have always like limpets because they are just so strong and immovable. As a child, I roamed rocky ocean shores often, and explored everything I could find in the intertidal zone. I would pick up shellfish, and then carefully replace them where I had found them - but limpets were an impregnable mystery, holding fast to the stone as if part of it.
I'm fascinated to hear your upcoming news!
Best Wishes - Dave :)
When I held a limpet shell up to the kids at the workshop and asked what it was, one of them said, 'it's a rock', and you know, I think I thought the same when I was little. That the limpet shell was actually part of the rock itself. Impregnable mystery indeed!
Oh dear, how beautiful this new knowledge is, thank you, but so dreadful the prospect of Rosebank. As always, your post has amazed and informed, eloquent, succinct and poetic.
Oh thank you, this means so much Kara! x
I admit to finding resonance in “They are the quiet child on the side-lines of a raucous birthday party: tucked away, regrettably easy to ignore.” 🤭 And to the whole idea of ‘home scar’ for humans who root into place to.
Your piece brought to mind a talk I attended by Dutch photographer Theo Bosboom in 2018 which included a time lapse video of limpets. There’s a recording of it online—the section begins at 46:19 with the limpets moving at around 52minutes. You might enjoy it Rebecca.
https://youtu.be/MU4Q4sl0KUQ?si=IOtVR_a5Ii3vG06b
haha, I too see myself in that picture ;) oh this talk is just incredible! His photos are spectacular but my favourites are the time-lapses at the end - how incredible to see them moving like that!!!
I thought you might enjoy it; it certainly stuck in my memory.