DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUES IN NATURE
Issue 20, Summer 2023
A deer with budding antlers is eating the dock plant which had no defenses against it. photo by John F. Williams
DEFENSIVE TECHNIQUES IN NATURE
Issue 20, Summer 2023
John F. Williams
Guest Managing Editor
(Table of Contents is below this intro)
After a rather gray and cool Spring, the sun comes out, and I look around. Defensive tactics used by creatures in nature are all around me, though it may take some looking, and some thinking, to really perceive them.
This moon snail defends itself with both a shell and an operculum. photo by John F. Williams
I marvel at the shell of the pillbug who crawled out from under a rock. Snail shells are also pretty obvious protection. But did you know that many marine snails have an operculum which they use as a trap door to protect themselves when inside their shell? The operculum fends off predators as well as helping the snail defend against drying out if caught above the tide.
Some plants use shells to protect their seeds. Some plants and animals use chemistry, sharp edges, and even camouflage to protect themselves. Some animals even borrow defensive tools from their prey.
I hope that you enjoy this issue which will explore a variety of defensive techniques found in nature.
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Happy Spring!
Issue 20, Table of Contents
Art of Defense
by David Eisenhour
Summer 2023
Defensive mechanisms used by barnacles, limpets, seaweed, and jellyfish are shown in this collection of bronze castings of marine creatures by sculptor David Eisenhour
Defense is in the Gills
by Thomas Noland
Summer 2023
The shag-rug sea slug has a unique defense mechanism: kleptocnidy. Klepto-what? This article also has links to some videos, so that you can see kleptocnidy first-hand.
Never a Dull Moment
by John Gussman
Summer 2023
Never a Dull Moment. While one eagle parent gets mobbed by crows, the other one feeds the little ones. This short video was shot in slow motion by John Gussman.
The Plant Armory
by Sarah Lorse
Summer 2023
Being sessile is a disadvantage at the bottom of the food web with hungry herbivores and omnivores prowling about. The first line of defense is a plant’s physical traits.
Poetry-20
by Taylor & Henthorn
Summer 2023
What happens when you’re facing an unexpected and possibly dangerous situation? These poems by Nancy Taylor and Dawn Henthorn tell of a couple of animals in that situation
Attack of the Sea Slugs
by Champ Williams
Summer 2023
Intriguing (and rather amazing) defensive mechanisms of some of our Salish Sea residents are shown in these two short underwater videos by Champ Williams in 2008.
Plant Armory Part 2
by Sarah Lorse
Summer 2023
Since flight is not an option for plants, they have become masters of putting up a fight. Plants have toxic chemical defenses which can be present in all parts of a plant
Specters in the Dark
by Jeff Beyl
Summer 2023
Night dive. The Salish Sea. Wall diving at its apex. Something was not quite right. I slowly turned around and directed the beam of my flashlight out into the darkness…
Salish Magazine
Publisher: John F. Williams
Guest Managing Editors: John F. Williams
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