The Barnacle Whisperer

Michelle Cusolito is an educator, naturalist, author, and to a group of folks gathered at the Mattapoisett Library on July 28, she was the “Barnacle Whisperer.”

Cusolito told about 20 young people from ages 8 to 12 that barnacles are amazing animals, whose lives along our coast can only be seen at low tide. But it is during the high tide that they are active, albeit rather hard to see without a magnifying glass or a snorkel.

Before arriving at the Mattapoisett Library to impart barnacle wisdom to this thoroughly engaged group, Cusolito made a visit to Ned’s Point and collected rocks encrusted with barnacles and brought them in large pails of seawater.

First, she had the children examine the rocks, noting that the barnacles were very tiny. She then handed out magnifying glasses in order to bring the tiny crustaceans into better view.

After asking the kids to jot down some thoughts about what they observed, she placed the rocks into clear bins and then slowly splashed sea water over them, mimicking a rising tide. She told the children to give the barnacles a bit of time and then to observe any changes.

Aubrey, Daniel, Sarah, Annie, Connor, Cameron, Meghan, Violet, Alex and others waited patiently, just as scientists in all disciplines must when studying nature. They were waiting for the barnacles to open up and release their feeding legs.

Sarah said, “Oh, that smell!” as she peered into the container on her table and waited for the barnacles to open. Cusolito cautioned the kids that when studying nature, one had to be patient – there was a great deal of waiting involved in science.

As they waited, Violet asked Cusolito, “Do you know what happens?” Science involves a bit of skepticism, too, it seems. Cusolito chuckled and replied that yes, she did.

Cusolito has given talks on barnacles to students and to educators helping the latter group to understand the complexities of these tiny creatures as they develop materials for their own classes.

This group of curious minds learned that barnacles will attach themselves to any slow moving or stationary object – be it a ship, a whale, or a rock. They are hermaphrodites and their offspring voraciously consume plankton, grow, molt, and then settle down to find a home. They excrete a type of organic brown glue used to attach their bodies to the object of their desired home site. This substance is so strong that it is being studied for possible use in dental applications. Things that make you go “hmm,” or from this group, “Oh, yuck!”

Earlier in the afternoon, Cusolito pointed out that the Tri-Towns’ libraries are part of the MOBY program, which stands for My Own Back Yard. The program encourages youth in the communities to explore their own towns to search out nature in pastures, streams, seashore, or even the night sky.

The MOBY program offers backpacks at each library that are filled with exploring materials for specific study in such topics as organic gardening, insects, the beach, or bird-watching and available for check out.

By Marilou Newell

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