Little Black Mussels by Bianca Settle
“We are mussels, we are small,
It’s all for one and one for all!”
Hey, we’re down here, whispering under your shoes.
Listen, listen, have you heard the news?
Yes, we know now it seems dry under your feet,
but soon the tide will come and we’ll have a feast.
No, no, we’re not babies – we’ll be this small forever.
We’ll never be the kind of mussels you’ll find in your pasta.
Which is just as well, as life is hard enough as it is,
avoiding being eaten by crabs, snails and fish.
When we’re out of the water we’re very exposed,
so we use our strong muscles to clamp our shells closed.
Our byssal threads are incredibly strong,
they branch out onto rocks and stick us on.
There’s safety in numbers so we live in a flock,
all joined together so we can’t be pulled off.
At last! The rolling waves bring food for us to eat;
Tiny little crumbs of food you can hardly see.
We’re filter feeders so we suck water in,
use little hairs to catch the food, then push it out again.
If we suck in stuff that could make us unwell,
We can spit it out with a quick clap of our shell.
Actually, you owe us a big thank you,
‘cause when we eat we clean the water too.
Every day we move buckets of water through our bodies,
Filtering out pollution that makes the water dirty.
So when you’re standing here, admiring the view,
remember that this is our home too.
Though we may be small, there’s a lot we can do,
surviving clustered under your shoe.
If you would like to learn more about the huge diversity of life that can be found along our coasts and shorelines, please contact our Education Director at education@dolphinresearch.org.au for a public event, school holiday program or school incursion/excursion.
