Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Bryozoans



Looks like this little fella is from the Wehrmacht given his helmet and the rest of the kit he’s toting. Poised, ready to shoot, a cog in Der Fürer’s army. He’s been out there at sea a long long time, finally coming to rest on Kehoe Beach, home from the war. He’s sporting mineralized skeletons of Bryozoans. 

Bryozoans have a varied gendered life cycle and body parts that show that they are the level of complexity of earthworms. They make colonies, distinctive little homes for themselves and are a sure tell that a piece of plastic has been at sea a long time.

Our little Wehrmacht Soldat reminds us that great armies rise and fall, but plastic is forever.