Secret Strangeness of the Ocean

Some of my books are treasures of secret strangeness. One in particular is old and was found thrown on a pile of rubbish on the road. It sits comfortably on my bookshelf waiting to be opened and admired at regular intervals. For at least 25 years it has been a source of inspiration to me, a portal to an imaginary world. Some of my favourite images are black and white and have a wonderful lithographic quality.

Two young Puffer Fish (Diodon histrix)

Coelographis regina

Elatomma juniperum

Lithocircus magnificus

Orosphaera serpentina (I love saying the latin names out loud)

The bottom four images are skeletons of radiolarians. Radiolarians are ancient microscopic traces of life dating back 600 million years. These secret little creatures are the precursors to all marine life. Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919) studied their perfect symmetrical structures and did exquisite drawings of them.

These images are models of radiolarians blown from glass by Herman Mueller in 1940.

........ the degree of difficulty crocheting my crochet sea creatures fades into insignificance compared to these little beauties.

Wildlife of the South Seas, F.A Raedelberger, and V.I Groschoff, Verbandsdruckerei Ltd., Berne, 1967.