Three quarters of the earth is covered by water. From oceans to streams, aquatic biomes are host to a wide variety of animals from ranging from the little newt in his pond to the mysterious giant squid of the deep. Aquatic biomes are further split into marine and fresh water habitats, with their own groups of animals.
Oceans
Oceans are the primal life force, for all life sprang from the seas. Ever changing, oceans are the dynamic force of nature. Calm one day, angry another day, seas reflect people’s emotional states.
People speak of sailing the seas of life, and finding safe harbor in coves. In many stories, the ocean represents the subconscious mind. With the ebb and flow of the ocean waters, the dance of the ego, id, and super-ego goes on.
Freshwater
Freshwater regions include ponds, lakes, and rivers. Each has been endowed by people with their own particular meanings. People are purified in the River Jordan (Jordan) and the River Ganges (India). Springs have healing properties that people seek. Monsters live at the bottom of lakes ready to frighten people.
Rivers are water in motion. They start in mountains and flow to the seas. Since human commerce moves with rivers, people’s lives are closely tied to them. Human civilizations first rose along the banks of rivers.
In literature, rivers stood for the flow of time, ebbing, and flowing, but constantly moving. An animal metaphor for the river would be salmon. These fish swim from small pools to their rivers to the seas. When it comes time for salmon to spawn, they fight the river current to return to their home pools upstream.
Deep in many lakes are cold-loving fish that took refuge in the cold waters, when the glaciers receded. Birds may live on the banks and fish for the many frogs and insects, but refugees from previous ice ages live near the bottoms. The subjects of legends, prehistoric monsters are reputed to be dwelling in the bottom of deep water lakes.
Lakes are mirrors into the other world. Ladies of Lakes beckon people to dive deeper for enlightenment. A lake may seem inert, but power lies just underneath the still waters. Dive in and encounter a magical world.
Life is lived small in ponds. They provide breeding spots for small animals like salamanders and frogs. Ponds attract a unique collection of animals to their shallow fresh waters from dragonflies and water snakes. Ponds are friendly places for people to enjoy nature.
Marshes, Swamps, and Wetlands
Wetlands range from marshy patches to huge expanses of waterlogged land. Extremely fertile habitats, the combination of mineral rich soils and abundant water provide a perfect environment for lush growth. Marshes are the nurseries for life on land and water.
Since they are difficult places to live, tidal flats seem barren. The animals that live there adjust to living with the changing tides. When the tide is low, the animals are exposed to heat and predators. When the tide is high, animals have to cope with being underwater. To survive the rigors of life, small animals live in burrows and scurry about when the tide is out. Clams solve their problems by burrowing and opening their shells when the tides come in. Only the hardiest of animals live in tidal zones, a between place.
Shorelines are the host and meeting place for land and sea animals. Mysterious things happen in these between places. People tell stories of sea animals becoming humans when coming up on the shore. Marshes are between water and land, providing a crack to another world. Swamps speak of darkness and mystery. Tidal flats are the passage to the other worlds.
Va. Carper
June 29, 2004