George Island - Mating Banana Slugs
As a naturalist who has spent the best part of a lifetime studying animals in the field, I am always amazed at how rarely one actually witnesses an interactive event related to procreation. Courtship, oviposition and births are rarely observed, partly because they are relatively rare events, but also because most animals are shy about performing the related activities in public. It is, therefore, a very special treat for me when I unexpectedly become a witness to the fervent coupling of two individuals, the laying of an egg, or the birth of a new life. It is even more exciting when at the time, I happen to have a group of keen expedition participants with me, to share this rare happening. Today we came unexpectedly upon a pair of banana slugs in a fond, mucus-bonded embrace. These slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites. This means that each slug is at the same time both female and male, and that after the courtship and mating events, both slugs will carry a package of fertilized eggs away with them, ready to be laid. We watched the slugs in their carnal embrace for a while, but knowing that these animals spend a very long time exchanging chemical stimuli and other messages before consummating their bond, we discretely moved on.
Seeing these slugs at this singular joint moment in their lives, and my emotional response to it, made me realize how difficult it sometimes is for a scientist to separate the objective from the subjective. I can observe humpback whales bubblenet feeding, or Steller sea lions jockeying for a spot on a rocky island with only excitement as a possible emotion to interfere with my scientific observations. There is neither good, nor evil in such basic activities, despite their life and death implications. I can describe these events in terms devoid of any value judgement. But, stumbling upon a pair of very nude, embracing slugs, makes me feel like an interloper, like a voyeur; I perceive something endearing in these dumb slimy invertebrates. Copulation and reproduction convey a strong feeling of the mysterious and sacred, making it very difficult to describe it in cold, precise scientific terms; something always gets lost when trying to do so. There is a beauty here, which is beyond the reach of language.
As a naturalist who has spent the best part of a lifetime studying animals in the field, I am always amazed at how rarely one actually witnesses an interactive event related to procreation. Courtship, oviposition and births are rarely observed, partly because they are relatively rare events, but also because most animals are shy about performing the related activities in public. It is, therefore, a very special treat for me when I unexpectedly become a witness to the fervent coupling of two individuals, the laying of an egg, or the birth of a new life. It is even more exciting when at the time, I happen to have a group of keen expedition participants with me, to share this rare happening. Today we came unexpectedly upon a pair of banana slugs in a fond, mucus-bonded embrace. These slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites. This means that each slug is at the same time both female and male, and that after the courtship and mating events, both slugs will carry a package of fertilized eggs away with them, ready to be laid. We watched the slugs in their carnal embrace for a while, but knowing that these animals spend a very long time exchanging chemical stimuli and other messages before consummating their bond, we discretely moved on.
Seeing these slugs at this singular joint moment in their lives, and my emotional response to it, made me realize how difficult it sometimes is for a scientist to separate the objective from the subjective. I can observe humpback whales bubblenet feeding, or Steller sea lions jockeying for a spot on a rocky island with only excitement as a possible emotion to interfere with my scientific observations. There is neither good, nor evil in such basic activities, despite their life and death implications. I can describe these events in terms devoid of any value judgement. But, stumbling upon a pair of very nude, embracing slugs, makes me feel like an interloper, like a voyeur; I perceive something endearing in these dumb slimy invertebrates. Copulation and reproduction convey a strong feeling of the mysterious and sacred, making it very difficult to describe it in cold, precise scientific terms; something always gets lost when trying to do so. There is a beauty here, which is beyond the reach of language.
