3 life lessons from sea hares.
Feel your way. Be different. Take your time - 3 life lessons from sea hares.
I was wandering among the rockpools the other day - such an intricate and sparkly wonderland of little beasts and swaying seaweed.
I came across some sea hares – always my most squeal-inducing finds in intertidal zones. And these were fine, well-fed ones, working away at the algae with serene dedication.
If you’re new to sea hares, they look a bit like a blobby snail without its shell, with a set of ‘horns’ (rhinophores) sticking out of their head. These horns look a bit like the ears of a hare – hence the name. Sea hares also generally have frills for a bit of extra panache (and yes, I know, camouflage).
They squirt purple ink if you upset them, and they’re toxic to dogs, should your dog choose to chew them (so don’t let your dog do that, for everyone’s sake).
I found 16 sea hares that day (!!) and realised that I knew next to nothing about them. So here are 3 factoids that are both cool and (I think) contain lessons for living.
They are:
1. Feel your way. Sea hares have eye spots, but can’t really see. They can detect light from shadow but can’t focus on objects, judge distance or see colour. They can, however, feel, smell and taste the world around them with their rhinophores (they have a second set near their mouth, as well as the ones on their head).
The lesson? It’s totally OK to feel your way through life, especially when you can’t see the path ahead with any clarity.
2. Be Different. Sea hares are hermaphrodites, but in an extra special quirk of nature, they keep their retractable penis in a sack (man bag?) on the right side of their head. (My yoga teacher always did say that your right side is your masculine side – turns out she was correct).
The lesson?Never be afraid to do things differently – and I mean really differently. May we all lean into our unique individualism. (Oh, and keeping your valuables neatly stowed is also advisable).
3. Take your time. Sea hares move slowly. They can meander casually along the sea floor or swim. But unlike lots of other creatures of the rockpools who can move with lightning speed – like fish or crabs, say – the sea hare glides along in absolutely no hurry. And yet, it gets everywhere it needs to go. It eats, breeds, and communes with the other sea hares as needed in apparent contentment.
The lesson? Compared to most humans, the sea hare embodies the age-old adage… Less haste, more speed.
So, next time you find yourself tiptoeing among rockpools, keep an eye out for (and your dog well away from) the humble sea hare. Because they’re full of quirkiness and lessons to learn from, and are also magnificently, tranquilly oblivious to that fact.
If you want to read more about sea hares, here are some pages to start with:
https://www.seaslugforum.net/showall/aplyhead
https://www.seaslugforum.net/find/8106
https://www.mbnep.org/2016/08/26/morro-bay-wildlife-spotlight-california-sea-hare/