生き物 マリモ

まりも
Lake Ball (Marimo) formations in the green alga

阿寒湖　

The conditions needed to form marimos are incredibly rare. Marimos are bumping up against one another to prevent their rivals from attaching them. And the bumping and rolling give them an opportunity to change their positions constantly so that they can get good sunlight. 

新宿の通勤ラッシュの人々もぶつかりあって都会の競争を生き抜いている。
The Shinjuku Station is always overcrowded. People are bumping up against one another. The bumping appears bothersome and so does seeing to all the required apologies.

まりもは、風や、澄んだ地下水、水温、日照量等の絶妙な条件下でしか生息しない。バランスが崩れるとコロニーはいっきに崩壊してしまう。現在は阿寒湖にしか生息していない。神秘の球体「まりも」は何故丸くなるか、何故群れるか、丸く固まっていると、光合成の効率も悪いのでは。理由は、天敵「シオグサ」に対して、風が吹いたときに起きる水流で回転してお互いにぶつかりあってシオグサの付着を防ぐ仕組みになっているという。重なりあってるが、結構動き回り、上下が入れ替わっている。群生して、他の水草の繁殖を防ぐ浅瀬の競争を生き抜いている。

奈良見物録 奈良公園の鹿

I went to Nara Park for the first time in forty years. I remembered finding first hand that the deer bowed to me when I tried to feed them. Why is this? How do they do this? Some evolutionary thing that the deer who bowed were the ones who got more food? Nara deer has been protected as messenger of God for more than 1,200 years.  Some say the deer simply learn to bow seeing the parents bow. Others say the deer intimidate us to move away leaving food for them.  

The deer in Miyajima were also considered sacred messengers from the gods. They're still protected by Japanese law today, but in Miyajima I never noticed any bowing deer there.