is for Nautilus.
Some of you may have never heard of this amazing undersea animal. For those who have heard the word before, perhaps you only know it from its association in literature as Captain Nemo‘s ship in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, written in 1870 by Jules Verne. Check out this beautiful, relaxing video as an introduction to this unique shelled being.
I have always been fascinated by the continuing spiral pattern found on the inside of this creature’s shell and what it is thought to represent. The myths, legends and symbolism attributed to it never really occurred to me before. As someone who enjoyed playing on the beach and collecting shells, I just enjoyed the nautilus for the tiger striped pattern on the outside and the pearlescent beauty hidden beneath. More intriguing, I think, is that these creatures have been around for over 500 million years!
