The spirit of the Edge: Rachel Carson and numinous experience between land and sea
Susan Power Bratton
December 5, 2014 DOI: 10.4324/9781315710181-21 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Key points | Argues that the lugworm, though uncharismatic, is an ecosystem engineer whose detritus processing and mudflat leveling helped construct an entrancing contemplative coastal space, echoing Rachel Carson's narrative. |
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Abstract
As the breakers pull seawards and regain their crests, tiny vortices in the thinning water betray small holes in the packed sand, where mollusc and worm burrows tap the life-giving ood. Unseen microscopic cells are swirling around my ankles, providing sustenance for the reclusive excavators residing under my ephemeral footprints. e scattered evidence for a matrix of living protoplasm buried in the sediment reminds me of Rachel Carson’s admiring narrative about the humble lugworms, occupying these very Georgia shallows. Not the rst species on the eco-tourist’s ‘must see’ list, the lugworm is an ecosystem engineer that, in processing detritus and levelling the mud ats, helped to construct this entrancing contemplative space.