A
barnacle is a short salt water shellfish that attaches itself to ship hulls,
rocks, docks and other underwater objects. Anyone
who goes to the seashore is likely to see barnacles.
A
barnacle hatches from an egg as a tiny, free-swimming creature. But soon it fastens itself to any
convenient object, such as the hull of a ship, pilling, rock, or even a passing
whale.
Once
attached, a hard, limy shell grows around the barnacle. The
barnacles stay for the rest of its life in the place where it settles.
It
eats by waving its feathery legs through an opening in the shell to pull tiny
sea creatures and plants into its mouth. The
shell has a lid that can be closed in case of danger.
To
sailors the barnacle is a trouble. Masses
of them clinging to a ship’s hull reduce the ship’s speed. The only way to remove barnacles’
shell is to put the ship in dry dock and scrape its bottom. - Dick Rogers
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