2006.3 - PHYSONECT SIPHONOPHORE

No one has ever heard of this animal, and I have never seen one myself. It is related to a Portuguese Man ‘o War. I have only seen a bit of a Portuguese Man ’o War, but that bit was enough for me. While researching dolphin locomotion off Oahu, I was stung by a free-floating tentacle. It hurts a lot. Supposedly one can relieve the pain by peeing on the sting, but I just suffered. The photograph that I based this physonect siphonophore on is widely published, and I have seen it in Natural History, NewScientist, and the book The Deep, by Claire Nouvian. The pieces were individually thrown and altered, and glazed with high fire shiny black, and low fire orange. They are wired to a thick piece of rope with a very fancy splice at the top. It is amazing to me that there are people who still do this fancy work. The orange tentacles are feather boas. This piece hangs about eight and a half feet down from the ceiling. After our family discussions about hanging the giraffe legs, I didn’t even ask about hanging the siphonophore in the house, and it is in our attic room.