In her essay collection, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments (Bookshop|Amazon), poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil describes the defensive action of the so-called vampire squid. When threatened, this creature adopts what’s called a pineapple posture, in which its arms and web are spread up over the head and mantle for protection. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Pineapple Posture”
Grant, I’ve been reading a lovely little book that I think you might enjoy.
It’s a collection of essays called World of Wonders in Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments.
And it’s by Amy Nizuka Matatul.
She’s a poet, and she was born in Chicago to a Filipina mother and a Malayali Indian father.
And she’s known for writing poems at the intersection of those three cultures, Filipino, Indian, and American.
And in this book, it’s a book about science and the natural world, but it’s also a memoir of growing up as a person of color in Kansas and Arizona in the 1970s and 80s.
So it’s a really interesting, rich combination there.
There are lots of really cool terms in this book.
And one of the ones that stopped me in my tracks was the term pineapple posture.
Any idea what a pineapple posture?
Is this using a pineapple for lumbar support?
So you sit up straight?
I don’t know.
What is pineapple posture?
Pineapple posture is a term that applies to a defensive strategy used by the vampire squid.
She has a whole chapter about the vampire squid, which is Vampiro toothis infernalis, which means vampire squid from hell.
Whoa, that is the best Latin name for an animal I’ve heard since Gorilla Gorilla.
Right.
But let me just share this passage with you.
When the vampire squid pulse swims away, each of its arm tips glow and wave in different directions, confusing for any predator.
To make an even more speedy getaway, the squid uses jet propulsion by flapping its fins down toward its mantle and simultaneously blasting a stream of water from its siphon, all of its arms in one direction.
In the next stroke, the squid raises all of its arms over its head in what is called a pineapple posture.
And so, of course, I had to go online and look at pictures and video of pineapple postures, and it is so cool.
I can imagine it.
So it’s the round-bodied shape, and then the tentacles are arms upward, kind of like the leaves on a pineapple.
Yeah, yeah, that would scare me off.
And they are fascinating colors, right? The vampire squid?
Yeah, they’re really beautiful.
Yeah.
Like pink.
Oh.
So what is the book again?
Yeah, that book again is World of Wonders in Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, and it’s by Amy Nizuka-Matotl.
Thank you, Martha.
If you are reading something exciting that’s got words or a particularly great passage that you want to share, we would love to hear about it.
Or send us the link to the book and the paragraph you like to our email address, words@waywordradio.org.
