Book II: The Gull’s Way. Chapter 6: Migrants of the Spring Sea
Carson describes the ocean floor, focusing on the “mackerel tribes.” Mackerels rest in winter, “in the blue haze of the continent’s edge.” (p. 63) Carson takes us on a journey to where “the sea rises out of the deep, dark bed of the open Atlantic and begins its own climb up over the muddy sides of the continental slope.” (p. 64) With her keen artist’s eye, she describes the ascent through color: In utter blackness and stillness the sea climbs those hundred miles, rising from depths of a mile or more until black begins to fade to purple, and purple to deep blue, and blue to azure.(p. 64)
This short chapter ends with the lovely image of the sea as a nurturing body: The sea will care for their young, as it cares for the young of all other fishes, and of oysters and crabs and starfish, of worms and jellyfish and barnacles. (p. 66) Carson finds the purpose for each entity she describes. The ocean’s task is formidable. She deserves our gratitude. Yes, I see the ocean as a mother now, though Carson is more circumspect with her metaphors.