Life for a limpet is never dull. One moment you’re baking on the beach, and the next you’re being thrashed by the surf. Either way, it’s a challenging environment that has forced the limpet to develop some sticking-strategies to hang on. Simulating the pounding that a limpet experiences, Gary Ellem has measured the force that it takes limpets to hold their own.
People have been tugging at limpets for hundreds of years to get to the bottom of their incredible stickability. As the tide drops, limpets exude a sticky mucous that glues them securely when high and dry. But in a rolling swell, the problems are different, with every wave threatening to dislodge the animal while feeding. Most people thought of them as sticking like suction pads. But suction pads only hold tight against a lifting force and are easily dislodged when hit by a glancing blow, like a wave....
