TREPA

Oceans Day

One fish two fish – red fish blue fish.
Black fish blue fish – old fish new fish.
This one has a little star.
This one has a little scar.
Say! What a lot of fish there are.

Six weeds five weeds – four weeds three weeds
Brown weed, green weed and red seaweed.
Rockweed, Green Fern, Tufted Red
Growing in our ocean bed.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of seaweeds there are.

One jelly two jelly – three jellyfish
Floating, tentacled – no-belly fish.
Purple ones, Moon jelly, Lion’s Mane,
Sea Wasp known to be bathers’ bane.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of jellyfish there are.

One worm two worms – Flat worm, Tube worm,
Arrow worm, Blood worm – Bristle worm, Plumed worm.
On the crab a Limulus Leech,
Seldom seen apon the beach.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of worms there are.

One snail two snails – Violet snail, Moon snail,
Limpet, Chink Shell – Waved whelk, Screw snail.
Periwinkle, Tortoiseshell.
What’s the difference? – Hard to tell.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of snails there are.

One valve two valves – shells in two halves,
Blue mussel, Horse mussel – pale green Yoldias.
Scallop, Oyster, Clam with soft shell,
Quahog – that’s the one I can’t spell.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of bivalves there are.

Buy fish sell fish – crusty shellfish,
Trapped and cooked, for sure are delish!
Lobsters have a big old claw,
Shrimp and crabs inspire awe.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of shellfish there are.

Five arms six arms – seven armed, eight armed,
Changing colour when they are alarmed.
Some go pink and some go blue,
All squirt ink all over you.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of octopi there are.

One whale two whales – White whale, Blue whale,
Porpoise, dolphin – Humpback, a true whale.
This one has a barnacled skin.
This one has a dorsal fin.
From there to here, from here to far.
Say! What a lot of whales there are.

The fish, the worms, the clams, the snails,
The octopi and the great whales,
They all live in the deep blue Ocean!
These rhymes were made for its promotion.
June eighth is cause for celebrations:
It’s Oceans Day in all the nations.

Margrit Robinson (Tusket River Environmental Protection Association)

Member of “The Ocean Project”; as members we have the permissson to use Dr. Seuss’ poem.

June 2012