The Ocean-Traveling Nickernut
By: Emily Skelton
Scientists Race for Beans:
Seabeaners run as fast as they can down a beach in Florida during their yearly bean-a-thon meeting. They bend, dig and scoop up smooth, round seeds called drift seeds.
Seabeaners are scientists who study the ocean-traveling nickernut, which is a type of drift seed. As part of their research meeting, Seabeaners have a race every year to see who can find the most nickernuts.
What is a nickernut?
There are many different kinds of nickernuts. Nickernuts belong to the same family of plants as the shell peas and beans we plant in our gardens.
Two hard seeds grow inside a pod. The pods look like very much like large garden beans. They are covered with tiny spines which protect them from being eaten by herbivores (plant eaters).
Is it a seed? Is it a boat?
There are approximately 250,000 seed plants in the world, and only about 125 of them produce the kinds of seeds that can float in seawater for more than a month and still sprout. Nickernuts are one of these.
Nickernuts float, sometimes for years, bobbing on the ocean currents of the world. They wash up on sandy beaches thousands of miles from their homes, and if the conditions are right, they sprout and grow into plants that also drop their seeds back into the sea.
Some nickernuts float on the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic current from the Caribbean Islands all the way to Northern Europe.
Where do nickernuts grow?
The sprawling and climbing nickernut shrubs grow at the top of sandy beaches. They drop their seeds on the sand. Waves crash on the shore and throw the seeds into the sea. Just like wearing a raincoat, nickernuts have a seed coat that keeps them dry. The seed inside is still able to sprout after being in the salt water for long periods of time. The longest recorded float time for a nickernut was in a tank in a scientist’s laboratory. It floated for 32 years!
What do people use nickernuts for?
Amulets: In the Hebrides islands off the coast of Scotland, the nickernut seeds were worn long ago as necklaces to ward off evil spirits.
Burning Beans: Caribbean children play a game of chase while rubbing the shiny, smooth beans vigorously on their clothing until the nuts become quite hot. Then they touch the skin of their victims, giving them a burning feeling.
Pest Control: In the Virgin Islands people don’t have gophers digging holes in their gardens. They have land crabs! Instead of a gopher trap, people place the nickernut inside the burrow of an unwanted land crab. The crab tries unsuccessfully to rid its hole of the smooth bean with only its tiny claws. It becomes so frustrated that it leaves its home in search of a new one.
Jewelry: Nickernuts are used to make necklaces and other types of jewelry which are found all over the world.
Mancala: This is a counting board game played by children all over the world. The seeds are used as the game pieces.
By studying these traveling seeds, scientists discover many things that help them better understand the ocean currents, coastal environments, and even the people who live near the beach and use these seeds every day.
Try your own experiment:
Fill a bowl with water and try floating different seeds. Watch what happens. Try floating a sunflower seed (in the shell and out of it), a garbanzo bean (chickpea), pinto bean, or rice.
Did any of the seeds float? What do you think makes them float? What do you think makes them sink? Do you think any of these seeds would sprout after 32 years in the ocean?
Global Warming:
Scientists say that global warming is changing the time of year and direction of the ocean’s currents. Do you think this could affect the travels of the miraculous nickernut? How?
Photograph Copyright © 2008 Jay Bost
Copyright © 2008 by Emily Skelton