Whist In The Shop A Few Months Ago,

I bought a couple of these,

 they are called Marimo, after the lake they are found in, which is a rare growth form of the Aegagropila linnaei algae in which the aquatic plant grows into large green balls with a velvet-like texture and appearance. It’s also a natural treasure of Japan, as well as a popular pet, photograph Hiroshi Miyazaki/Flickr,

here is the first of the two we have,

and the second one, both doing well, as far as I can tell!

Aegagropila linnaei algae has long been a mystery in biology, particularly due to its fascinating spherical growth form. The algae can be found in just a handful of aquatic environments located in four countries – Iceland, Scotland, Estonia, and Japan – and exists either as free-floating filaments, flat growths on rocks or green balls that can reach up to 40 cm in diameter. It’s the latter that has fascinated both scientists and algae enthusiasts for centuries,

Japan has been fascinated by these rare algae balls for centuries and actually declared them a national treasure in 1921. Only that only made things worse for marimo, as people started removing them from their natural environments and selling them to tourists. At one point, the price of a marimo in Tokyo reached 1,000 yen (over $6,500 in today’s money). Things got worse before they got better, as a water plant at Lake Akan caused the water level to drop dramatically, leaving hundreds of marimo exposed to die, the country’s conservationist efforts started in 1950, when photos of piles of dead marimo were published in national newspapers and shocked the country. Dozens of people from across the country who had bought moss balls taken from Akan started returning them to their natural home. In honor of these people’s generosity the first Marimo Festival was held on October 7th 1950, and it is still being held every year, all of this from free floating filaments of algae that are rolled into balls, amazing!