For the last week or so I've been hearing about big jellyfish washing up on the beaches so today I decided to look for some. Above is one floating near the Ogden Point Breakwater. I think it's dead because it was not moving at all. Several others nearby were moving but were not so photogenic. This is Cyanea capillata or Lion's Mane Jellyfish, the largest known species of jellyfish, with tentacles that have been measured up to 120 feet in length. The one above was about the size of a dinner plate, more typical of those found in warmer waters. Local experts say that this rise in sightings is not the result of global warming or ocean pollution but is a part of the natural four-year cycle of these animals.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Radial Symmetry - Cyanea capillata
For the last week or so I've been hearing about big jellyfish washing up on the beaches so today I decided to look for some. Above is one floating near the Ogden Point Breakwater. I think it's dead because it was not moving at all. Several others nearby were moving but were not so photogenic. This is Cyanea capillata or Lion's Mane Jellyfish, the largest known species of jellyfish, with tentacles that have been measured up to 120 feet in length. The one above was about the size of a dinner plate, more typical of those found in warmer waters. Local experts say that this rise in sightings is not the result of global warming or ocean pollution but is a part of the natural four-year cycle of these animals.
6 comments:
Greetings!
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Interesting. Its blue cousin has been photographed in Scotland. Equally dead. Films of their movement are mesmerizing.
ReplyDeleteI love the scalloped edges of this one.
ReplyDeleteSydney Daily Photo
Beautiful jellyfish! I think I have never seen this species before...
ReplyDeleteUnusual looking jellyfish, There were lots of little ones on the Gulf of Mexico beaches this summer. I wonder if they were a foretelling of the hurricanes.
ReplyDeleteAn Ogden Point jellyfish deserves an Ogden Nash poem:
ReplyDeleteWho wants my jellyfish?
I'm not sellyfish!
KG, Thanks for the Ogden Nash poem. It's very much to the point.
ReplyDelete