It's been quite a week for jellyfish fans. These spineless, brainless beauties have been all over the news, all over the world.
Locally, long-distance swimmer Bruckner Chase made it across Monterey Bay last week to raise awareness of the oceans and to kick off the first BLUE Ocean Film Festival in Monterey. But he had to put on a full wetsuit to make it through a literal sea of Pacific sea nettles -- and was roaring with pain from the stings as he finished the last mile of the 28-mile swim.
These same sea nettles, which Bill Douros of the national marine sanctuary program estimates could number half a billion in the bay, are a potent lure for jellyvores like leatherback sea turtles. Leatherbacks swim all the way from Indonesia and back each year to feast on our all-you-can-eat buffet of California jellies.
Around the world, people are keeping their eyes on jellyfish through "citizen science" programs that encourage ordinary folks to report their observations of jellies and other marine life. TIME Magazine highlighted a Mediterranean site, and mentioned our local Jellywatch.org, which is logging global sightings all the time. (The aquarium is a partner.)
If you want to experience your jellies at a safe distance, you can read about them, or watch jellyfish videos online. And a San Francisco entrepreneur will fix you up with your own jellyfish aquarium for home or office, complete with some beautiful moon jellies -- relatively mild stingers compared with their kinfolk.
Alex Andon, like so many others, drew his inspiration from the award-winning exhibits here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (And he had motivation: He'd been laid off from his biotech job.)
Alex raises jellies in his apartment; our staff has a full jelly lab for the many species we now exhibit, and hope to develop for exhibit in the future.
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