Aug

31

Jellyfishing!

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

August 31, 2007 |

I’ve always had a fascination with jellyfish. These strange, brainless, spineless bells that swim through the ocean trailing deadly tentacles, sometimes reaching one-hundred feet long, are beautiful and strange, and beautiful because they’re so strange. I recently ran across an article detailing myths about dealing with jellyfish stings and actual remedies. (The article is from a web site based in Bulgaria, although Black Sea jellyfish are similar to ones found everywhere else.) The most popular remedy I’ve heard, urine, is dismissed as a myth–something I’m glad to hear–while the article itself recommends white vinegar for treating stings and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or meat tenderizer for deactivating any stings that haven’t yet released their poison. It goes on to recommend shaving the affected area with a razor, knife, or edge of a credit card to remove stingers. In other jellyfish news there’s been a disturbing rise in sightings of an invasive Australian jellyfish in the Gulf of Mexico and has even been spotted in North Carolina. The Australian spotted jellyfish can weigh up to twenty-five pounds, so take plenty of vinegar and meat tenderizer to the beach with you this summer.

I think I can trace my fascination with jellyfish back to a summer trip I took with my parents to Galveston, Texas, where there were (mostly) harmless moon jellies all over the beach and in the water, where I could sit on the deck behind the house where were staying and spot long-tentacled jellyfish just under the water, and where I first saw a Portuguese man o’ war, a strange jellyfish relative that floats along the surface, trailing deadly tentacles underneath. I found the poor creature stranded on the beach, its dangerous tentacles still trailing off into the breakers. And yet I was fascinated by these strange animals before I ever saw one alive. As a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist, and sometimes I think that, if I’d followed that, I’d now be studying jellyfish, especially after reading the essay A Most Curious Paradox by Stephen Jay Gould, in his book The Flamingo’s Smile. Gould explains a small controversy in the study of siphonophores (be sure to check out this excellent siphonophore web site), like the Portuguese man o’ war, which are related to jellyfish. Siphonophores begin life as individual animals that then collect into a colony. The individual animals become so specialized–literally changing into the major organ systems of a larger animal–that the question is, are they single animals or a collection of animals? For Gould cutting this Gordian knot is pretty easy: he decides they’re both. In fact it’s not so much the question of what they are that makes these creatures so fascinating. It’s the fact that they simply are.

If you’re in the Cincinnati area, visit Newport Aquarium which has an amazing room of jellyfish tanks. Positioned just after the wildly energetic otter room, the jellyfish room is circular and designed like a French salon with dim lighting and dark burgundy. The atmosphere serves to highlight the silent beauty of jellyfish. And a special thanks to Little Miss Know-It-All for reminding me about it.


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. Little Miss Know it All on August 31, 2007 10:39 am

    Funny enough, the junior knowitall’s were watching that episode of spongebob just this week.

    Our local aquarium had the most gorgeous display of jellyfish–deep blue backgrounds in the tank and black lights, made them positively glow. There were at least six tanks, so they pretty much surrounded you. It was breathtaking–I could have stood for hours watching them.

  2. Christopher Waldrop on September 4, 2007 9:02 am

    That is one of the funniest Spongebob episodes, and that’s saying something.

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

Speak your mind

<< Post Navigation >>

« « Dog Days: It’s A Dog’s Life. | Back To School: The Cheese Stands Alone. » »