The sun had just dropped below the hills when the dogs and I went for our evening walk. We took the route around the neighbourhood first, then down the five flights of steps to the ocean. The high tide was just on the turn, leaving behind a beach covered with.....jellyfish! Lots of large red jellyfish! As a friend of mine commented yesterday, it is apparently "jellyfish season".
I learn something new every day. I didn't know jellyfish had a season. I didn't know they came in many colours. I didn't know some species of them can be eaten (but I think I'll pass on that delicacy).
The solitary one I saw on the beach yesterday was the harbinger of a smack of jellyfish. (Yes, a whole bunch of jellyfish is called a "smack" - it checked it out here ).
Smack - it fits so well! I can just imagine the noise a jellyfish makes as it lands on the rocks or the beach - SMACK!
In the fading light, the red isn't as scarlet and gemlike as it was in the sunrise yesterday morning. Yet even so, they were mesmerizing, especially those that had come to rest on the white and orange shells in a symbiotic relationship - the jellyfish magnifying the beauty of the shells while the shells highlight the red of the jellyfish.
I hope jellyfish season lasts for a while - I have a feeling there are many beautiful images just waiting to be captured through the lens of a camera.
5 comments:
They had a great jellyfish exhibit at the Boston aquarium a few years back. They are really neat creatures, but their recent population explosions do not bode well for our oceans.
Are they beaching themselves? Are they still alive?
Beautiful photos! I have been inspired by jellyfish as well, in my illustrations. Thanks for sharing!
Sarah
smackofjellyfish.com
Do you know, Jean, if they survive on the beach until the next tide takes them out to sea again?
I would think that you would want to be careful of either you or the doggies getting too close and getting stung--a painful experience, from what I've heard!
Yes, between climate change and our overfishing natural predators, we are apparently facing a global overpopulation on these critters. I found this website on the topic:http://www.greeniacs.com/component/option,com_mamblog/Itemid,153/action,view/id,935/task,show/
I asked an old-timer who looks after the flowers along the sea walk if they can survive on the beach until the next tide, and he said they seem to do so. I'm not sure what would happen on an excessively hot day though. I was unable to find an answer online.
I did find this very interesting article in BC Magazine: http://www.bcmag.ca/readonline/article/?id=2478
The section where I found these is not off-leash, so the dogs were kept well away (curiously, they showed absolutely NO interest in them, anyway). If we go to the off leash beach I shall certainly have to watch out for them!
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