Sunday Stills – Aqua Awesomeness

Out fishing in the aqua waters of the Marlborough Sounds this summer, I photographed these amazing sea creatures,  and became intrigued. They don’t look dangerous, they don’t look edible, they don’t even seem to be in charge of their own direction, and yet….. they are awesome.

Aqua awesomeness
Teal as in blue
Blue as in moon
Moon as in Jellyfish…..

Jellyfish drifting along in the aqua sea
Pulsating gently as they catch a ride in the tide.
No destination to decide.
They have no brains but,
it's amazing how long they have survived.

I became fascinated in the why’s and wherefore’s of Jellyfish so I googled – (as you do)

And found…… Jellyfish are the oldest multicellular creatures on earth, older than even the dinosaurs.

But wait, there’s more…… Some Jellyfish are also immortal.

“Turritopsis dohrnii, dubbed ‘the immortal jellyfish’ because on reaching maturity, it regenerates into its younger form, so appears to be immortal.” When this jellyfish gets old, or hurt, or even too hungry, it uses a process called ‘transdifferentiation’ to regenerate its old cells.

First, the jellyfish falls to the ocean floor, or coral reef. From there the adult medusa reverts back to its polyp form, regenerating the cells and creating brand new, youthful cells that are genetically identical to the old medusa. The immortal jellyfish can theoretically do this forever, that is, until it gets eaten by some other sea creature like a turtle, whale, or fish. Scientists think that, unhindered, the immortal jellyfish can keep on living forever, with no cap on the number of times it can regenerate.”

The immortality of jellyfish -who knew?

Now that would be a handy thing to be able to do!

The moon jellyfish is the most common in New Zealand. They also make awesome subjects to photograph whilst waiting for the fish to bite. I took some artistic licence when abstracting one of my photos to highlight their aqua awesomeness.

A group of jellyfish is called a SMACK – I’m thinking it should be a STING

ACROSS AQUA OCEAN AND RIVERS

Awesome aquatic adventures across the world’s oceans
Journeys from the river mouths to the sea.
Building bridges to span the waters
to keep us connected and free.

Every breaking wave reminds me
of seashores near and far
with the awesomeness of Aqua
those connections again will be.

Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: #Teal or #Aqua, Rhymes with ??