Jellyfish

Copyright 2009 by Barry Fackler

Today I wanted to share with you a photo I took a couple years ago of an unusual sighting.  This is a pelagic jellyfish (Thysanastoma sp.) that I saw early one morning. When I first saw it ,I was about thirty feet below it and couldn't make out what it was. As I got closer. it became apparent that this was a good-sized jelly with a vivid purple and blue bell. I took many photos but this is my favorite with the early morning sun illuminating the water above.  Jellyfish are pretty uncommon on the Kona coast. My wife and I saw only one other of this type and it was much smaller. While we watched, a green sea turtle zeroed in on it and ate it up. We've also seen crowned jellyfish a couple of times. Over on the south shore of Oah'u they get monthly box jellyfish outbreaks that correspond to the lunar cycle and a lot of people get stung. That's not the case here on the Big Island.