This work is funded by a grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundations’ Southern Resident Killer Whale Conservation Program for the purpose of improving habitat, food sources, and conducting research to support recovery of the Southern Resident Orca population within our region. The grant covers the costs for volunteer coordination, recruiting, training, equipping, and managing the data captured by our volunteers.
This alien-looking animal is named for its round, translucent appearance. It is also often called Moon Jellyfish. The Moon Jelly has a circular bell, shaped like a small umbrella with eight scalloped lobes around the edge. Short tentacles hang like fringe from the lobes. Clearly visible on top of the bell are four horseshoe shaped organs, whitish with a touch of pink, purple or yellow. This common jelly can grow to 15 inches across.
Moon Jellies have, of course, never been on the moon, but in 1991 some immature Moon Jellies did go into earth orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia. Why? Scientists wanted to know how weightlessness affects the internal organs of these young creatures.
The Moon Jelly eats plankton, which are tiny plants and animals floating near the ocean's surface. Sticky mucus covering the upper side of the bell traps the plankton. Tiny, waving hairs then move the food down the bell to the creature's mouth underneath.
These clever Jellies use the sun as a compass, guiding them in a southeasterly direction. To move they rhythmically expel water collected in the bell. This pulsing motion can't compete with strong currents or winds, and many jellies become stranded on shore. Don't touch them! Even dead, the jellies' tentacles are loaded with stinging cells that release under pressure. The stingers cause an itchy rash. Keep bare fingers and toes away!
Some fish, birds, and sea turtles eat Moon Jellies. Thousands of these animals die each year after mistaking plastic bags floating in the ocean for jellies.
