jellyfish girl 2

illustration by Kat Menschik for Haruki Murakami's short story "Sleep".

jellyfish girl

beautiful artwork by Katsumi Asano

there's no such thing as jellyfish

interesting and beautiful video from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute on jelly-like creatures.

via nerdcore

james pan's jellyfish series

Do check out the amazing jellyfish photography series by James Giovanni Pan:

via das kfmw

chemical brothers - another world

goni montes

I've just found this illustration by Goni Montes featuring a bloom of beautiful sea jellies.

found via KoiKoiKoi

lizard planet

It's saturday morning, it's cartoon morning!

Via Amy and Pink I have discovered Tomoyoshi Joko's works. Make sure you check out the youtube channel for more animation shorts, since I will share below only "Lizard Planet", a wonderful fable about the universe. The author explains:

"A lizard wrapped in water represents Earth, which is composed of both land and sea. For human beings, living on this earth feels quite natural. However, the earth is both an enormous living organism and a planet in the infinite universe. It would be gratifying if, after seeing this work, the viewer could feel that we live life on a planet that itself is a living existence in space."

check out the jellyfish at 1:04! :)

red jellyfish

photo by Li Wei

gorillaz- plastic beach

NPR allows listeners to stream the entire new Gorillaz album "Plastic Beach". I highly recommend the tracks "Superfast Jellyfish" :) and "On Melancholy Hill".

jelly jam

Now...that's what I call fun!

murakami's jellyfish

"What we see before us is just one tiny part of the world. We get into the habit of thinking, this is the world, but that's not true at all. The real world is a much darker and deeper place than this, and much of it is occupied by jellyfish and things."

- Haruki Murakami

The problem is, we don't see the big picture. We only perceive time and space, as they concern us personally but we don't have a perspective view. Of course, Murakami (who actually had a fear of jellyfish) might have wanted to convey something else with this quote, but after my previous posts like jelly invasion and giant jellies I am able to interpret it in an entirely different way: What we like to perceive is only a part of the whole story. The whole story is much more darker and frightening for us to acknowledge. However, the increasing number of jellyfish and the deterioration of the waters are signs that we ought to broaden our view on "things", until it's too late.

jelly art

"Delicate tendrils of color sway and pulse with the rhythms of the sea in this spectacular collection of captivating jellyfish. Filmed in stunning High Definition and featuring over 2 hours of incredible footage, 'The Art of Nature: Jellies' is a vibrant exploration of the beauty of life and the sea. Choose from three soundtracks – classical, new age or chill out – and transform your television into a living work of art. Distributed by Tubemogul."

giant jellies

A special case of the aforementioned jellyfish invasion are the Nomura's Jellyfish.

picture source

picture source

Nomura's Jellyfish are gigantic creatures (they can grow up to 2 meters in diameter and weigh as much as to 220 kilograms) which have plagued the seas of Japan from 2005 up to present. These giant jellyfish normally reside in the Yellow and East China Seas but warm ocean currents seem to be bringing these monsters to Japan. To make matters worse, this year’s swarms appear to be taking a more direct and southerly route to Japan, unlike in 2007 when the jellyfish appeared to take a more northerly route, approaching the Sea of Japan coast from the direction of Korea. At the peak of the invasion that year, an estimated 300 to 500 million monster jellyfish passed through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan each day. Watch them here.

The main problem with this invasion is the devastation it wreaks on commercial fishing. They decimate fish populations and it only takes a couple of these sumo wrestler sized animals to destroy a harvest net. The risk of a fishing boat capsizing due to having a number of these creatures caught in its nets is a real and present danger. In addition fishermen suffer by being stung when trying to remove these jellyfish from their nets.

picture source

picture source

Japan has tried to kill the creatures before they reach Japan, however the Nomura’s Jellyfish has an unusual survival mechanism in that when it is attacked or killed it releases millions of sperm and eggs which then attach to rock and coral formations. When they mature they release from the rock, millions at a time, and become jellyfish. Japan has also tried to use the surplus they have of this creature, trying to create a market for in the way of foods, and cosmetic products.

For possible causes (overfishing, pollution and global warming) read the previous post: jelly invasion. In line with the pollution arguments mentioned there, the building of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in China, hence releasing excess nitrogen and phosphorus, indeed seem to have created a friendly environment for breeding.

In any event, should the problem these monsters create not be dealt with in an efficient manner, what is sure is that harvests of salmon, anchovies, and tuna will suffer.

source 1, source 2, source 3

jelly invasion

A "monoculture of jellyfish" threatens the oceans as we know them. I believe that this development will make the jellyfish one of the most prominent reminders of the repercussions of human activities.

Dr. Anthony Richardson calls this the "jellyfish joyride" and it is already happening in parts of the ocean: diverse fish populations are being replaced by various jellyfish species. "In recent years, jellyfish blooms have been recorded in the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Black and Caspian Seas, the Northeast US coast, and particularly in Far East coastal waters.”

In a new study in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Richardson and colleagues explore the causes behind the jellyfish infestation and the need for swift, decisive action to stem the jellyfish take-over: Jellyfish explosions are linked directly to human actions, including over-fishing, the input of fertilizer and sewage into the ocean, and climate change.

Overfishing has removed fish from marine ecosystems at astounding rates. According to Richardson this has opened the door for jellyfish to take their place: “this is because small fish (e.g. anchovy, sardine, herring) appear to keep jellyfish in check by predation (on jellyfish when they are very small) and competition (for the same zooplankton food). So, once we remove fish, jellyfish can proliferate.” As an example Richardson points to Namibia where "intense fishing has decimated sardine stocks and jellyfish have replaced them as the dominant species.” Read more on the angers of overfishing here.

Eutrophication is another human-caused change in the ocean that has likely contributed to jellyfish explosions. Eutrophication is an increase of nitrogen and phosphorous in the ocean, largely caused by fertilizer and waste runoff seeping into the oceans (pollution). This leads to algae blooms, which lower oxygen in the marine ecosystem creating so-called ‘dead zones’, which have been increasing dramatically around the world. According to Richardson, these low-oxygen waters give jellyfish the advantage: “fish avoid low oxygen water but jellyfish, having lower oxygen demands, not only survive but can thrive in these conditions as there is less predation and competition from fish.”

Furthermore, Richardson and his colleague speculate that climate change may expand the traditional ranges of jellyfish at the expense of other marine species. “As water warms, tropical species are moving towards the Poles. This has been documented on land and in the sea. Many venomous jellyfish species are tropical (e.g. box jellyfish and irukandji) and…could move south into more densely populated subtropical and temperate regions,” Richardson says. As an example the paper points to box jellyfish and the incredibly small irukandi in Australia. These fatal species often cause beach closures in their native northeast Australia, and there is a concern that as the water warms they will make their way to more populous southern Australia.

CITATION: Anthony J. Richardson, Andrew Bakun, Graeme C. Hays, and Mark J. Gibbons. The jellyfish joyride: causes, consequences and management responses to a more gelatinous future. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. June 2009, Volume 24, Number 6.

Read more: source 1 & picture source

Here is a related previous post concerning the invasion by the immortal jellyfish.

Watch this National Geographic short:

robo jellies

Meet the new generation of RoboJellies!

AquaJelly is an artificial jellyfish made by Festo and presented at the Hannover Trade Fair in 2008. It is an autonomous jellyfish with an electric drive and an intelligent, adaptive mechanical system. It has 11 infrared light-emitting diodes and communicates with a central station by using the short-range radio standard ZigBee. AquaJelly consists of a translucent hemisphere and eight tentacles used for propulsion. At the centre of the AquaJelly is a watertight, laser-sintered pressure vessel. This comprises a central, electric drive, two lithium-ion-polymer batteries, the charge control device and the servo motors for the swashplate. source

And here is its mesmerizing sibling, AirJelly (with a helium-filled balloon as a body), presented at the same fair.

Last but not least: Here is Aquaroid BT 02 of the aquaroid series made by the Japanese Company Takara Toys in 2000. The robots are powered by solar cells. They float and swim inside tanks of water, changing direction when they hit obstacles.

fake jelly lamp

Check out this LED jellyfish mood lamp from ThinkGeek.com, a wonderful, humane alternative to Brookstone's tiny torture chambers for frogs and snails, aka Frog-O-Spheres.

source: The PETA Files

Thank you ecila for sending me the link!

bright future

The song "Mirai" by "The Back Horn" (see previous post) belongs to the soundtrack of the 2003 movie "Akarui Mirai" ("Bright Future"), featuring two of Japan's top actors: Asano Tadanobu and Odagiri Joe. The movie deals with the emptiness and alienation of two (post-) adolescent disillusioned semi-loners. The relationship between them and the father of one of them is also explored, hence making the "generation gap" another theme for the movie.

The movie itself may be a bit too pretentious but the most interesting aspect (from my point of view ;-) and the reason for this post is: the beautiful but poisonous jellyfish pet that one of the two young men is keeping. He tries to adapt it to fresh water. After he commits a serious crime and has to be imprisoned, he asks his friend to take care of the pet. This jellyfish holds the key to the film's symbolism, relating to society. (Spoiler Warning) As can be seen in the beginning of the video clip, the jellyfish has successfully adapted to fresh water and they are breeded and released into the city's canal stream by the young man's friend and father. Soon all canals are populated by wonderful but poisonous blooms of pulsating fluorescent bells.

Possibly Bright Future's most bizarre addition is that of the red jellyfish (...). This is the basis of the film's central conceit (which we won't reveal) and probably one of the finest McGuffins of recent years – crucial to the plot in terms of drive and purpose but ultimately a foil for the characters which reveals their tortured lives.

poster via le cinéphile déviant

Here is The Back Horn's song and video "Mirai":

kuroshio sea

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

This video was shot at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan. The main tank called the ‘Kuroshio Sea’ holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world’s second largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank. By John Rawlinson.

eternal jellies

An immortal jellyfish from the waters of the Caribbean is spreading throughout the world's oceans. The Turritopsis Nutricula is a tiny jellyfish which is just 5 mm long. It is technically known as a hydrozoan and it works in a very mysterious way. It is, through its cell development, actually able to reverse the ageing process.

Scientists, geneticists, and marine biologists are working closely to observe cell transdifferentiation, a process in which the Turritopsis Nutricula transforms from one cell type to another through its natural life cycle. Theoretically, this cycle can repeat indefinitely, rendering the animal potentially immortal. While most members of the jellyfish family usually die after propagating, the Turritopsis nutricula has the unique ability to return to a polyp state after reaching sexual maturity. Because these jellyfish do not die naturally of old age, they are spreading through the worlds oceans at a spectacular rate of growth. Dr. Maria Miglietta of the Smithsonian Tropical Marine Institute said: “We are looking at a worldwide silent invasion.”

picture source & source 1, source 2, source 3

entity

Wayne McGregor's latest work, Entity, explores the connection between the brain and movement.

Check out McGregor's "Random Dance" website.

Entity is the latest in a series of choreographic inquiries into the relationship between the brain and the moving body - a project which has led McGregor to work with psychologists, neuroscientists and software engineers. The piece is born of his preoccupation with the idea of 'an artificially intelligent choreographic entity' - a piece of software which can 'think' for itself and help generate movement. The relationship between this research and the performance on stage is an abstract one, but the production is studded with visual markers which define the territory.