Homo sapiens (left) and Nemopilema nomurai. Note the pop-off satellite tag the diver has just attached to the jellyfish.
This crazy-ass photo has been making the rounds on the internet after the publication a few days ago of a paper in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution on the increasing abundance of jellyfish around the world. It is of a gigantic Neompilema nomurai off the coast of northern Japan, complete with a scientist attaching a pop-off satellite tag (!) to it. These tags are usually reserved for the tuna, sharks, and big turtles of the world, not quasi-planktonic masses of drifting goo. I’m reading the paper now, and will write a more in-depth post once I’ve digested it…the ecological story is complicated, and, at least to me, utterly fascinating. Until then, though, enjoy the picture. News stories are here and here.
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