Mmm...gelatinous zooplankton.
May. 5th, 2004 04:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hwangoI visited the New England Aquarium with my mom on Monday. I wanted to go again ever since they got the Leafy Sea Dragons, but it became even more important to go when the opened the temporary "Amazing Jellies" exhibit. Mmm...gelatinous zooplankton.
The jellies exhibit was very cool. The moon jellies are in a tank with different colored lights, so they seem to change color as they drift through the tank. The pacific sea nettles also swim through lights that fade on and off, which makes them appear to light up as well. Most of the other types just drift about in the their tanks with normal background illumination. The lagoon jellies (?) were cute, but the cutest were the blue blubbers. Yes, yes, many of you will think I'm insane for calling jellyfish "cute." But really, these are small, round, compact little guys that zoom (comparitively speaking) around in their tank, blindly bumping into the glass and each other. There's a picture at the bottom of this article. They're much cuter in motion, though.
They have a little video game set up, which encourages you to "Be a Jelly!" Naturally, I could not resist this offer. Of course, it's not a very accurate simulation, since you can see where you're going and make conscious decisions, but it was still amusing. At the end I was congratulated for surviving, but warned that my survival might mean that there are fewer fish.
One gets a sort of mixed message from the exhibit. On the one had, we are to admire the beauty and simplicity of these ancient creatures. On the other hand, we are told over and over again that our current pollution of the oceans is killing off lots of other life, but allowing the jellies to thrive. Also, as the jellies consume more and more fish eggs, they are left with fewer predators (adult fish), allowing their numbers to increase even more. More and more of them are being caught in fishing nets instead of actual fish. The overall message one is left with is something like "Admire the Beautiful Jellies, For One Day Soon They Shall Rule the World."
There is yet more weirdness, though. The jellies are described as being "Neighbors, Beauties, Adaptors, Predators, Survivors, and Opportunists." Each of these sections of the exhibit has a sign with a white tower of jelly-like domes next to it. Periodically, these posts will suddenly light up and an eerie voice will say the corresponding word in a spooky, drawn-out way. "Neeeeeeeeeeighbors..." "Beeeeeaaauuutiiiieeeesssss..." Combined with the information regarding their increasing numbers and adaptability to conditions that are killing other sea life, one is truly left with the impression that they are an unstoppable army of doom. Wheee!
The Leafy Sea Dragons were also awesome. We also got to see Cthulhu move! Well, maybe not Cthulhu, but the aquarium's resident octopus, anyway. I think every other time I've seen it, it has been hiding motionless in a corner. This time it was hanging right in the middle of the tank, and it actually stretched out, cleaned its tentacles, and briefly extended a tentacle to the front of the tank. Very cool.
The jellies exhibit was very cool. The moon jellies are in a tank with different colored lights, so they seem to change color as they drift through the tank. The pacific sea nettles also swim through lights that fade on and off, which makes them appear to light up as well. Most of the other types just drift about in the their tanks with normal background illumination. The lagoon jellies (?) were cute, but the cutest were the blue blubbers. Yes, yes, many of you will think I'm insane for calling jellyfish "cute." But really, these are small, round, compact little guys that zoom (comparitively speaking) around in their tank, blindly bumping into the glass and each other. There's a picture at the bottom of this article. They're much cuter in motion, though.
They have a little video game set up, which encourages you to "Be a Jelly!" Naturally, I could not resist this offer. Of course, it's not a very accurate simulation, since you can see where you're going and make conscious decisions, but it was still amusing. At the end I was congratulated for surviving, but warned that my survival might mean that there are fewer fish.
One gets a sort of mixed message from the exhibit. On the one had, we are to admire the beauty and simplicity of these ancient creatures. On the other hand, we are told over and over again that our current pollution of the oceans is killing off lots of other life, but allowing the jellies to thrive. Also, as the jellies consume more and more fish eggs, they are left with fewer predators (adult fish), allowing their numbers to increase even more. More and more of them are being caught in fishing nets instead of actual fish. The overall message one is left with is something like "Admire the Beautiful Jellies, For One Day Soon They Shall Rule the World."
There is yet more weirdness, though. The jellies are described as being "Neighbors, Beauties, Adaptors, Predators, Survivors, and Opportunists." Each of these sections of the exhibit has a sign with a white tower of jelly-like domes next to it. Periodically, these posts will suddenly light up and an eerie voice will say the corresponding word in a spooky, drawn-out way. "Neeeeeeeeeeighbors..." "Beeeeeaaauuutiiiieeeesssss..." Combined with the information regarding their increasing numbers and adaptability to conditions that are killing other sea life, one is truly left with the impression that they are an unstoppable army of doom. Wheee!
The Leafy Sea Dragons were also awesome. We also got to see Cthulhu move! Well, maybe not Cthulhu, but the aquarium's resident octopus, anyway. I think every other time I've seen it, it has been hiding motionless in a corner. This time it was hanging right in the middle of the tank, and it actually stretched out, cleaned its tentacles, and briefly extended a tentacle to the front of the tank. Very cool.
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Date: 2004-05-05 12:57 pm (UTC)Obviously, the author of that article has never been to Australia (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767903862/qid=1083761791/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/002-2172865-9116027?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)...
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Date: 2004-05-05 07:16 pm (UTC)I... I... there are no words for the snarkiness.
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Date: 2004-05-06 07:22 am (UTC)