Tuesday 29 December 2009

Jellyfish and the meaning of life

I was going thru some photos I took late in November and came across these jellyfish pics taken at Ohiwa Harbour. It was a still day and the water was like glass. All across the inlet you could see the backs of hundreds of jellyfish bobbing along on the surface like ethereal alien spacecraft.
I think they all ended up washed ashore and finally melted into shapeless pools of colourless slime. A bit like the human body drifting through the endless expanse of life till we wash ashore and return to the earth for the microbes to dissolve. Or at least would dissolve if we didn't pump our bodies full of chemicals to preserve us. When I go I want to go naturally and at least give a few worms some nutrition while I'm on my way out. But thats just me...

7 comments:

John M. Mora said...

amazing - just brilliant.

Mandy said...

Thanks John!

Lucky Dip Lisa said...

Amazing creatures arn't they? I like your description!
Your quails are wonderful, such characters!

I have something for you on my blog. Happy NY!

Debrina said...

We saw mauve stingers at Mt Maunganui last summer - I can't be sure, but these look like them. BOP was innundated with them last year. Beautiful photos, just beautiful!!

Kerin said...

The second photo of the jellyfish is so mesmerizing I could probably stare at it for hours. Fantastic!!!

Mandy said...

Hey Kerin, thanks for your feedback. Yes they're fascinating animals aren't they. You have to wonder at a creature like that, pretty much transparent yet it moves, feeds, ....well what else? Do they think? Obviously not the "if a tree falls..." kind of thought but is there some level of consciousness. Do they feel pain? I guess we will never know.

mandy said...

Debrina I'll have to look up mauve stingers. They sound intriguing!