In WTMF news...

[KateAggie]

File this under "reasons why I pretty much hate the ocean."

www.kvue.com/news/Underwater-drilling-camera-catches-giant-sea-creature-151383835.html

Underwater drilling camera catches giant sea creature

by KMOV.com staff
KMOV
Posted on May 14, 2012 at 10:39 AM

Did Capt. Nemo ever see anything like this when he was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”?
A mysterious creature was caught by underwater cameras recently during deep-sea drilling near the United Kingdom.


The camera catches the giant blob – which looks brown in color and appears to have scales — floating around, with organs and appendages sticking out, something rarely ever seen before.

So should we be afraid of this new sea creature and will it take over the world?

Steven Haddock, a scientist for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, Calif., says that the mysterious creature is a Deepstaria enigmatica jellyfish, much to the chagrin of some Reddit users who thought it was a whale placenta.

“This bag-like jelly is not that rare, but is large, so rarely seen intact,” Haddock said on his “JellyWatch” Facebook page. “In the video, the swirling from the sub makes the medusa appear to undulate and it even turns inside-out.”

This type of jellyfish is usually found in the south Atlantic Ocean, some 5,000 feet below. According to the Marine Species Identification Portal, the jellyfish has “oral arms […] terminating in curious hook-shaped organ.”

[pixy0stix]

snerk... whale placenta

[basilosaurus]

That's so freaking awesome. I love the ocean.

[emilyj]

May 14, 2012 14:55:32 GMT -5 KateAggie said:

...floating around, with organs and appendages sticking out...

That is nasty.

[dev22]

May 14, 2012 14:58:27 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

That's so freaking awesome. I love the ocean.

Ditto.

Now I wouldn't want to see one while I was swimming, but on video? AWESOME.

[KateAggie]

May 14, 2012 14:58:27 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

That's so freaking awesome. I love the ocean.

LOL. This is so what DH would say. We leave Saturday for a week at the beach. He is beyond excited, while I'm half terrified.

[basilosaurus]

Also, this reminds me that I have some dive vouchers to use up this week. I can only hope I see something as cool as a gigantic blog.

This is one of my favorite ctenophore images (they're small blobs, related to jellyfish, but they don't sting)

Edit: Do https images not post? I know my img tags are correct.

encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTcLeXFRn3sGX96UhbVDhORE808BSN4MC2rhAIN_Pk2mAcTbmjOkQ

[IIOY]

I love that "enigmatic" is actually part of its official name. Also, oral arms.

I am simultaneously fascinated by and terrified of things in the ocean. It's hard to describe my feelings except to say that I once considered becoming a marine biologist but decided against it because slimy things.

[dylanite]

I saw the video the other day (can't tell if the link is to the video) and it was so WEIRD.

[Deleted]

I'm going to tell myself this is a BP anomaly so I can just pretend the ocean is full of hopeful little clownfish just trying to make their way home

like a holy rolling stone

back up to heaven all alone

No more calling on the phone

'cept for the pope maybe in rome

[basilosaurus]

May 14, 2012 15:22:52 GMT -5 @habbsies said:

I'm going to tell myself this is a BP anomaly so I can just pretend the ocean is full of hopeful little clownfish just trying to make their way home

like a holy rolling stone

back up to heaven all alone

No more calling on the phone

'cept for the pope maybe in rome

FU! FU x1000. That will now be in my head for a week.

[Deleted]

You're welcome.

[Deleted]

I always get nervous swimming in lakes and oceans an this is why!!! We have a boat and sometimes when I'm waterskiing I will see fishies leaping in front of me. I hate it.

[UMaineTeach]

what do they mean 'rarely seen intact' like it splits off into small piece and each piece keeps going? or they see them with gaping holes in them?

[pixy0stix]

May 14, 2012 15:40:24 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

what do they mean 'rarely seen intact' like it splits off into small piece and each piece keeps going? or they see them with gaping holes in them?

I'm pulling this out of the dim recesses of my mind, but I think it's a combination of scavengers/pressure change that tears their bodies up, so when they wash up on shore they're in pieces.

People are rarely at this depth to see them.

[basilosaurus]

May 14, 2012 16:35:41 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

May 14, 2012 15:40:24 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

what do they mean 'rarely seen intact' like it splits off into small piece and each piece keeps going? or they see them with gaping holes in them?

I'm pulling this out of the dim recesses of my mind, but I think it's a combination of scavengers/pressure change that tears their bodies up, so when they wash up on shore they're in pieces.

People are rarely at this depth to see them.

Yes. The deep ocean is so vast that most of it is unexplored, and the chances that a camera sights something new is ridiculously low probability. Isn't it exciting?

I really wanted to be a marine biologist. I even snorkeled with Jacques Cousteau's son when I was in some high school program. But that didn't jive with my desire to move out of Florida for college. I still pore over my reef fish and reef creature books after every dive/snorkel.