The beautiful and exotic moon jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, glowing like an alien in a foreign land. These float silently through the dark ocean waters, lighting their own way. The glowing rings are their four gonads but sometimes appear in an anomalous number. The moon jelly feeds on plankton but also serves as a tasty, favorite snack of sea turtles. Global warming and over fishing of the oceans is creating a change in patterns of jellyfish distribution and and increase in their numbers. There are fewer predators to decrease the moon jellyfish population and they do not seem to be affected by the decrease in oxygen levels of the oceans.

Tagged: Aurelia aurita blue jellyfish moon jellies moon jellyfish ocean kvh@pcs