Spot the Tulip Tree Beauty and marvel at a stunning jellyfish from #Okeanos

April 24, 2016 • 3:06 pm

by Matthew Cobb

First, a traditional ‘spot the’ quiz:

And now, as they say, for something completely different.

In the past we’ve highlighted the live feed from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Okeanos Explorer mission in the Pacific. This involves remote operated vehicles (ROV), complete with hi-res video equipment mooching around on the ocean bottom. On board the ship are a geologist and a marine biologist, and in a conference call are assorted land-based scientists from around the world (mainly the USA) who help to ID stuff.

The result is an amazing, informative and captivating voyage on an unknown planet – most dives produce something astounding. You can find the full back catalogue here. Right now they are preparing for another dive, which you can watch here. [Update – there’s no dive today because of repairs. Tune in again tomorrow!]

The current mission is to the Marianas Trench, and the dives take place a bit too late for poor little me – the ROV generally touches bottom (the other night it was 5000 metres down!) shortly before midnight *UK time* (it’s much more palatable for those in the US, Australasia or Japan), by which time I am beginning to doze off. So I wake up to stunning images in my Tw*tter feed, using the #Okeanos hashtag. This morning was amazing, as they came across this fantastic jellyfish at 3740 m down.

Do yourself a favour – press play and turn it onto full screen. The vid only lasts 2:30 mins, but you will be seriously amazed. Listen to the enthusiasm in the voices of the scientists (the first voice you can hear is @DivaAmon I think), and also the ROV pilot and navigator.

To paraphrase Miranda: O Brave new world, that has such wonders in ‘t!

Here’s a picture of where it’s all happening on the ship (pilot and navigator in front row, scientists behind):

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgwuDAFUoAAzofJ.jpg

And here’s a picture of the ship and the team:

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/ex1605/logs/apr20/media/eductour1-home.jpg

 

18 thoughts on “Spot the Tulip Tree Beauty and marvel at a stunning jellyfish from #Okeanos”

    1. Moi aussi.

      The camouflage patterns on the wings are perfect but the striations (‘ripples’) really make them stand out.

      cr

  3. That is very cool! So this jelly has incandendescent bulbs in its dome?
    Why are the tips of its tentacles bendy, like little feet?

    1. And why do they bend at the same distance from the tip? A prepared reaction against surfaces (such as the ocean floor)?

      Amazing imagery!

      1. That’s a good idea. I was thinking maybe it was a way to very slightly influence the direction of drift.

    1. They have two lasers that makes spots 10 cm away, but they have to be able to fix them on a target.

      My guess is that the jelly was about 10 cm across, from seeing earlier videos with those spots at the macro zoom level.

  7. Incredibly beautiful jellyfish. What fascinating creatures. Their movements are so mesmerizing. Every time I visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium I always park myself in front of the jellyfish exhibits for awhile. It’s very calming, even hypnotic, to watch them gracefully undulate through the water.

  8. “Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running and um, screaming.”

  9. Wonderful!

    I wonder if a small length of the ends of the tentacles has some sort of chemo or motion detectors and they bend in the same direction when they sense something?

    Perhaps it “smells” or otherwise senses potential dinner items? It did seem to me that the creature traveled in the direction the tentacle ends had been bent towards.

  11. I’d love to know if the light is fluorescence from a fluorescent protein (and the structure of the fluorophore), or luminescence from a luciferase.

  12. It’s a Martian space probe, that’s what it is!

    (At least until 1m50s, when it turns into a jellyfish)

    cr

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