Alien

And there it lies. Lost, abandoned, storm-tossed and sand-blasted, a milkily iridescent gelatinous dome. It’s a visitor from another world, mysterious and unknowable. Boneless, bloodless, brainless, yet capable, it seems, of taking over the oceans, if not the world. 

As this is Abstract Thursday (thanks again to Ingeborg for hosting) and the theme is ‘mysterious’, I am tempted to write nothing beyond the title today - but then, of course, that’s just not me. 

This is, I think, a Barrel Jellyfish - Rhizostoma Pulmo -  left behind by the storms. Our largest native jellyfish, it’s usually found in summer, but then these shapeless beasts, it seems, are not content to follow nature’s rules. 

A Smithsonian article writes of their coming dominance - ‘Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea’. Apparently, they’re  taking over our polluted oceans, reproducing exponentially, generally just behaving badly. Around the world there have been headlines: ‘Jellyfish Typhoon’, ‘Rise of the Slime’, ‘Jellyfish gone Wild’. 

Float up, float down;
Mindlessly moving, mesmerizing motions in the water ;
Breathtaking beauty, unending immortal; 
“They have spread into every ocean across the earth.”
“They have survived six mass extinctions.”
“They will be here even after we have all perished.”


(And as an aside, who knew you could buy and keep pet jellyfish? A small, but beautifully designed aquarium will only set you back £329.99.)