Jellyfish

Today we took two Keystone students to Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. The zoo itself was quite depressing because all the enclosures seemed too small for the animals and they all looked a bit sad. The aquarium was a completely different kettle of fish. It was really well presented with some amazing displays of coral reef, fish, stingrays, sharks etc.

The best part of all was the jellyfish room. We walked into this darkened room which was lit only by different coloured lights shining onto jellyfish tanks. The different lights lit the translucent jellyfish up in different colours. Strange eerie otherworldly music was playing through speakers which seemed to match the regular rhythmic pulses of the jellyfish as they moved around in their tanks. It was a bit like being trapped in a living lava lamp and we spent a fair amount of time just staring in awe and contemplating the nature of life and the universe. I know I sound like a bit of a hippy but it really was quite surreal.

Photos don't really do it justice but I think that this contrast between the orange and blue is quite striking.